Phisherman said

On Sun, 7 Mar 2010 15:30:00 +0000 (UTC), DirtBag
wrote:

I started my first compost pile last fall, mostly leaves mulched with
my mower. I turned it several times, but given the limited time,
it's not yet compost - mostly just leaves.

Anyway, I'm planning to use raised beds this season, and I was hoping
to use this "compost" in the raised beds. I was planning to rototill
this compost into the first several inches of soil, then install the
raised beds, add some more of this compost, and finish off with some
local topsoil from the local nursury.

Am I missing something? Will this leaf-compost be problematic?
Should I swap the topsoil planned for the raised beds for something
else.

Any guidance for a newby would be greatly appreciated.

DB


Use the parts that have composted. I have three wire compost bins,
each at varying decomposition stages. Leaves alone will take much
longer to compost, turning into leaf mold (a valuable organic
material but maybe not typical "compost"). Maybe your leaf pile is
cold--try mixing in some green material until you see some steam
coming off of it. When that happens the pile will decrease in
volume, turn dark, and break into finer pieces. A live compost
pile works like magic.


I did have a fair amount of greens in the pile, I also added some bone
meal, the pile did get hot last fall, but I think it cooled over the
winter. I turned it again, hopefully it'll fire back up. I'm going to
put in some more bloodmeal too. I clearly need a dedicated compost pile.