Free Dirt

After saving all sorts of money (not to mention space in the landfill) by creating raised beds out of whatever wood we had lying around, I had to go out and buy soil. We have a lot of peat moss (leftover from a job we used it on, and now that I read Andrea's posting on the environmental consequences of peat moss harvesting I won't be buying any more - you can read it at www.reclaimingdinnerproject.blogspot.com , posted April 18) and vermiculite in the shop, so I really only needed manure and soil. When I went to the gardening centre (where I have bought bulk 3-in-1 before) it was too early for the 1 yard bags. So I ended up having to buy those little 15L bags of 3-in-1 and 30L bags of manure. All in all, to fill 1 bed I spent $70. What???? I have consoled myself by thinking that the bed has now been properly built and so I'll never have to buy ammendments again, but I have 5 more beds to fill.
We're getting some free horse manure from a friend who lives on a farm ( a 2 1/2 hour drive away, but since we don't know any of our neighbour farmers yet and since I haven't been able to find a local source of manure anyway, it seems our only option). But the real issue is that we didn't build a compost bin last year.
Where we live, the municipality picks up the 'green bin' and so citizens are encouraged to fill the bins up with their kitchen scraps and 'food waste'. We've been diligently sending our greens to the city so THEY can compost and sell it to agribusinesses in the province. Last fall I didn't even think about what it would mean that I wasn't creating my own compost.
So now I'm in the position of having to buy soil and compost, instead of grabbing it from our handy compost bins. I'm able to wait now for the bulk soil to arrive (it is much cheaper to buy it in 1 yard bags, and even cheaper to have multiple yards delivered) so I can order it. Next weekend we'll go and get the manure and straw, so that I can lay a good layer down under the expensive soil and then use the rest to topdress our existing beds. But I am still feeling grumbly about the expense of the soil purchase.
We are all able to make free dirt (compost, actually) in a small space with a minimum of effort. My grandmother would be horrified to know that I went out and bought dirt. It is the simplest thing in the world to take the kitchen scraps and cardboard and tree leaves to the compost bin, then to let the worms do their work. My dad is now saving the leaves from his very shady backyard for me, since we don't have much in the way of deciduous trees on our property. Worms especially like cardboard, so even newspaper, boxes and papertowel rolls can be thrown in (cut up into smaller pieces beforehand). All added up, we can produce enough compost yearly to ammend the beds each spring and keep the fertility of our veggie beds in prime condition.
I appreciate that my purchase of soil and manure is helping employ farm workers, but it seems that buying compost goes against something fundamental - give away our kitchen and yard waste so we can buy it back again composted?
Not from here on in at this house.