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?

David.

"David Rose" wrote in message
...
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?

David.

Leaves do indeed take longer to decompose
However if you fork out and over your compost every few weeks plus add
lashings of urine you should find when the weather warms up that the compost
is soon pretty usable
I find that the more you turn compost from one bin to another the better it
is

bnd777 wrote:
"David Rose" wrote in message
...
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?

David.

Leaves do indeed take longer to decompose
However if you fork out and over your compost every few weeks plus add
lashings of urine you should find when the weather warms up that the
compost is soon pretty usable
I find that the more you turn compost from one bin to another the
better it is

next year, if you have a lawn and heavyinsh duty rotary mower. Pile all your
leaves up on the lawn and run the mower over thwm a couple of times. The
will rot down far quicker in smaller bits

pk

"David Rose" wrote in message ...
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?

The longer period is really for pure leaf-mould, rather than ordinary
compost. If your heap is working well, I'd say it should be ready this
year. I assume you're turning your heap every now and then, and that
it's got some kind of activator in it (muck, human urine, whatever),
and has adequate air and moisture, and so has become nice and warm.

You can often get away with partially composted material as a mulch,
but it does leave you vulnerable to weed-seeds, and makes a nice home
for slugs and diseases, so I wouldn't recommend it. If you actually
need to *get rid* of the heap before it's ready, you could bury the
contents in the bottom of your sweet-pea, pea, or bean trenches/holes
and I doubt if it'd do any harm. I've committed some terrible
anti-text-book outrages in my time, and my garden has lived to tell
the tale; but it's best to follow the rules.

Mike.

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