The time has came to start composting leaves again. There are 10 large maple trees along the property line that drop lots of leaves. Last year was the first time that I started to compost them on site, previously I put them out for the city to compost. That turned out to be a pretty big mistake because leaves make some excellent compost for the garden. Here is how I went about composting leaves from last season:
To collect the leaves I used a mower with a bag attach, this really makes the process easy and mulches them up nicely. They then went into an open top bin were I compacted them down and watered well. The photo above shows them in early summer. They shrink down considerable over the winter and starting in the spring I start working them into compost. As the photo shows I dump out the bin and then rebuild with a mix of leaves and grass clippings, about 10 parts leaves and 1 part grass clippings. I did this 3 times this season and it did a good job of speeding the process along.
Now that it is time to start the process over I screened out the black gold making way for the new leaves. Last year I only collect leaves from the lawn and ended up with two big wheelbarrows worth of compost, about 12 cubic feet. The end produce was so nice this year I am collecting as many leaves as I can.
Here is a close up of the compost. It's about as good as it gets, airy, retains moisture well and is full of goodness. This was screened with my Compost Screen, a bit tedious to do but I think it is worth it. It removes sticks, stones and some maple roots that started invading the bin. This season I am putting landscape fabric down in hopes of keeping the trees from growing into the bin.At this point about half the leaves have been collected and the rest are still on the trees. In a couple weeks they should be all down and in the bin. If I run out of bin space I am going to start storing them in leaf bags over the winter. By spring it should shrink down enough that they will all fit in the bin.
Ah the joy of leaves. I need to get my bins ready to receive them.
ReplyDeleteAddictive collective leaves isn't it when you realise what you get from them? I store them in 1 cubic metre old builders sacks, you can get a lot of leaves in there.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful compost. I am hoping to get my leaves gathered this weekend depending on the weather. I don't have a bagger on my mower, but some strategic mowing get's them all piled up and shredded.
ReplyDeleteYou made that black gold? Wow, looks great. I have 2.5 acres now, and I've had to resort to using a leaf blower. This will be my first year with so much compost material. Hope I get some great compost.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous - I want some leaves too....However, the big drop hasn't occured here yet. That's some mighty fine finished compost ya got there!
ReplyDeleteLeaf mold is so under-rated. Your compost looks brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! Great job there.
ReplyDeleteThat is some excellent-looking compost! Isn't it great how things around us are just waiting for us to use them?
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Veggie PAK
Your leaf compost looks just fantastic. I wish I had access to leaves at my house - we don't have any because we live in a new development with very few mature trees. There are lots in the nearby older neighborhoods, but unless I go trespassing and skulking around with giant garbage bags at these leaf-rich properties, I don't see how I can collect these leaves.
ReplyDeleteWhat a big job but well worth the black gold.
ReplyDeleteThat compost is beautiful! Now you're getting me motivated to mow the lawn!
ReplyDeleteLeaves combined with grass clippings is one of my all time favorite compost additions. You have a nice looking yard of leaves already shaping up! My Japanese maples are just beginning to drop leaves. Usually around Thanksgiving and the week after is when i am able to do the leaf gathering process. I do a combination of raking and a mowing/bagging process which chops them up and mixes in some grass clipping greens.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous finished/screened compost!
I enjoy leaves, falling of leaves. Most leaves provide a high carbon source or "browns" for your compost. In other words their C/N ratio is usually over 30, often around 50. Essentially this means they are low in Nitrogen. In a compost they'll need their nitrogen rich green counterparts. Good info=)
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! I've just started a compost bin earlier this year, and I, too, have a dearth of leaves. We end up picking up random bags of leaves and branches after a park or bike path clean-up. Luckily, there are plenty of leaves in Tokyo. I just look a bit silly running around with them on my bike basket late at night. :)
ReplyDeleteYour compost looks really great! I should do that with my 4 maples!
ReplyDeleteWOO HOO!! Hommade compost is so wonderful. I love the fall :)
ReplyDelete