The Leaves are Falling; Time to Start a New Compost Pile
December 17th, 2009 | 
Author: I always have a compost pile going, but this year I would like to try something different.
I was sweeping up the leaves around the front yard when a neighbor stopped to ask if I wanted his rake or leaf blower. I told him that I was fine. He said it would go faster. Yes, but I find the motion of sweeping relaxing, so I was in no hurry. My 3 year old daughter came to help, which meant attacking me and the leaves with a rake (a quest inspired by Samurai Scooby Doo). In the end, she and my baby daughter had fun going through a huge pile of leaves.
I have thrown some leaves away recently, but I prefer to use them as a mulch or for my compost. Since I have been redoing my garden layout, I lost my original area for the compost pile. I do have two piles going though. I use a layer technique, where I do not have to worry about them too much. In this style of composting, you layer materials for good effect, then cover everything with dirt. You will have a layer of decayed material followed by a layer of green matter. I run all of the leaves through my chipper to help the decomposition process. This method works, but it does take a while to get good compost.
I had a compost bin, where I turned the pile every so often. For this method, you really need two bins, because you turn the compost over to help the decomposition process. I think that this work discourages many homeowners from having a compost pile. For me though, it was the space needed as a work area. You need about six square feet for each bin. There has to be enough room in front of the bins for you to work at turning over the pile.
An alternative is to have one of these round plastic tumbler bins for your compost. They say that you just need to give the bin a turn each day (the bin being in a frame with rollers), and you will have compost faster. I have to see how much that will be. Maybe I can build a frame from pvc pipe. Use round trash cans as my bins. That may work. Maybe it is time to experiment again.
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