Finishing up the garden..what to do with waste?

[sahmoffour]

This is the first year my dh and I have done a large garden. We're cleaning things up today and harvesting potatoes and carrots, but we're at a loss on what to do with all the pumpkin/squash vines, and other organic waste. So thought I'd ask the experts....

Should we make a compost pile outside the garden, or a compost pile in the middle of the garden to spread in the spring (will it compost enough over winter? We're in Alberta so freezing temps and lots of snow), or should we just spread the organic waste all over the garden now and will it be composted enough by the spring that way?

Thanks, sorry, I'm sure this is a dumb question!

[chickenista]

I don't know how rampant garden disease are in the frozen North, but down here, I don't compost anything vegetation from the garden.
I throw it all on the burn pile.
I don't want to spread the fungal spores or bacteria that could carry over winter or any bug eggs etc...

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Haven't I seen you in the goat forum? I would feed garden waste to them and/or chickens if you have them.

[where I want to]

I have seen compost piles steaming through the snow so I think that a good hot pile is the best. I generally clean up everything out of the garden for the reasons mentioned above- debris harbors pests and disease.
But there is almost nothing that I consider waste. The goats get first whack at everything. If it's not safe for the goats, it goes to the compost bins unless there is disease or noxious weed seeds. That goes to the dump but it's very, very little.

[geo in mi]

Kinda sixofone, halfadozen another.....you could till it into the soil now, use it in an off site compost pile if it has enough greens(it will compost sooner or later), or stack it off site near the compost to work into the compost as browns--or rake it off and burn it now or in the spring--or let it lay and till it into the soil in the spring. For me, I wouldn't pile it or stack it in the garden because it may be too wet to do anything with when it's time to garden next year. In a stack or pile, a lot of it will probably not decompose, especially tough squash vines. Really your choice as to what you have time for now.....

geo

[Marcia in MT]

We spread it on the garden now, chopping up anything tough/coarse like corn stalks, and roughly till it in. Water. It will mostly decompose over the winter, even here in northcentral Montana -- which is a lot like Alberta.

This is sometimes known as sheet composting. And we usually add a couple of loads of shredded leaves & grass clippings to add even more organic matter.

[frankva]

I have several spots that I drag woody stuff. Bad maters etc. Peelings. Other things go in a bin I built from fence wire. This year I am back to under an apple tree that really has enjoyed the bean and pea foliage.

I get it out and away from the garden. 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other.

You would think the stuff would break down under all that snow, but some needs to be chopped up first.

[Paquebot]

For the coarse woody stuff like squash and tomato vines, do you have a mulching mower handy? Run everything through that and leave it where it falls. Otherwise a mix of just those two wouldn't compact enough to compost without a lot of other smaller stuff to fill in the voids.

Martin