"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
link.net...
There's usually no problem mulching leaves or other plant material. As
long
as its mulched fine enough to breakdown quickly. Avoid mulching during
wet
or damp conditions.


That caught my attention. Why avoid mulching while wet ? They break
down
quicker when wet. When I used to use a shredder I kept a hose going
continuously on the output. Do you cover your compost pile to keep it dry
?
A dry pile of mulched leaves will take a long time to cook - a wet pile
will
produce heat in 48 hours.

I think that the main reason for not mowing up leaves when wet is that they
just lay there all wet all uncooperatively and do not pick up and be cut up
and mulched or thrown around. Lazy wet leaves.... I try to double cut them
by sending them inside my circle of cut and then once in a while turning
around and sending them outward. Seems to work OK that way. I do this when
it is dry.
Tomes