10-06-2006, 12:42 AM
posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Leaf shreaders for home owners
Srgnt Billko said:
"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
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I Love Lucy said:
"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
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Steveo said:
wrote:
ROFL Good read!
Do you mulch or bag?
I've never had a bagger. I think they're a pain in the ass. If the
grass is
too tall to mulch, then I'll take the blocking plate off the discharge
chute, and rake the clippings. One or two times like that usually
provides
enough grass clippings to stir into the leaves from the fall and gets
my
compost going. =)
Now there's a good compromise for me at least with the grass. Thanks
for the idea. I hate to buy more stuff, but I saw at the hardware store
that have some plastic barrels with handles you turn every so often. I
will *consider* getting one of those if I can't find an improvised
solution.
I looked at those, and it seems a good solution for small-scale
composting.
I opted to build my own a few years ago, and am glad that I did. It's
three
bins, each 3x3x3 feet, with removable slats down the front, and 1/4" nylon
mesh on the remaining sides. It worked great, provided it was turned. This
year, I put my vegetable garden in raised beds, and filled them with a mix
of 50% river-bottom topsoil (screened thru a 3/8" screen), 25% composted
manure and 25% composted yard waste (both screened thru a 1/2" screen). I
won't be needing fresh compost for a few years, I don't think, so I've
been
a bit lax in turning it. Too many other things to do right now, and no
hurry on that one.
As was stated earlier in the thread, you do need some grass clippings in
with the leaves (approx 20% grass should do fine), in order to move the
composting process along. It also helps to let the grass clippings dry out
a bit, before adding them to the compost. I'd spread mine out on a tarp on
the driveway until they'd start to brown a bit, and then add them. Looked
a
bit strange to my neighbors, until they saw what I was doing with it. I
think I saw a tarp of them, on a driveway down the street, the other day.
Eggs
You can also add lawn fertilizer (high in nitrogen) to the compost to help
is cook. I buy a couple broken bags at the end of the year - they
practically give it away.
I'll sometimes grab a couple extra containers of worms, when I'm goin'
fishin', and dump them in, also.
--
Eggs
-Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
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