Thanks for all the replies.... Everyone- So, what what would be the difference between letting the leaves continue to decompose in their bins and tilling them into the garden next fall, vs putting them on the garden now as a mulch (matted leaves) then tilling them next fall? PT03- It's about 15'x20' (300sqft). I'm hoping to triple that by last frost but it might need to wait until next year. Can you (or anyone else) give me some recommendations as to how much area a volume of 75 cubic feet of leaf mold would cover (assuming my calculation of 4 ft diameter x 2 ft high bins = 25 cubic feet x 3 bins = 75 cubic feet is correct). kqcrna- Yeah, I thought I was making compost too for the reasons you give but I get where Dave is coming from also. annpat- So, even though I don't technically have leaf mold, you'd still put it on the garden. OK. Interesting you mention bags of leaves.... I still have a lot of bags of leaves lying around (from early fall) that I never got around to composting. If I just leave them in the bags, then in a couple of years they'll turn to the leaf mold you describe? Do you add moisture to the bags before/after you store them? Vent them in any way? Sounds a whole lot easier than the bins if you're willing to wait. Dave- So, the alfalfa that I added was only in an effort to speed decomposition? Remind me not to bother with that next fall. Everyone again... So how do you typically deal with leaves so that you can get them into the garden next season.... or some other system other than annual. Also please see my other thread about hay/straw mix that I was planning on using for a mulch. Why would I chose hay/straw over the leaf stuff I already have? Is one any better than the other?

I live in Houston so fresh, green bags of grass are much easier to come by than going out and asking neighbors if I can drive onto their land and shovel up their cow patties, having to both load and unload the dung. On my street alone, 250 houses bag green st augustine every week for me in the spring/summer/fall. I'd say the pile is 30% fresh greens. The leaves are unshredded. I also gather those in the neighborhood. Mine are all mulched back into the yard. I turn the pile occasionally with my tractor. I left a 8' gate on one end of the fence so I could get it in. By the way, the pile is contained by chain link fence, so airiation shouldn't really be a problem. When I had cattle, my wife would follow me in the tractor and I would shovel manure into the loader. When we were feeding in the winter it would take about an hour to collect a yard of manure. The manure is all I miss about those cows. I guess I just need to be more pile patient without the manure. The pile only gets warm, not hot and when I put too much grass in it, the pile starts to draw flies, which I also don't like. I'm really in no hurry since I found completed compost for 14.00 a yard. It is composted sewer sludge and ground wood, grated to 3/8". The idea behind the compost is kinda disgusting, but it does wonders for my grass, flowers and trees. It's great stuff. Thanks for all the replies. MP

If you leave moist leaves in a garbage bag or other closed container, sometimes you get leaf mold without trying. I collected more last fall than I could use before it got too cold, and it just happened there in the dark garbage bags. Those ugly brown crustacian pill bugs went to work along with some centipedes and other bugs and I had pockets of leaf mold in the bags, along with some unprocessed leaves. I guess this is no surprise to many here, but I was impressed with the little buggers, they punctured the garbage bags on the bottom and went to work. I want to add that, I spread fall leaves around my trees and coat with pine needles I sometimes can collect at the leaf dump and the pine needles help the leaves stay in place. It helps me save money on mulch. I do use wood mulch also but I can use lots less of the wood mulch. I must also add that I mulch around nearly all my trees, so I may be the only nut who even cares to do that. But anyhoo, fall leaves under some other mulches can save money.

I found these insstructions at http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=com.google:en-US:official_i&gfns=1&sourceid=navclient&q=compostin+leaves+in+the+plastic+bags EASY COMPOSTING There are a number of recipes for plastic bag composting on the Internet. This article is a compilation of many. It includes informative articles from Texas A&M, University of Minnesota, and Nancy Szerlag. COMPOST is Mother Nature's way of recycling plant material into a substance that is beneficial to our soil. Compost improves soil structure by helping to break up heavy clay soils making them more granular, and increasing the water holding capacity of sandy soils. In addition, composting can, but not always, contain a good range of plant nutrients. THE BAG Containers for making compost vary from a simple chicken wire cylinder to a fancy rotating drum. But the simplest of all is a black plastic garbage bag. Plastic bag composting is perhaps the simplest of all composting methods requiring no structure other than a black plastic garbage bag. The bags should be 30 to 40 gallon in size and at least 3 ml. in thickness. This size bag should hold approximately 3 bushels of organic materials. JUST ADD LEAVES And the simplest and most abundant material to compost is leaves. A similar plastic bag (you can turn a multipurpose compost or bark chip bag inside-out) can be used to produce leaf-mold, but it needs to be perforated all over with a garden fork to admit air. You can either rake up the leaves, or collect them in the bagger of a lawn mower. Fill the plastic bag with leaf material, add one shovel full of soil - this supplies the needed microorganisms that ultimately degrade the leaves. A splash of water is needed to moisten the dry leaves and a handful of high nitrogen fertilizer to feed the microorganisms. If you mowed up the leaves, there is no need to add the fertilizer since the accompanying grass clippings will provide sufficient nitrogen. Give the bag a shake and place it in the shade. Then periodically flip the bag over to redistribute the contents and incorporate a bit of air. This method is a good alternative for those of us unable to turn a standard compost pile regularly, or have limited space in our backyard garden. BETTER Fill with a suitable mix of material, add a tablespoonful of balanced fertilizer (Grow more or Fish Blood and Bone), 1 liter of water and a cupful of lime, to counteract the extra acidity of the anaerobic process. Fill in situ for ease of handling. Close tightly to exclude air and leave for about six months to a year. No attention is required and the bag can be concealed behind shrubs. BEST For best decomposition, try to place a combination of both brown and green organic materials in the bag. To each bag add 1 cup of ammonium nitrate and about 1/4 cup of hydrated lime (in this case lime is used to counteract the acidity that will occur under anaerobic conditions within the bag). Then add about a quart of water, close the bag tightly and set it aside for six months to a year. You should not have to turn the mixture or add water after closing the bag. If possible, set bags in a sunny spot where they can absorb heat. In the winter, move bags to a heated garage or basement. PATIENCE, PATIENCE Plastic bag composting is convenient, but, like pit composting, the process occurs mainly under anaerobic conditions and much slower than composting in well-ventilated structures.