You are fine now to turn it under as long as the ground isn't frozen. Next time arrange to cover the pile instead of the wind blowing through them. Leaves will eventually break down in the soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

The problem with tilling uncomposted leaves into the soil is that they can use up nitrogen while they finish composting. You may need to add some additional nitrogen (coffee grounds, blood meal, manure; if you use chemicals, urea) to help the process.

Why not spread the mix directly on top of the soil, as in a lasagna bed? Is there a reason the mix must be tilled in?

There is no reason finished compost has to "sit" for any length of time before use, that only can come from someone that has no idea what they are talking about. The only reason to mix your leaves into your soil would be because there is so little organic matter in that soil that anything would be better, but you can simply lay them onto your soil, as some people say "Lasagna" style, as a mulch and let the soil bacteria do the heavy work for you.

Bullthistle, I had the leaves in plastic bags until I put them in compost piles a month ago.

Bpgreen, you think I will have problem with nitrogen depletion even though I used so much chicken manure? I really worked at mixing the manure in. Put some leaves on, add chicken manure, spray some water, mix some, then keep repeating until the pile was built.

Mommyandme & Kimmsr, the clay is so hard that I thought mixing the unfinished compost into the clay would make it easier for plants to grow.

Thank you for the insights and opinions I appreciate them....a lot.

Have a Great Day,
Jim

"Bpgreen, you think I will have problem with nitrogen depletion even though I used so much chicken manure?"

The problem is that the chicken manure you used was already composted, so it wasn't as high in nitrogen as uncomposted manure would be. I may be wrong, but I would think that if the composted chicken manure had enough nitrogen in it, you wouldn't be seeing uncomposted leaves now.

I think Jim stated that some of the leaves were un-shredded, likely oak leaves. Those are probably the un-decomposed leaves. I agree with kimmsr, use it in now. I would till it in to help the clay.

I learned about humic an fulvic acids and I have been using them in my lawn for several years. My soil is clay, too. When I dig up the sod to make a garden bed, the soil structure looks pretty good. I would recommend them highly.

If you do till it in, don't till it beyond 6" deep or so. Most of the microbes that do the breaking down are in the top 6", so mixing them deeper would be a waste.

Have you had a soil test? Does that clay need some lime to open it up a bit?

Sue

Jim asks...
"The compost piles aren't fully broken down yet....what happens if the contents of these piles are turned into the soil now." (my bold)

Bill (squeeze) said earlier...
"the one problem that can happen in unfinished, "immature" compost is phytotoxicity - it can give off compounds that inhibit seed germination in particular, and have other effects on certain sensitive plant species - the standard test for properly matured compost commercially is the 'GI' or germination index, to see how cress or radish seed [particularly sensitive] will germinate in it, high rate of germination = low phytotoxicity
the reaction of soil N to compost depends on it's composition - a high percentage of C in the compost [lots of woody material] can tie up N detrimentally if it's mixed into the root zone - compost that was a good balance of materials [like C:N about 25:1] will have little effect on soil N levels, and the microbes get to work converting the various organic nutrients into plant useable forms [not using N]"

Kimmsr said earlier...
"Bill, "squeeze", is right on."

bpgreen said earlier...
"Part of the problem is that there are a lot of different definitions of finished compost and even humus."

With no agreed upon definition of what is meant by "finished", one should be somewhat careful in what advice they give out.

Lloyd

Here is a link that might be useful: Discussion about finished compost

Lloyd, in the part that you replaced with ellipses, he said that there are leaves that are still leaves. So in the context of this thread, even if not everybody agrees on what is meant by finished, we do know what is meant by unfinished.

What I said in this thread was meant to apply to a situation where there are still recognizable leaves, since that was what he asked about.

Yup, I agree. I guess what I was trying to get across is that in this thread, we are dealing with unfinished compost(hence the bold). For someone to state "There is no reason finished compost has to "sit" for any length of time before use, that only can come from someone that has no idea what they are talking about" is goofy because "finished" isn't even part of this equation.

I used Bill's explanation to show what might be expected using unfinished compost and added your quote as a remote possible explanation as to why someone would even consider this material to be finished. One never knows what definition someone is using these days. (but that could be part of their "good teacher" methods I suppose).

Lloyd HRC

P.S. I think your suggestion (add N) is exactly what I would do in this instance.

Jim said, "I've read that after the compost has turned to compost it should sit for 30 days before using it." and that was what I was responding to not something from some earlier post that may have asked a much different question. When compost is compost you can put it on your garden without waiting 30 days.
Finished compost is well defined and has been for many years and that is when the materials you put in are no longer recognizable, the material is nice and crumbly, and the material smells like good, rich earth.

I spread a batch today. Most of it went through a hot cycle or 2 last summer, then I added some more stuff to fill the bin and put it to sleep for the winter. I flipped and aerated it about a month ago. Today I spread it. It pretty much looked like soil except for a lot of flower stems, too long, which were tossed in last fall. Those stems are now brown and soggy. I mulched a couple of small beds with this stuff today. I know that those stems will eventually rot and feed the soil. Now mixed with the remains of my leaf mulch from last fall, it is all organic material, so I'm happy to have it where it is.

Karen