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Elmira, N,Y,

what typ of leaf should i use in my compost pill? are they as good as poo if i cant get any poo.

11/8/2008 8:59:39 PM

canal winchester ohio

Any leaves are fine, just try to avoid trees that bear nuts. If you can't get manure just make a nice big leaf compost pile in the corner of your garden & plant the rest of the patch in winter rye. After you till under the rye in the spring spread out the leaf compost & turn under. The both of these will raise your organic matter & add good nitrogen.

11/8/2008 9:33:51 PM

Woburn, MA.

Maple leaves are best.

11/9/2008 11:53:14 AM

Rhode Island

for the leaves to be of any benefit to the soil and its living matter it must be completely broken down before being added and tilled in.
this takes at least a year of turning and heating the pile before its ready for soil use.
a pile left standing over the winter will not benefit much when added to the soil during sring.
in fact while the leaves are still breaking down in your soil it will tie up most of your nitrogen.

the winter rye is a good source of nitrogen release in the spring once its tilled in.

a lot of cities and towns have professional leaf composting facilities. checking with them may help your situation

pap

11/9/2008 4:45:48 PM

Woburn, MA.

Pap, I added some leaves that I cut up with my lawnmower will this tie up the nitrogen in my soil? I did not add alot most went into the new compost bin.
When is " Dicks Tips 2" coming out? Paul

11/9/2008 5:38:47 PM

Rhode Island

paul

chopped up leaves is a very good idea and certainly will mostly be broken down through out winter and early spring.
good thinking.i have done this myself several years back.

for that same reason i like to mow up the leaves on our lawn several times in the fall. by spring they are mostly broken down and a benefit to the lawn.

dt-2 will be available very soon. it will be sold for a very modst fee as my goal is as alwys to help the growers edcuation and also generate a couple bucks for next winters o a f coats for kids fund.

for that reason i have decided to include dt-2 free in with every sngpg club member seed promo package.

i will also sell dt-2 seperately for those who just want the writings.
eithe way the orange angels foundation will benefit from the sale of dt-2

the goal is not to skin anyone, especially those loyal members who are going to purchase our clubs seed promo.

we are still collecting seeds and will not be in a position to notify our members until the december newsletter comes out.
as noted earlier those members who had checks refunded last year will have the right to purchase first before the promo goes out to the rest of our membership.

we should have enough promo packages for everyone this time around.

pap

11/11/2008 6:00:11 AM

canal winchester ohio

Pap, When I made my leaf compost pile I used chopped leaves & layered it like this. Layer of chopped leaves,layer of alfalfa pellets, layer of worm castings, light layer of topsoil & drenching of molasses. I would then soak the layer heavily with water & repeat the process again, I did this 6 times & then covered the top with topsoil & soaked it to form a cover. It's only been a week & the internal temp is 100 degrees with a outside air temp of 35 - 45 degrees. I hope they break down because I'm really wanting this pile to use on my planting hills. Any ideas to help the process along would be appreciated. Paul

11/12/2008 4:33:56 PM

Woburn, MA.

Thanks Pap.

11/12/2008 6:18:19 PM