Spring 2024!
check the gram for announcements

Good dirt takes time.
Thank you for your patience! In an effort to nurture & prioritize our well-being & yours, we encourage you to plan your garden ahead of time & order at least 1-2 weeks in advance. We move slowly due to fatigue and exhaustion living under hetero-patriarchal capitalism. Please review the instructions below, fill out the order request form & we’ll get back to you within 0-2 weeks (usually review orders on Mondays).

Drop-in day (no appt!):
Sat 8a-12p
Pickup appointments:
Mon+Tue+Thu+Fri+Sat 7a-1p
Delivery appointments:
Deliveries halted as of 3/17 due to emergency
Tue+Thu+Fri+Sat 7a-2p

Address: 8301 Olive St.
New Orleans, LA 70118

Schmelly’s is an organics recycling company. We collect food scraps from New Orleans’ restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, juice bars and coffee shops, and then compost these scraps into an organic soil conditioner for growers to enhance their soil microbiology. Our product is composted & cured for 8-12 months to create a nutrient-dense plant food good for everything including flowers, vegetable gardens, and production farms.


Quick Links:

  1. How to Order & Soil Calculator
  2. Catalog of Products:
  3. Schmelly Services:

How to Order with Schmelly’s:

1. PLEASE NOTE: We do not have operators standing by. We are a very small company. It may take a week or more to respond to your order request. We will let you know our availability ASAP.

2. Determine the cubic volume of what you need and if you can self pick-up or if you need delivery. Use our handy Soil Ordering Calculator below to determine volume & appropriate transportation of soil & mulch:

FAQ!!
SOIL CALCULATOR! Volume & Transportation Guide
Here’s a simple guide with a soil volume calculator, weight references, & tips on how to carry your soil home.

3. Check out our product and services catalog below for quantities and prices. Make a list of what you need and then double check your volume measurements.

4. Click the button below when you’re ready to order.
After submitting your request, we’ll be in touch to discuss prices & payment details. After we finalize your order, we’ll email you an invoice; you can pay your invoice before you receive your goods, or pay upon pickup/delivery. Payment options are cash, ACH/e-check (online bank payment), credit card, and good ole fashioned check. For information on the security of our payments & banking systems, visit Intuit/QuickBooks and Gulf Coast Bank.


Schmelly’s Prices & Products:

  • WE SELL IN BULK – Let’s eliminate plastic trash! We now offer 1 & 2cu.ft. recycled grain bags to use for small orders.
  • Pickup order? USE A TRUCK or BYO CONTAINERS. For open-bed pickup trucks, we’ll load ya up with our machine. Smaller orders, we’ll help you fill your containers, or you can use our recycled bags. If you are wondering how much soil your car or truck will hold, read this handy volume guide.
  • Pickup orders of 1/2 cu.yard (14 cu.feet) or more: we encourage you to bring a pickup truck so we can load with our machine. Bulk price for truck loads is cheaper because it takes much less labor.
  • Prices subject to change.
  • Acronym key: “cu.yd” means Cubic Yard, “cu.ft” means Cubic Foot. For more information on measurements, visit our volume guide.

Schmelly’s Supernatural Garden Soil

BULK PRICE:
Per cubic foot = $7
Half-truck load (0.5 cu.yd / 14 cu.ft) = $55
1-4 cubic yards = $80 per cu.yd
5-10+ cubic yards = $75 per cu.yd

Our most popular product: all-purpose & potent. Use this magic blend to fill up your vegetable raised beds, plant out a container garden, or build farm rows. This soil does it all. We mix our homemade compost with a basic landscaping soil blend (composted horse manure, coffee grounds, pine bark mulch, sand). It’s perfect for vegetables, flowers, and anywhere you need a high quality soil mix. Your garden will thank you.


DYN-O-MITE! Unscreened Compost

Pictured: 4 cubic yards delivered to a farm
Pictured: 4 cu.yds delivered to a farm

BULK PRICE:
Per cubic foot = $5
Half-truck load (0.5 cu.yd/14cu.ft) = $45
1-4 cubic yards = $65 per cu.yd
5-10+ cubic yards = $60 per cu.yd

KAPOW!! This product will make your plants blow up! Unscreened, unfiltered, 1-year old fully cured 100% compost. This is our signature product that has not been screened so we can keep the price low. PLEASE NOTE! this product has not been screened or sifted and contains composted wood chips, oyster shells, twigs, bone material, AND occasional straws, plastics & produce stickers from the food service industry where we source our compost feed stock. You will find strange treasures, but we stand by our product.

