Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 12:51:10 -0400, Cheryl Isaak wrote:

Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell
yesterday after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the
bag and bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

Air is a very important part of compost production. To make compost you
need:
equal part green, brown air annd water. When you bag the compost you make
it very hard for the air to reach the leaves. The water that you added
will be enough for a while but the bacteria will comsume it over time. If
you were able to get compost working in the bags, the heat from the
cooking compost maybe too much for the bags to take.

Why do you feel the need to make compost in bags? There are really nice
compost bins on the market that are rather cheap.
Good luck.......

--
Trees are like children, train them right when their young.....
or spend a lifetime trying to correct them.

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several
occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just
fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the
bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my
mower.

Composting in bag will result in an anerobic process, which will
tend to be smelly.

Try mixing in a sprinkle of dirt to innoculate the leaves with
the necessary bacteria. Mix in some lawn clippings to help it
along. Better yet, do it in a bin so air can get at it.

Bob

You'll get better results with a compost pile on the ground. Confined
to a container, there may not be the beneficial microorganisms that
break down leaves.

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 12:51:10 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

--
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect." Chief Seattle
"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...

I've only tried doing this as I tend to

A. Fill up my bins quickly

I tend to be quite the lazy composter......I NEVER turn my heap......(you
should see all the bee-ou-i-ti-ful black soil just begging to be shoveled
into my cart and used somewhere worthy......................

B. Can't resist when I see all those leaves already bagged and waiting on
the street.

well, I too tend to gather and scrounge those leaves that are already
bagged. And by the way, around here, the bags of leaves have mowed grass in
them, which makes them little plastic bags of instant compost! I found
seven mashed bags of leaves I'd scrounged from a job I worked at three years
ago under the deck where I'd forgotten about, and when I dragged the plastic
bags out to the side slope, it was like dragging a small body. the bags
opened easily, and I discovered it was full of rotted, perfect black soil,
the smell was divine, and it was teaming with red worms! My Vitex bed was
extremely grateful for the dumping of them.

Now I know three years is much, but I'm sure with the cheapness of the
plastic bags, and that the leaves were totally composted, there was some
ability of moisture to get inside and work it's magic. I remember now that
all of those bags were HEAVY they were stuffed so full when I saw them out
front of the people's house where I turned to go home every night.

When I finally stopped and asked if I could have them, they said I was the
third person to stop and ask, and since I was the first to actually come to
the house after asking, to take what I could. I managed to get almost all of
the 35 bags into the truck and inside. When I got them home, I was curious
as to why they weighed so much and that's when I discovered they were ground
up leaves and grass clippings and were packed so tightly they almost didn't
have room to be tied!!

the majority of the bags were the underlying layer of the tomato boxes since
I hadn't enough money at the time to buy bags of soil to fill the deep boxes
up with.

I say if you spread your leaves on your yard and mow them once or twice,
you'll have enough grass clippings and those leaves will be shredded enough.
Sprinkle them a little bit and tie them up and you'll most likely have
almost finished compost by spring! (I've done this for YEARS, as I used to
live in the city with not enough room for all the compost piles and spots
myself...................)

C. I keep reading, in magazines, online, etc, how easy it is to bag it and
let in rot. I think I've even seen the method in the book "Let it Rot".

I need to photo copy you my copy of Ruth Stout's book, How to have a Green
Thumb Without an Aching Back. A New Method of Mulch gardening............In
fact, if I mail it to you, you can scan it yourself and send it back to me.
It's a photo copied copy of the book when I checked it out at an old library
where we first lived when we moved here. I then glued the pages together
into a book and there you go............interested?g



I guess I really need to find a new spot for another bin/heap, but it's
getting harder, I've got 1 large bin, an "Earth Machine", a tumbler (waste
of money for me) and 2 heaps.

How about using a plastic garbage can on wheels (they're $9 at Lowes) with a
few holes drilled into the sides for ventilation and layer your green and
brown and kitchen stuffs? I thought about a snap lid round garbage can that
I could roll across the lawn to mix up the stuff with, but I have no lawn or
yard you'd call a yard. Side yards, yes. Steep slopes you need a short leg
and a long leg to walk level deffinately. Let me know about the Ruth Stout
book, ok?

madgardener up on the rainy, and stormy unseasonably warmish ridge, back in
Fairy Holler overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7,
Sunset zone 36



Cheryl

The cooler and drier the climate, the slower the composting process. The
little bacteria whose job it is to break down decaying matter do their work
best in a lot of heat, humidity, moisture, and air. It's possible that the
cold winters and relatively cool summers of New Hampshire are not quite
enough to help these little guys get the job done in quick time.In my cool
western dry climate, certain kinds of leaves could last almost indefinitely,
turning to dust long before they turned to compost. However, leaves can be
dug into moist earth here and will eventually decay.
"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell
yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

Ye Olde Rotted Oak Leafe:

Find a stand of oak trees under which a thick layer of last years' leaves
have fallen. I like to simply suck up several trash bags full using a
lawnmower with bag attached. (Have a snappy comeback for passersby
inquiring, "Why are you mowing the forest?") Depending upon the mower, you
may have to dump the bag and suck them up again to get the leaf particles
suitably shredded. Dump the now shredded oak leaves into black plastic
garbage bags. If the leaves are dry, spray water into the bag until they're
moderately damp. Tie off the bag, and poke several tens of holes into it (I
just use my car key or chopstick). Place the bags where they will receive
all day sunlight. Every once in awhile, give the bags a good swift kick!

In six to ten weeks, you will have lovely dark rotted oak leaf.

Dave

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell
yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

I have had good luck using the bagged leaves to insulate the roses then in spring
running water into the now very holey bags and laying them in the sun. by fall the
leaves are pretty well mulched. Ingrid

Cheryl Isaak wrote:

Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

That assumes I'd attempt to grow roses here! LOL - if it needs winter
pampering I don't do it!

But, the rest of the trick is worth a try!
Cheryl

On 10/30/04 10:07 AM, in article ,
" wrote:

I have had good luck using the bagged leaves to insulate the roses then in
spring
running water into the now very holey bags and laying them in the sun. by fall
the
leaves are pretty well mulched. Ingrid

Cheryl Isaak wrote:

Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Cheryl Isaak wrote in message ...
Has any one had success doing this? I've tried on several occasions with
very little compost and lots of leaves looking like they just fell yesterday
after a year's time. I've tried adding water after filling the bag and
bagging wet leaves. I use partially shredded leaves from my mower.

Cheryl
Southern NH

Last fall my neighbor had 15 bags (if I remember right) sitting in her
yard waiting for someone to take them to the curb for pickup. She does
not use weed killers or other chemical on her lawn, just well water. I
ask for them; we were both happy. I took them behind the storage shed,
poured a bit of nitrogen fertilizer, a bit of garden soil and some
manure, poked holes in the bags. last month i emptied most of them on
the lawn and those that did not break completely down, we ran over
with the mower and they nearly all simply settled down into the lawn.
The ones that broke down well, I spread as mulch on garden areas. One
of them was the last baging of lawn clippings and autumn leaves last
fall from our lawn and it broke down to really good compost which went
on a special garden area. It seems to work pretty well! Our lawn,
which for past 20 years has been grossly neglected does look a lot
better. This is our second full fall season here. I am old and unable
to turn a compost heap so this is a workable solution for me.
lee/leo