Black gold season is coming earlier and more often for Lawrence gardeners.

Lawrence officials have announced new plans for how they’ll sell the sought-after, soil-enriching compost that is made from the leaves and lawn clippings collected by the city’s trash crews.

Instead of having two sales a year for its compost and woodchips, the city will sell both products from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., every Saturday between now and mid-December. That’s right, the first sale is March 1.

There is a catch to the new system. Unlike the large sales of the past, compost and woodchip buyers will have to load the material themselves. The price will be $10 for a pick-up load.

The city does plan to have one large sale where city crews will do the loading for you. That sale is set from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 27-29. All the sales will be at the city’s compost and woodchip facility, which is just east of the 11th and Haskell intersection.