Compost Question

[wiscto]

So I have a silver maple in my backyard that drops about a metric ton of leaves every fall. I want to compost it over winter. I think I can do this in a plastic garbage bin, but can you all set me straight?

I also read that I need about a 1% nitrogen and 30% carbon. The rest is....dirt?

Thanks, first time composter here.

[Danaus29]

They won't all fit in the garbage bin. I've stuffed every compost bin I've got full of leaves at one time or another and they simply don't fit. Not even after they are chopped up by the mower.

The best way to gather the leaves is to mow them over with a mower with a bagger attachment. Minimal raking that way and the leaves are already partially broken down. If your garden is fenced simply dump the leaves into the garden. If the garden isn't fenced your best bet is to get some fencing and set up a leaf bin. Hard to describe but it would take me only a few seconds to demonstrate. What you want to do is make a circular bin of wire with a few fence posts set up to hold the bin in place. Fill the bin with the leaves. You can add a bit of soil over layers of leaves if you want. You can add other organic material if you want. You can stir occasionally if you want. You'll still get compost if you just dump the leaves and ignore them. The best use of the leaves would be to till them in as an amendment when you work the garden soil. Some people just spread leaves in their garden in the fall then till them in so they decompose in place by spring. Some people spread the leaves in spring then till them in.

The nitrogen/carbon percentages are element percentages. Not 1% grass, 30% leaves, 69% soil. You want more carbon based material than nitrogen based material for proper decomposition. Too much nitrogen and the compost pile will stink, too much carbon and it takes longer to decompose.

[wiscto]

Thanks. After I posted I thought, "maybe I should have said 12 bins." I'll see if I can find a good table to use regarding nitrogen and carbon loads, but if anyone wants to share the ingredients of their compost I would appreciate it.

[geo in mi]

I use a lot of leaves by letting the grass grow tall just before leaf fall, then shred them together with the lawnmower. I rake them up and simply pile them in a spot. They will not blow away, and the next year I will use them for a nitrogen rich mulch around plants such as brocolli or cabbage. The leaves that I rake up, I pile in another spot for use as a summer mulch in areas like squash or cucumbers. For composting, I use the collected house waste like coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable trimmings, etc, etc, and mix in with the "greens" from the garden--like green bean vines, or the clover oat mixture from the fallow legume areas that I will rotate to in a couple of years. With this heap/pile, during the second year, it gets all my fish waste to make my "super dooper" planting compost for the third year....

I garden on nearly pure Michigan sand, so it needs a constant supply of organic materials of any and all kinds to keep it producing.

Here is a handy chart of the Nitrogen content of lots of materials--along with the Carbon;Nitrogen ratios of the same: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/OnFar...apa.taba1.html

Hope this helps.

geo

[wiscto]

Thanks!

[Moboiku]

Originally Posted by wiscto

I also read that I need about a 1% nitrogen and 30% carbon. The rest is....dirt?

Think of it as parts rather than percentages. One part nitrogen to 30 parts carbon. The leaves are your carbon so for every 30 parts of leaves, you need 1 part of nitrogen.

[logbuilder]

There is a sticky thread here called 'Extreme Composting'. Lots of good info.

Extreme Composting