some compost/leaf mold observations

15 years ago

Getting into compost and leaf mold on a somewhat larger scale taught me a few things this past fall. Usually I picked up about 100 + bags per year but I finally put a new floor in my old trailer and IÂve stepped it up to 120 bags at a time. So far this year IÂm at about 400 bags but it wasn't the best year for leaves with the hurricane and all. So here they are...

120 bags of leaves at a time weights more than youÂd think. I figure about 30lbs per bag average, so 3600 lbs per load and I think that is on the low side. Some bags I have to strain to pick up and IÂm no lightweight. It is all my old half ton truck can do to pull the trailer full of bags.

Flat smooth sided bags are the ones to get. They weight more but yield better results. I usually avoid bags that have a very bumpy look. Too many pine needles are inside.

I avoid bags with large bumps altogether.

You can tell a lot about a bag by squeezing it first.

Always wear leather gloves when following the last observation.

While some people will put almost anything in a recycling bag, for the most part itÂs only leaves and dirt.

Diapers will compost.

Because of the last observation clear bags are always preferred.

Leaf bags will disintegrate fairly quickly here in the Texas sun so storing them in an uncontained pile doesnÂt work.

Cats believe I do this all for them. Another reason for a contained pile.

People think your weird if you pick up their leaves, but they think your really weird if you only pick up one of the five they have on the curb after fondling each one repeatedly.

And lastly, will I ever have enough?

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Comments (8)

User
15 years ago
That's a large-scale operation you have going on. Do you use them yourself or does the compost/mold end up elsewhere?

How do you shred them?
robertz6
15 years ago
One gets to be a leaf con-er-sir (spelling). I average between 200 and 400 bags a year.

The first thing I look for is someone nice enough to shred the leaves with a shredder and then put them in a leaf bag by the curb! I blew the engine on my shredder last year.

The next best thing is spring-time bags where fresh grass is mixed with partly shredded leaves -- usually a bagger mower. Mixing may not even be required, maybe once thru the mower bagger to reduce the size.

It depends on the law of supply and demand. A couple times I raked someone else yard just for the leaves.

I have enough experience by now to take a guess at what brand of chipper/shredder the leaves were run thru.
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Kentstar - you say "I have a pretty small lot, so I have to keep things small". Would it encourage you if I said my house has a courtyard garden approximately 48ft x 20ft? And I'm using 'garden' in the British sense ie the entire area around the home. We don't talk about 'lots' or 'yards'. It's all 'garden'. That is all I have at home. (Although I do have an allotment elsewhere - but that's another story.) I have a wooden slatted compost bin of about 1 cubic yard hidden behind a shrub in the corner which takes most of my garden waste and kitchen stuff. I also use it to get rid of private papers rather than put them in the recycling. I suppose I cold compost, which is a fancy way of saying I pile it up and ignore it. But I don't think worrying about 'cold' or hot' is really necessary. Sometimes my pile heats up if I have just stuck in a load of greenery. Sometimes it just sits there ticking over coldly. It doesn't matter to me. I turn out the bin and spread the usable stuff about twice a year. It's as easy as that. You can make composting as complicated or as easy as suits you personally. The only thing which might be different for you is that in my climate the pile never freezes and there is some activity going on in there all year round. I don't think there are many gardens which are really too small for some sort of composting.
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Since my compost thermometer is relatively new, I never knew what was happening in there. It was a crummy old bin also, next to impossible to turn, and produced compost slowly. Now I'm armed with a thermometer and a Biostack bin. On Saturday I emptied the contents of my bin into a 32 gal Rubbermaid garbage can, holes drilled top, sides, and bottom, to let that batch sit and cure a little. I started a new batch with grass clippings, leaves, weeds, and various yard waste. Sprinkled with water as I built the pile. By Sunday morning the temp was 150 and now, 5 p.m. Tuesday, it's still 150 degrees. The contents have been reduced to half of what I started with so now it's maybe 20 inches tall. I thought it would cool down by now. Shouldn't it? I don't think there are worms anywhere near that thing! I compared readings (a few weeks ago) between what my soil and compost thermometers said in both the compost and soil and both temps were the same, so I'd guess the thermometer is fairly accurate. Karen
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Egganddart49, We both are using almost the same kind of leaves, thus we have a great example of what the leaves are doing and how different zones interact with basically the same kind of leaves. To me, gardening is about "point of view", how you look at it if you will. When I look at what you are saying this is what I see: Your zone is cooler than mine, thus you will have slower decomposition in your garden. The leaves you put down in the winter sat there due to low temperatures. What the leaves did is act like a security blanket for your garden. When rain or snow piled up on the leaves the water seeped through, not flowed. As the water seeped in it took some of the nutrients from the leaves into the soil with it. Because of the limiting effect of the leaves you suffered less leaching in your soil, this causes you to need less amendments for your plants. As well, you added nutrients from the leaves all winter long, this is a very good thing. When spring came you had to move those pesky leaves out the way, but what did you find underneath? You discovered soft tender soil, moist and happy that you are the owner of the garden. They proved their gratitude by giving you a good crop, and paid you back by making sure you did less work in the process. Shoot, if you stopped concerning yourself with how many leaves are still there and focus on what you want to better improve next years crop who knows what you will end up with. Now ole Blutranes on the other hand lives where it is mild in the winter. His mulch gets chomped on by the microbes the minute it gets warm enough outside. By spring most of his leaves are gone, but his soil is ready to go too. Blutranes enjoys the same benefit you enjoy, water seeps into his soil too; he gets those minerals from his leaves as well. Blutranes can plant earlier, but Egganddart can still grows just as good as Blutranes can in less time. They both are given extra time for other things due to some leaves they put on their gardens. Blutranes is sitting at his computer looking for more wisdom from others to use that extra time on. Egganddart can now make a decision what Egganddart wants to pull outta Eggs' hat next. Work in the garden is good, less work even better IMO. I conclude that you have discovered a way to do more with less and save some money, and get a mater or two out the deal. Sounds like a plan over hereÂ Blutranes
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Leaf mold compost is supposed to be great stuff
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kqcrna
15 years ago
Most bags of leaves in my neighborhood have been collected by mowing so are at least shredded somewhat. It seems that most people around here rarely rake.

