In article , David
Rose writes
I am "new" to leaves but I have 'a ton' of them this year, composting in
layers with other material. I know they should be left for 2+ years,.but
what is likely to be the end result for my crops, if I use the partially
rotted compost later this year? Simply failure to be effective? Or actual
crop reduction? And will there be any benefit in 2005 as the leaves continue
to decompose?

Of course - what do you think happens in the 'wild'??

What we do is collect all this year's leaves and store them in bags
behind the compost heap - as we have a lot of leaves, this makes a
mountain of bags!!!
We then add them, bag by bag, to next year's grass cuttings plus any
vegetable kitchen waste and garden prunings/weedings into the compost
heap. The heat from the cuttings seems to aid the composting process of
the leaves and the dryness of the leaves seems to aid the composing
process of the cuttings.
It is all nicely rotted down for spreading on the beds the following
year.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see