Discussion Board

Thanks for the info. I only did it for that one year - I like the composting much better!

It's been so long ago since I did that, I have no idea whether I wet the leaves or not - but I feel pretty sure I tied them up.

I probably did wet them down since they had deteriorated so good!

Those rotted leaves are so useful--I forgot to mention, you can use them on the surface as mulch to suppress weeds. You know, it's so amazing how beneficial these materials are! Nature has a good system.

It's amusing but sad that my neighbors (a) pay to dispose of their leaves in the fall and (b) pay to buy mulch for their garden beds in the spring. Something is disconnected here!!!

Oh, yes - rotted leaves are great for mulching - they break down quickly and are good to keep the soil moist and pliable!

I also put my grass clippings around shrubs and flowers. Hubby does a lot of woodworking and I have a pile of shavings behind his workshop. I let that age about two years before I use it - he doesn't put any treated lumbeer on it.

I also know folks like you're talking about - but these marketeers have convinced folks they need the 'latest and greatest.'

Oh boy I can see more and more of a need to pick up neighbors leaves now. You all will come to my rescue when I get put away by authorities. I can just imagine explaining this complusive stealing of leaves now. They are going to think I'm loony.

I am thinking I may have done a good thing too. My top on the composter keeps blowing off. I know it needs to be moist so I've let it rain in there. It sits on the ground so it's got an escape and won't flood. So maybe this spring I'll get some action even though it's not full.

Of course we'll come to your rescue!!!

But if you're lucky, when you get 'caught' it will be a 'gardening' policeman and he'll explain to the homeowner what your purpose is!!! If you're not that lucky, we'll stand beside you in court and swear that you're telling the truth!!!

We have snagged a bag of leaves left out by the curb as we are walking in the neighborhood. Haven't asked as I can't imagine they would mind! I do feel like a criminal anyway, like we should put on black clothes and wait for nightfall.

I am trying to learn more about composting, we have one plastic bin. It is true that everything decomposes anyway. Like the science experiments I find in the fridge that haven't had green and brown layering and heat to help.

I feel like I belong to a band of leaf-thieves! I have to say though, most people will be pleased to know the leaves are going to a good cause.
Last fall we drove past one of my usual leaf-sites, a home where they use a mulcher so the leaves are nicely cut up and even mixed with a little grass...these are gourmet bags I'm talking about. Well, they had no bags out even though the trees were bare...hmmm. We drove around the corner and went through the alley. Suddenly I exclaimed, "Oh, **** it!" My husband says, "What, what?" I pointed my finger at the culprit--these people had started their own compost bin in their back yard. Phooey! there goes the neighborhood.

That's the problem, once people find out how great composting is they'll all start doing it and there won't be enough leaves for us!!! So let's try to keep the education at a minimum...

Another good leaf-thief story--I located one home in town with a very big collection of leaf bags. As we were loading them up, the owner came over. He was delighted, as he was about to load them up himself and take them to the dump. He waved happily as we left. When we got back, I noticed that these leaf bags were really, really good quality, I mean VERY heavy duty. Then I also noticed that some tears had been carefully repaired with duct tape. I said to my husband, "This guy is a recyler! He's been re-using these bags for years!" So I carefully emptied the bags of leaves into our bins, folded them all up and took them back to his place. No one was there, so I set them next to his driveway with a flat stone on top so they wouldn't blow away. I didn't get to talk to him again, but I just kept thinking how pleased this (obviously frugal) guy would be, to get his bags back! We environmentally conscious people (or in his case I guess PARTLY-conscious) folks have to stick together.

With the Recession so many more city folks are starting to garden. In my nice neighborhood, I know of three houses that have full gardens. These are the ones I can see because they are corner houses. We are not that large of a neighborhood either. I bet there is more.

last year my walking neighbor wanted to take a bag a leaves. she's Asian and her Mother loves to grow her herbs and long green beans, and other asian fare. Soky and I walked all around trying to spot the perfect bag, hopefully with some grass in there too.

So yes, maybe soon our tax dollars for leaf pick up (in my area) will be saved because there won't be leaves to be picked up. Or they'll charge those folks who refuse to reuse. I like it.

