If you save it then it will lose N over the winter. You could mulch or compost it now.

Why the plastic in the winter?

Here is what I did with some {{gwi:258835}} along with some aged horse manure, then {{gwi:73008}} to prepare a row to plant some {{gwi:258834}}. It is a little early, so it will be interesting to me to see what happens with them.

The hay is some that my sis in law brought to me from where bales are broken and the hay is walked on and broken up into pretty small pieces. She brought several feed bags full of it, and some is smaller pieces than that shown here.

I have shredded hay with my big mower and used it for mulch as well as in the compost pile. It has been fine both ways.
Bill P.

David,

"My question is can I overwinter mulch with this?"

Sure you can mulch with the hay. If you can run over it with a mower or break it up in some way and mix it with the leaves you will have a great mulch on your hands. I am with Pablo on the plastic question, why are you using it for a cover? How is rain/snow going to seep through your mulch to get all those good nutrients into your soil?

The longer you let your compost cure the more nitrogen fixing you will have going on in your pile to use this spring. Is there a way for you to store it to get it out the way so you can make a new pile with your alfalfa and leaves? There is also the possibility of seeds in the hay, so make sure you get a hot pile going if you can. The more different ingredients you add to the new pile the better. Since you already have leaves down I do not see all the work involved to get the compost down now, IMO it is better to wait (I know it will be hard to do).

You can make a tea with the alfalfa, no problem. Some say hay is better than pellets/meal (no heat processing done). I am not sure what you would use the tea on at this time of year, but you can surely make a great batch whenever you are ready.

Sounds like you have a great start for the coming season, now comes the hard part; the wait...

Blutranes

Thanks for the replies. I have the plastic down because 1. my dog will use my garden area for her relief spot. 2.the temp has been in the 50's. and I want my worms to stay up close to the surface as long as they can. I will shred the hay and put some down with the leaves. I have been grabbing every free thing I can..I have a bunch of coffee grounds in 3 trash bags(Tim Hortons). I have about 80lbs. of three year old composted chicken manure and straw.(any good?) A bunch of leaves. I am just impatient and wanna throw it all in the garden and........I dont know..look at it I guess!..lol

You can just throw it all in the garden. That's what I do. The worms go nuts.

Shred the leaves if you can.

I think I am gonna throw it all in. I forgot to mention that I put dry mollases down after I TILLED. (Sorry for using that word, but I am a till man..) Pablo are you saying to throw the manure, hay, leaves, and till it? That is what I might do.. cover my compost and put it down in the spring.

Hmmm...Wonder what you are going to do about her (the dog) when all those plants start growing and she just has to go? Sounds to me like you need the "Dog Whisperer" over there.

"I have about 80lbs. of three year old composted chicken manure and straw.(any good?)"

Yep, very good IMO. All you need is another pile of compost going before the snow and cold temperatures hit. Another bin or a cleaned out bin is all you are lacking. Mixing the chicken manure in your next pile should really come in handy come spring. Now, about that peeking and waiting...

Blutranes

"Pablo are you saying to throw the manure, hay, leaves, and till it?"

I throw it all down without tilling. (Sorry, but I'm just lazy :)

last year I had two black cherry maters growing out of control close by the little doggie fence I put up. She would stand there and eat them right off the vine!

Wont the plastic keep my good stuff from leaching into the ground over the winter? If you think I should pull the plastic please tell me.

"Wont the plastic keep my good stuff from leaching into the ground over the winter?"

That all depends on how much organic matter you have in your soil now. If your soil is well amended all leaching should be absorbed by the organic matter in your soil now. Will it stop all leaching? That I can't say, for nobody knows how much snow/rain you will get this winter/spring. I am thinking having plastic over the plot will slow any breakdown of the leaves and anything else you add to the soil, IMO of course.