Karen
pennymca
15 years ago
At the end of my street was a pile of cut grass/shredded leaves. It looked small. I got six heavy bags from it.

Then I went for some bags of leaves that I had spotted yesterday but the city got there before I did. I scooted over to another street and snagged four more bags.

Best of all, a young out of work friend needed to clean out up a HUGE back yard of leaves and grass. I went over to check it out today. SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....it will be beautiful. 30-40 bags worth.

Doing the happy dance in Bamaland!
blutranes
15 years ago
I live eight (8) miles outside of a small town. In this town of "we refuse to recycle" they employ a man who collects city leaves with a shredder and piles them on a lot. Each year I do this man a favor and go relieve him of some of those pesky leaves he has piled up. In return I give him a 55-gallon drum of year old compost. This year I collected three (3) truckloads of his leaf-mould, which you can see below:

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Please note how low the truck is to the ground; my friend really knows how to load a truck with his front-end loader. Even though this leaf-mould looks like compost it is not compost at all. I screen all I want to use for mulch; the rest is used in making compost for the following year. This system has worked out these many years since my friend and I started this mutual arrangement, we both are really happy.

Life can work in many ways traveling down "wacko" highway, I think somebody up there likes meÂ

Blutranes
ron62
15 years ago
Good observation on the bags. After a few loads the ones filled with shredded leaves are easy to spot although heavy. I picked up about 120 bags from one residence this past fall. No dogs or cats just a kind old gentleman raking them up. He was tickled when I offered to pull my truck and trailer around pick them up for him.
I ran all of them thru my Troybilt shredder. I built a little platform so that I can set the bag next to the shredder opening and slowly empty each bag. Helps remove rocks, beer bottles, etc. before the shredder spits them back at you. Good gloves and safety glasses required.
ruvin
15 years ago
penny ...go bama girl.... i like your style...keep on keepin' on... i bet you dance like nobody's watchin'...what part of bama ???? i'm in birmingham......

blutranes.....wow...your truck ( with that beautiful load ) is hot....gorgeous....great pics....

R
kossetx
Original Author
15 years ago
Idaho, They're all for me. I guess I'm a leaf miser.

I don't shred them anymore than they are when I pick them up. I have a tractor powered shredder but I just put them in the cage and let 'em rot. They go into 2 chain link fence containers, each about 14 feet in diameter.

It helps to live in a big city too.

some compost/leaf mold observations

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robertz6

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some compost/leaf mold observations

Comments (8)

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robertz6

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kqcrna

pennymca

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ron62

ruvin

kossetxOriginal Author

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kossetx
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