This has been really interesting reading -



Faith in DC - you might be on to something!!!!??? I heard a little blurp on the TV yesterday that the gvnm't is offering $500,000 grants for individuals to set up recycling stations . .they mentioned plastic, papers, etc . . .but no mention of leaves. Maybe we could call our legislators for LEAVES and garden waste recycling???!!!

And also, I think the recession is gonna get worse before it gets better and I know many, many people that had no interest in gardening that grew gardens last year - with bigger plans for the upcoming year! I'm a 'lazy' gardener . .since it's only me and dh at home now - we don't eat a whole lot, so I work my vegetables in with my flower gardens! Works well for me!

When we lived in the Cleveland area we didn't have to bag our yard waste. All one had to do was rake the leaf refuse to the curb on designated days. The city would come by with large vacuums and take all the stuff, no additional charge. They took it to their composting facility. Man, talk about steaming hot piles, it was visible! Residents could go their and fill the back of their trucks for a flat rate. We did that more than once. It was great stuff. Plus, you didn't have all those plastic bags, yes there are still places like where my sister lives that use plastic bags, going to the landfill, nor did you have to buy the brown paper ones.

Where I live, the county picks up leaves and carries them to a central location next to a Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens gets what they need and the rest is placed for others to get. On Saturdays, they will load your truck with mulch for a fee.
During the week or even while they are loading your trucks on Saturdays, you can shovel all of the mulch you want for FREE. I used to go there and get mulch for my 2 acre vegetable garden. That is, until 2 years ago. Now, you cannot get any of the mulch. The city has started community gardens and they use all of the mulch for that. Also, as many trips as I had to make, gas was costing a good bit.

I have found that the Utility company hires tree trimmers to come around and keep the trees trimmed back. They have huge truck beds in which they put the tree limbs and leaves into and it mulches everything. It costs these truckers money to dump this mulch into the county dump. So, whenever they are in my area, I get them to unload 10 -15 truck loads of mulch (and of course I do not charge them anything Ha!) in a certain area on our property. The pile is usually so big that it doesn't take much for it to break down. At first some neighbors complained. But, they live on our property and are the only people around for miles. So, we ignored them. And, it really doesn't look bad. I guess you could call this a recycling center. When we let the truckers dump their mulch. Only thing is, we use all of the mulch we get. And, because we live on a 200 acre farm, we have lots of trees. Part of our property is in woodlands. Any tree that falls is used for heating (if it isn't rotten). What cannot be used for firewood gets run through our Troy-Bilt mulcher for mulch.

I would like to say this. Some mulchers do not mulch the wood very fine. We have found the Troy-Bilt mulches wood finer than anything we have used. And, that makes it break down much quicker. Although, there are times we would like the mulch to not be as fine. We would not have a mulcher at all if it wasn't for all the tree limbs we need to dispose of and use. There are lots of good ideas floating around on how to make a mulcher. Google it. I just could never get my husband to make me one. I still feel like the investment was worth it because we have such a large garden. I figured all the trips to the county compost dump and the gas I used in a year, would pay for my mulcher in two years.
So, it was worth the cost.

Not only do we have a 2 acre vegetable garden but we have at least an acre of flowers and shrubs that need mulch.

I would like to make a note here: when putting mulch around your shrubs next to your house NEVER use the mulch you make or pine mulch that you can buy for this purpose. These will cause termites or bugs to get in your house. Cedar or cypress mulch should be used. You can either buy this mulch or if you have some cedar/cypress tree limbs that need mulching, use them. Also, they will last for years in comparison to the pine mulch.

Speaking of cedar/cypress mulch, one year, I used some cedar/cypress mulch as compost in my garden with great results. I had no bug problems! So, I had the best garden ever. I continued to use this same mulch without having to replace it for several years. The only problem with this...the mulch just didn't break down so it didn't help to loosen and improve the soil.

Not to repeat myself, but to repeat myself . . . this is the BEST thread I've read on composting!!! It's a great recommendation to 'new' composters!!!!

Sooooooo many ideas - soooooooo many tried and true tips - such GOOD information!

ImaTucker--I am really loving this, too!

Chrmann--Every detail about your place is fascinating! Would love to hear more about what you plant in your 2-acre vegetable garden!!!!!!!! Wow!
My garden is just 2600 square feet and when I talk about it sometimes people react as if that's huge, but it's only ONE-SIXTEENTH of an acre, and still wouldn't grow enough food for two people to survive on. Our forebears, even a hundred years ago had big gardens as a part of normal life.

