Totally with you there. Yield always takes care of the dough forked out. And at least it goes in the garden.... I made the mistake last week of pouring the excess sludge from a compost tea on a young cherry tree and in 48hours the leaves were burnt yellow and red.I just bought the soil for my X-mas grow which will yield more than a pound of top-shelf.
It cost me about $50. So:
Value of 1 LB of High Grade - $50 = I throw my old soil in the backyard garden compost.
My wife uses it in her garden to fill holes.