Ruined My Life

So in my 30s, something has happened and made me into a gardener.  Since we moved into our new house I built two garden boxes so Shannon and I can grow tomatoes, peppers, other veggies, etc. One of the things that I take pride in is planting without the use of a lot of chemicals and the such. I’ve developed the soil mix, added my own compost comprised of our family scraps, added manure as needed, etc.

This spring, I went to the local Home Depot to purchase soil, peat moss, manure, etc. to thow down on the garden so it could soak in the recent rains. Much to my surprise, Home Depot had a very limited selection of soils that were not pre-fertilized with Miracle-Gro or some other Scott’s product. There was no Peat Moss without it. Last year the Miracle-Gro products were in the minority.

The Home Depot employees told me that pre-fertilized soil was the norm this year and that I was out of luck if I wanted local or just normal soil. I asked them to let their manager know I was unhappy and would like the normal soil to be restocked, and they told me it was a purely central office decision. So, I wrote Home Depot with my request. Here is the lame response they sent me:

Thank you for contacting The Home Depot Customer Care.

As the world’s largest home improvement retailer, and an industry leader
on the environment, providing non-toxic, organic land care product is
something The Home Depot takes very seriously.

We are committed to working with our vendors to conserve and preserve
natural resources.

We take consumer concerns about non–toxic products very seriously and
continue to review the situation with industry and state.

We look forward to your continued patronage and assisting you with all
of your home improvement needs.

Sincerely,

Dharmendra
Customer Care

All I can say is, what a lame response. I can understand wanting to offer Miracle-Gro products at a higher price/profit margin, but to not offer low-priced local soil and peat moss that contains no additives is just silly. And then to claim that they offer a wide variety of organic products seems like they think I’m stupid. So, I’m done with Home Depot. No more plants, soils, veggies, etc. I may also consider not shopping there for the new grill I want to buy, the yard tools I need from time-to-time, the filters for my furnace, lumber, shelving materials, etc. As a consumer, I’m insulted.