I go to our local township shed where they have an area for people to dump their leaves and branches and I moved out of the way for a truck to pull in and they looked at me with my bags of leaves and said under their breath to each other "that's weird". I just ignored the comment cause I'm glad they want to dump the stuff!

There does seem to be an overloading of advice about how people shouldn't throw their leaves away....putting it at curbside--- or dreadfully, burning it.

We speak of leaves as though it should be treasured....never to let it get away. To compost it, to steal it from neighbors or to beg, borrow or otherwise to keep it however it fills spaces in our backyards.

Well, there is a limit to what a composter can use all that gold and to fill it with an overabundance of leaves is just asking the pile to quit working, to end up next spring with nothing usable. Even spreading the gospel that we should mow over it, make it eeny, meany, teeny weenie, polka dot size, it can take up volume of too much of a good thing.

You know, some people don't have the properties that they can waste space by building a bin worthwhile to hold such quantities that are expressed in these pages.....yet they are chastized for not having a bin.
A bin....one bin, is to me, not worth the effort...there's just too much work involved to separate what results sometimes from its make-up. So two bins is a must...three is worth the effort.....and that is impossible for some...they just don't have the room.
So while we cajole people to start composting, let's use common sense and suggest people either give it over to somebody who can, or

if one cant build a bin, then do the next best thing...bag it. A plastic garbage bag can hold a fair amount of leaves, kitchen scraps, soil, those annuals that have been hit by frost, NO WOOD of any size, and otherwise the garden mess that shouldn't be allowed to rot where it lies...add some lawn fertilizer to speed things up, tied up, poked finger holes into the bottom to let the worms in, placed behind a bush....and by next summer, you'll have something wonderful for your garden...especially for your roses....they'll eat up all that leaf mold...black gold. The rest....give it to curbside where the local people will throw into their garbage and help it compost down.
Most communities though do have a special day for collection---so bag what you can, and save it for when it can be picked up.

You're the one chastising, goren, in your rude response to Dotty's post in the other thread. I don't see anyone else chastising.

Karen

Goren, since I only add leaf mould or compost to my beds in fall, I don't worry about the pile quitting working. In fact, piles don't "quit working" at all! They are just slower to get done.
BTW, I have a VERY small yard in a mobile home park, so NO I don't have a lot of space, but can still easily manage a wire bin, or two, or three, or even bag it if I want.
No, everyone doesn't have a lot of space, but there is always a way.

Just my two cents worth...

Why would you add chemical fertilizer to the compost process?