I am so delighted to hear reports from Faith and others on this thread that more and more people are growing gardens, more community gardens, etc. In the future this activity will stop seeming like some weird obsessive hobby and go back to being part of normal life again.

Chrmann, others--how about we start a thread on 'garden planning' to talk about what ideas we have for the coming season? Oh, what the heck, I'll just go start one!

AnnaS,

My Dad always had a garden when I was growing up, as did his parents. I will be 60 this year and I have always had a garden. Not only do I have a garden for the exercise but I know what I am eating. I'm allergic to corn and it is in most things (over 10,000 names it goes by). I'm also allergic to what my friends say "almost everything". So, I have to be careful and plan my garden around what I can eat.

When my boys were growing up, we taught them to love to garden. We do not practice the Ruth Stout method as you do. We have tried it and it did not work out for us. Mainly because most of our garden is low ground and water tends to stand in it. We have raised beds and fill in between the beds with mulch. Usually, we will then till this in the ground in the Fall and make new beds. That way the compost will go to work in the ground for the next season. Our garden is low in most areas and so we need raised beds. Our soil is CLAY. We keep adding compost and other things to help build up the ground. If we make raised beds in the Fall, we are able to plant much earlier in the spring. Sometimes, it is too wet in the Fall to til the compost in the soil. So, the compost is still there in the Spring. We will then lightly til the compost in the top of the beds, leaving the compost in between beds. We then, plant and cover with compost again. We normally have a wet spring so it helps to have the garden ready ahead of time.

I have a green house that I use to start vegetable plants every year. It makes planting much earlier. I keep thinking I will plant my tomato seeds in the Fall after I make my raised beds for the next year. But, keep forgetting. Ha! You can tell I'm getting old or stuck in my ways. This way is called "Winter Sowing". A lot has been going on at our house this past year, so I forgot that was my plan for this year. I'm always open for new or easier ways to garden. Those who have never used mulch or compost around their plants do not realize how much easier it is to take care of a garden. There is no hoeing or tilling once the garden is planted.

I plant my vegetables in a different place in the garden each year. Also, I do what is called "companion planting". Believe it or not, certain vegetables will grow and do better planted next to other vegetables. I have a notebook that has graph paper on one side and lined paper on the other side. Each square on the graph paper equals 1 foot of my garden. My garden is so big, I have to use several sheets of paper to plan my garden. I draw in my raised beds and plan where everything will be planted, making sure I move these plants to a different spot each year and that companion plants are planted next to them. On the back of the chart, I list the plants and how they do. I have found that certain plants seam to always do better in the same place in the garden the years they are planted there. If I wasn't afraid I would have problems, I would just keep planting those vegetables in the same places each year.

I have always had a big crop of green beans until 2 years ago. The plants will put on tons of baby beans and then just before they are ready to pick, they disappear. Evidently, something is eating them. The same thing happened to my okra last year. I cannot imagine what would eat those plants! Anyway, I put up a fence and that didn't work. I re-planted the beans and planted squash on either side and end of the bean rows. Well, the beans came up first and disappeared before the squash was big enough to protect the beans. So, had tons of squash and no beans. I understand the leaves on the squash plants are so hairy that it deters animals from chewing on or getting to the beans. So, this year, I will plant squash first and then wait a couple of weeks and plant my green beans. I am thinking about growing squash plants to plant, to give them a bigger head start. I had yellow squash running out of my ears last year! I have enough squash put up for several years. So, really do not need anymore planted this year. Another thing, I usually plant bush beans. I'm thinking about planting some running beans on a trellis this year. But, I'm afraid the deer will get to the beans then. We love and miss our green beans! I was able to grow tons of purple hull peas and other types of beans so find the disappearance of the green beans strange.

Another thing about companion plants, they will also keep you from spraying for bugs. They are a built-in bug deterrant for the crops you want to grow.

Another garden tip: Once beans seam to quit producing, you can mow the plants down to about 2 inches and they will produce another crop. Once cabbage heads are pulled, they will put on small heads beside the plants. Etc. Lots of plants work this way.

huh I never noticed that with cabbage before. maybe we pulled the whole thing out.

I'm so tickled to read about my squash and bean ideas. I have been planting my squash next to my beans and I plant the squash outside perimeter hoping to keep rabbits out.