If you are chomping at the bit to till it in, just wait awhile, someone will come and tell you to till it all in; that is a matter of choice. Pablo would just throw it all down and let it brew that way; I would let it all compost and cure until needed this spring; someone else will have already cranked up the tiller and had it in the ground without a second thought. How you are going to do it will ultimately be up to you and how you like your garden to grow, as it should be. Which way you choose will work, although those worms you are enjoying peeking at may have something to say about those spinning blades...

Blutranes

I put down black plastic on a large garden area three years ago, and my garden is not yet fully recovered. Thought I was being smart and keeping the weeds down, soil from turning to mud in March, have the ground nice and warm-ready for spring planting. A little or a lot too smart. Killed off most of my microherd. They were still active at the edges, but beyond that, Desolation. Seeds, the seed leaves, would come up nice and green, then turn yellow and die. I was brewing compost tea every three days and watering with that to get veggies to grow. I still have patches that are not as fertile as I'd like. I'll never put down sheets of plastic again. Now I put down haybale "books" with coffee grounds sprinkled over them, and loose hay and rabbit poop from the bunny rescue lady on top of all. Shallow lasagna beds, I guess. I water the haybales when I get a few warm days. Otherwise the dry stuff can last a long time before decomposition begins.
Good luck to all gardeners with their many great ideas. Just don't outsmart yourself, as I did.

Please be careful when you handle alfalfa in any form, especially the hay -- I understand the dust contains a lung irritant, to which some people are powerfully allergic.

Sadly, it's not unheard of for people who daily handle alfalfa hay for a living to develop serious lung problems. Everyone I know in the hay business has mentioned this, particularly for the farming and racehorse businesses.

lovedemmaters, interesting that your worms are thriving under the black plastic! I thought if one left black plastic down too long, everything under it dies...hopefully someone with more experience will clarify this point.

In warm weather it'll cook them. If it's black plastic you'll kill everything in warm, sunny weather. People use it to kill weeds and seeds (it's called "solarizing"). Unfortunately, some report that after killing most everything there, sometimes the microbes that colonize the area quickest are not the ones that you want.

YMMV.

Clear plastic is used for solarizing. Black plastic is used for weed control.
This summer I used the black landscape fabric. I tilled in 2-3 inches of leaves, composted cow manure and alfalfa cubes (soaked for about 2hrs. in a trash can to break them up.) and I had the best yields ever. so then I started reading about the plastic. The fabric shredded to pieces.
I have heard alot of good about using black plastic but maybe they have not had it on for a period of time to get the results that tomatobob had.
This is the third fall that I have tilled ammendments in my soil. I am really excited to see what alfalfa tea does to my maters this year. I have never used it.
Thanks for the warning anita, I own a decorative concrete biz in my town and I have lots of dust masks for the color powders I use.

So, I am pulling the plastic! (thanx tomatobob)
I have already tilled once this fall,so I am going to keep the shredded leaves on the garden,then throw down some more dry mollases, then throw down a small layer of coffee grounds. After that I will put a layer of alfalfa hay down.
And my composted chicken manure will go into a new bin with the rest of my hay,coffee grounds,leaves and whatever else I can muster up. should I reverse anything or do I have a good plan?

My top layer would be leaves or some other brown...

Blutranes

Plastic of any kind will keep moisture from getting into the soil and mulch and can stop the air exchange necessary for the Soil Food Web to function properly. The nutrients in organic matter are not very often soluble enough to "leach" out, but you also want them in the soil, in the plants root zone where they will feed the plants. Soils that are anaerobic, without air, are deadly to plants.

well I started my new 4x4x4 caged pile 4 days ago. I mixed the alfalfa hay,leaves, dry mollases,my kitchen scrap bucket,one gallon of golden liquid I had been saving,and 2-5 gallon buckets of finished compost. I just checked it and the temp is at 115. I was suprised to see that considering it has rained for 2 days and the outside temp is 45. I did wrap the bin with a black insulation blanket and covered with 4 inches of unshredded leaves. thanks to all for the advice.