Compost Ingredients

[feldon30]

This seems as good a time as any to bring up that Deer Park grows in pretty much pure leaves and leaf mold.



I found that tomato varieties that I'd experienced as being just so-so on flavor were really fantastic when grown in such rich soil.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Folks, a quick question on the back of this thread. Is it is a good idea to add wood ashes from the fireplace to the compost pile?

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Folks, a quick question on the back of this thread. Is it is a good idea to add wood ashes from the fireplace to the compost pile?

I would love a T'Ville answer to this too. I have added them in the past and I have no complaints about my soil. It was a record year.

However, the answers about fireplace ash in your garden on the web are all over the place. You read one article saying yes, the next one saying no and so on and so on.

[biscgolf]

i have always done it with no apparent ill effects...

[kath]

Because of the alkalinity of the ashes, I add them directly to the garden rather than the to compost pile, as I had read not to add lime or ash to compost. I'm anxious to hear what the experts have to say on this one, too, as we save up the ash in containers until the few times/year that we can spread it in the garden but we're continually adding stuff to the compost pile so it'd be a lot easier to put it there.

[RayR]

I've heard it both ways, some say that because leaves are naturally acidic you should add a little lime to the compost, others say that the composting process tends to even out the PH by itself.
I think both may be correct depending on the ingredients of the compost and the amount of aeration (like turning the compost regularly which causes the compost to be less acidic). Also your type of soil that you are adding the compost too is something to take into consideration. If your soil in naturally alkaline, you would want the compost to be more acidic to buffer the PH down, if your soil is a low PH type, you would want the compost PH to be more toward alkaline.
I've also read that you should be careful when adding lime or wood ashes to a compost pile because it causes a loss of Nitrogen in the pile as it causes more N to be converted to ammonia. Personally, I just leave things be, if I need to add lime, I just add it to the beds later.

[ddsack]

Thanks Kath and Lakelady for your input on the shredders. After waffling for about an hour I went with the new Flowtron model from Amazon because I like the variable tipping angle base. I should have ordered one much earlier this fall, because I have a feeling that even if it arrives by the middle of next week, I likely won't get a chance to use it this year because we're shortly due to have snow or rain to wet down the leaves.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Folks, a quick question on the back of this thread. Is it is a good idea to add wood ashes from the fireplace to the compost pile?

It depends.

I would not add ashes of painted or pressure treated wood to my food stream.

When I lived in acidic (soil) New Hampshire I routinely added ashes to both my compost and lawn.

If I lived where soil was more alkaline, I might not add any...

[kath]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Thanks Kath and Lakelady for your input on the shredders. After waffling for about an hour I went with the new Flowtron model from Amazon because I like the variable tipping angle base. I should have ordered one much earlier this fall, because I have a feeling that even if it arrives by the middle of next week, I likely won't get a chance to use it this year because we're shortly due to have snow or rain to wet down the leaves.

Hope you like your new Flowtron- you might want to invest in some ear protection if you don't already have some, as it's quite noisy when you're standing on top of it for so long. Ditto for a face mask to keep the leaf dust out of your lungs.

If you still have time and storage space, you can always rake up a bunch and store them in bags until the weather clears. We do that all the time and even throw a large tarp over the bags to make sure they stay dry.

[dice]

Nutrients in municipal leaves:
http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/supp...pal_Leaves.htm

In Deer Park's rows, he piles up new leaves every year, but that
only affects nitrogen levels in the top of the bed. Down below, he
has several inches of fully decayed leaf mold that is basically just
humus mixed with his native soil by earthworms. So his plants are
living on worm castings plus the non-nitrogen nutrients released
from the decaying leaves. He lives in a warm climate, so moist leaves
likely decay faster than they would in cooler areas.

Regardless of whether the materials added to a compost pile are acidic
or alkaline, the pH of compost tends toward neutral as the compost
matures. So you can add wood ash to the pile without excessively raising
the pH of the end result. I do not know if it would slow down the
composting process.

[ddsack]

I finally got my Flowtron leaf shredder put together -- the original packaging was missing some screws, so I had to call the company and email them the info, they promptly sent the needed items.

So today after Thanksgiving dinner, I went out and found some leaves that were damp, but not wet (the snow is slowly melting after a few days of warmer weather) and had a grand time testing my Flowtron. Sure wish I had known about it years ago, just wait until next fall -- I think I am going to have a shredding addiction! I couldn't use the very finest setting because the leaves were a bit damp, but the upside was that it wasn't very dusty, so didn't need a facemask. I think the best time to avoid dust would be to shred the leaves right after they fall, before they get brittle dry. So glad I found this thread!

[lakelady]

Glad you got a shredder Dee! I'd definately also recommend earplugs, those things can probably do some damage as they are VERY loud. Then again, seems like all the lawn equipment used around here is pretty loud too. I haven't used mine yet because I haven't begin to do the leaves on the terraces, I just did the two main lawns and for those I used the mower and bagged the shreds. <sigh> I am always doing leaves well into December if weather permits, or else a few weeks in Spring too. I'd better put that stuff to good use!

[ddsack]

If we have a dry spring, maybe I'll get a chance to do some more after the snow is gone. We don't ever have much raking on the lawn, but there are lots of leaves in the woods surrounding. I see I will have to be picking out lots of sticks though. Yes - on the ear protection! I borrowed my husband's shooting ear muffs and they were fairly comfortable. We have one more warm day predicted for tomorrow, so maybe I will do one more batch of leaves. I wear glasses, but I can see it would be better to have the wider protective lenses as well.

[lakelady]

Well, today I did some leaves and bagged the shreds. I have been SUCH A FOOL. Last year when I bought the shredder, I automatically shred into bags, and put them at the curb for the municipal collection. I could have used those shreds!! So, today's batch, filled a huge black plastic bag, that is now too heavy to move (seriously, the leaves were very moist). It is absolutely beautiful, and so finely shredded it will decompose in no time at all. Much finer than the lawn mower does for sure.

After looking at pics of people's plants who use compost and leaf mold, I'm banking on some pretty nice looking plants next year, yay! Maybe having all these trees isn't so bad after all...lol

[ddsack]

My main reason for getting the shredder was to have leaf mulch for topping my gardens, and to mix into the compost pile. The neighbor man has always been fastidious about raking his leaves into long windrows and then burning them. (Yes, it's allowed out here in the boonies with a permit) I may ask him for his leaves next year, though he may not want to part with them because I think torching them is a fall ritual for him.

I love the consistency of the shredded leaves -- I did another batch today as well. This time I decided just to leave the shreds in a big pile and see what happens to it over the winter. If they get too solid and gummy by spring, I'll just mix them into the adjacent manure pile. I'm wondering if I should bring a bag of them into the garage, I could mix some into the potting soil if I have to repot any of my house plants over the winter. I love this stuff!