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Eganville, Ontario

Alright, so I have two piles of leaves composting. They are this falls leaves, started fresh in two piles. I have layered about 10 inches of leaves with a few inches of one year old cow manure. When I have greens, I sandwich a layer of greens in too. The piles are hot and constantly shrinking.

Well it seems once word gets out that I'm collecting maple leaves, more and more keep showing up. It's gotten out of hand and if I have to take a guess I would say that I have probably the equivalent of 125 garbage bags of mostly mape leaves. Well over 1500 pomuds by weight. They are all layered and cooking between the manure.

My question is this, how broken down will they be by spring, and how much can I use in the spring.

Background on my garden is as follows. I have a newer garden 900 square feet with low levels of most key nutrients and a OM percentage of 8%. Now, I'm adding a new garden about double that, somewhere around 1500 sq. feet where I can grow two other plants. This soil will be trucked in, so it will be anything but chalk full of nutrients and OM. It's going to be weak commercial top soil and I'll probably add some manure.

So my question is, how much of this leaf compost can I put on and till in during the early spring without locking nitrogen levels in the garden, but still boosting nutrient and OM levels?

Thanks.

11/10/2012 5:10:34 PM

Western PA

I composted leaves, apples, vege scraps,and coffee grounds a few years ago in the fall. They did not break down very much by spring. I tried to turn the pile over in the winter on a nice day but it still did not break down enough to use in the spring as compost. I turned the pile in the spring and a few times in the summer and it was ready by fall ( one year later), nice black dirt.

My guess is that it will take you a year as well since you live in Ontario. So, if you can see pieces of leaves still in the spring , I would not use it.

11/10/2012 9:53:34 PM

South Hero, VT

Composting bacteria go dormant at temps below 50-55 degrees. This can be modified by placing hay bales around and on top of the pile. If you are energetic and turn the pile once a week, you might have enough decomposition to incorporate the compost into your patch in the spring.

The general consensus, however, seems to be to wait a year for full composting to occur.

Here's a link: http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/compoststages.html

11/11/2012 7:58:05 AM

Colorado

The bigger the pile the more heat can be generated because the outer layers will insulate.ive got a pile thats 20-25 yards.50% horse-50%leaves.I'll put clear plastic over it by mid december(still building it).By spring it will be usable-will have thousands of red wigglers doing their thing. That may not be realistic in your climate-you may be sig. colder than denver.You might use some in the spring and save the rest for 2014 as suggested and keep adding material on past 2014

11/17/2012 2:26:49 AM

Ontario

Leaves do not really compost,they are broken down by fungus, I beleive the finished material is a great soil builder, it is known as leaf mold, it is very very good for cabbage or anything in the Brasica family.Its only draw back is it takes a long time to completly break down.But it's worth the wait.Pile them togeather and forget it ,till it's black and crumbley. Terry

11/17/2012 9:28:51 AM

Eganville, Ontario

Thanks for the input. Great link Steve.

I'll peel open the piles in the spring and see if I can get some usable material out of the warm center. Since I have two piles, I'll take anything decomposed and then mix the remaining stuff together and hopefully have it ready for next fall.

I've stacked many full bags of leaves around and on the pile to hopefully work as an insulator to keep it warm as long as possible.

11/19/2012 7:21:47 AM

Spanaway

i do not know if any one else has had this problem,i
use to pile leafs up,but i got evey bug that layed eggs on them and desease the tree had.not sure if they where broken down enough or what took me 2 yrs to get the patch clean agin after that.so i do not use leafs any more

11/19/2012 11:57:10 AM