Get the biology back into your garden! From 5 gallons to 5 tons, delivered to your garden or farm. Use this to add organic matter, micro-nutrients, and biological life to your soil. We recommend 1-2″ top dressing each planting season, or 10-50% for new garden beds.


Super Basic Landscape Soil

Pictured: 2 cu.yds delivered in a driveway

BULK PRICE:
Per cubic foot = $4
Half-truck load (0.5 cu.yd/14cu.ft) = $35
1-4 cubic yards = $50 per cu.yd
5-10+ cubic yards = $45 per cu.yd

This stuff is BASIC. It’s a landscape-grade soil that’s good for turf grass or if you are making your own soil blend & want something cheap. Made from composted horse manure, coffee grounds, pine bark mulch, & sand. It won’t grow vegetables without adding compost — if you need something with more nutrients & life, check out the Supernatural soil above.


Sweet Almighty Screened Compost

screened compost in a bucket

BAGGED PRICE:
1 cubic foot bag = $25

Our premium screened compost is made to order, sifted through a 1/2″ screen for a gorgeous crumb cake texture. Ideal for making a potting mix and wherever you need pure, refined compost. NOTE: this product may take 1-2 weeks for us to screen & bag during busy seasons.


Mulch: Basic Brown, Fancy Red, Pine Bark

Pine Straw, round bale: $24 (60-70 sq.ft. coverage, 2-3″ depth)
Pine Straw, square bale: $14 (30 sq.ft coverage, 2-3″ depth)
Basic Brown: $25/cu.yd
SPECIAL ORDER:
Red mulch: $55/cu.yd (special order)
Pine Bark: $60/cu.yd (special order)

Dress up your garden & keep out the weeds. The Basic Brown is our super local, super basic mulch that comes from chipped tree branches in New Orleans; contains wood chips, twigs, shredded leaves, and pine needles. Best bang for your buck.

Pine straw produced by a local NOLA company that bales pine straw in S. Alabama.

Red mulch is produced locally from hardwood mulch. Pine bark mulch is imported from Mississippi. We don’t have these in stock, but we can special order & deliver.


Logs

Pictured: an herb garden bed built with small logs
Pictured: an herb garden bed built with small logs

Choose your logs from our site or get them delivered
Basic Logs: Free! (please schedule a pickup appointment)
Larger orders of logs (10+) will be subject to a loading fee.

Create a garden bed using logs cut by arborists in New Orleans. You can also bury these logs inside your garden soil to absorb water and help nurture the soil microbes (look up “hugelkultur” for more info). We have a variety of sizes, shapes, and kinds to choose from. Save money on lumber and reuse a natural local material.


Rain Garden Mix, Bagasse, Sand & Custom Blends

shredded sugarcane bagasse

River Sand: $15/cu.yd (deliver up to 4cu.yd per trip)
Rain Garden Blend (2:1 sand & compost): $60/cu.yd
Sugarcane Bagasse, Rice Hulls, Coffee Chaff, & Custom Mixes: contact us!

Contact us with your custom soil needs. We can blend any recipe for rain gardens, potting mixes & custom landscape projects. We source all products from the local region.


Pickup or Delivery?

— Product Pick-Up —
We only sell in bulk! Bring a truck, trailer, or containers + we now have recycled grain bags we can fill with 1-2cu.ft each (they weigh 25-50lbs each when full). If you are wondering how much soil your car or truck will hold, please read our volume guide before you make your order.

— Dump Truck Delivery —
Dumped in a pile in your driveway, curbside, or accessible yard. Wheelbarrow service: limited availability.
$65 = Small delivery: 0.5-3 cu.yds. (Distance up to 10mi. West Bank must use Large truck.)
$95 = Large delivery: 4-10 cu.yds soil, 4-20 cu.yds mulch
Wheelbarrow Service: up to 2cu.yds = $40, then $20 for each additional cu.yd.

Delivery limits: We deliver from Hollygrove to locations in greater New Orleans. Delivery outside of the greater New Orleans area is available by special request for a higher delivery rate based on distance.


Yard Clippings & Material Pick-Up

30-gal Brown Bag pick-up:
up to 20 bags: $50 (each additional bag: $3/bag)
Roll-off Dumpster Service:
10 cu.yard roll-off dumpster: $325
15 cu.yard roll-off dumpster: $375