Leaf Mold, Do Tell..

I just toss them (mostly pecan leaves) in a welded wire fence enclosure, make a slurry of alfalfa meal (50 lb. sack from a feed store lasts a long time) in a 5 gallon bucket, and pour that in the middle. Cover with more leaves and hose it down. Keep adding leaves until the neighbours stop putting out the sacks. I may fork it a little now and then to add more slurry, but I don't bother turning it anymore and just let it set longer.

Thanks, I've been wondering about using alfalfa meal.

Care Charlie

Take it that works better than fresh grass clippings, then.. I may try that at some time.. Thanks! :)

We've got a HUGE pecan tree on the property, plus an oak, 2 elms, 3 chestnut.. Quite a bit to make use of..

Minus the black walnut which I can't use for anything. :|

Banana Nut Bread.

Black Walnut meats are the best for it.

Care Charlie

Nut the nuts.. The leaves and shells.. I can't use THEM for anything since they have a herbicide property.. Would end up with the mulch of death for my lilies.. 8'o

I know.....the damn things are hell on garden areas as well. The hulls are a staining nightmare on everything. Isn't it great when the squirrels start in on them and drop hull pieces on your vehicle and stain the hell out of the finish?

Most people don't care for the nuts either.

Charlie

Haven't had the pleasure of that yet since we just moved in.. However it reminds me of when I was living in PA. Had black berries growing wild as well as a huge mulberry tree.. Needless to say when they were ripe, they poop purple...

Odd color to smear across your window with the wiper blades..

So how do you hull your nuts? I'd heard of people using old corn hullers on them..

Heh heh......mulberry poop.........I know it well. :-)

The old hand powered corn hullers work great on them, particularly if you are doing lots of them, after drying. Others just pour them on their driveway and drive over them for a while. Extra work that is.

We don't crack a lot now.......enough for a few quarts of meats. I just let them dry and break the hulls off by hand, wearing gloves........when I am just sittin' and enjoying the late fall weather. Raked up a couple bushels last week and they are drying in the shed.

No fancy cracker either......just a hammer and a small chunk of rail.

Charlie

It gets the pile smokin'....... I usually cover it in black plastic to retain moisture and heat. The steam shoots out small holes on cool mornings. I generally take a couple of scoops from a plastic pitcher per bucket and let it soak for a few minutes. I used to use rabbit food pellets, until I realized how cheap a 50 lb. bag was.

Oh yeah. And, especially when there are no fresh clippings and tons of leaves. I've also used alfalfa meal and alfalfa tea to fertilize pecans in the Spring. Great source of nitrogen, trace minerals and growth stimulants.

I just toss the leaves on a pile. It's in an out-of-the-way corner where a block wall makes a turn. Every so often (not often enough), I wet it down. Every so often (again not often enough), I use a spading fork to turn it over. In the fall, I pull the pile apart, put fresh leaves at the bottom, and rebuild the pile with the old leaves and partially decomposed matter on top.

This is indeed mostly leaf mold. It's about 95% dead leaves and 5% grass clippings. The clippings are from my red fescue lawn, which is mowed only once or twice a year. The leaves are oak, liquidambar, zelkova, and ash.

I'd just pile them up. A chicken wire ring will help contain them. It is true that putting leaves through a shredder will speed up the decomposition process, but this is not necessary. You can mix in some green (grass clippings, etc) to add some nitrogen.

There is no need to shred the leaves unless you need to hurry nature. There is no need to add nitrogen unless you need to hurry nature. A pile large enough to insulate itself will heat and begin to break down all on it's own.

If you want to hurry or use the leaves as mulch and don't want them to mat down, run them over with a mower a time or two. A wall or plank for a backstop helps.

Hmmmm... But that's composting, not making leaf mold, no? Leaf mold is a cold process that uses fungi to break the leaves down, not bacteria.

I think your post explained it the best in terms of shredding and greens.. ;)

Thanks!

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Whoo boy..... It was only last Spring that someone here said that I wasn't composting, but making leaf mould....... I don't think the fungi, bacteria, or worms particularly care about the words we humans use to describe decaying organic matter, or the plants care about what specific methods we use to create it. My potted tomatoes enjoyed growing in it, and my bedding plants have enjoyed having it layered on top, a la lasagna gardening. And, don't tell symplastless, but the pecan tree grove I tend at a local park has thrived and has a bountiful crop this year, whether I spread composted tree mulch, or fresh wood chips. Spread it on the ground, pile it up, add stuff or not....... Just don't bag it up and throw it away. It's all good.

Sound advice! Would add the less energy we put in the better. May not be real fast but time is not the issue preserving organic matter is. I value anything that was once alive. Anything that passed thru a living organism better. That may make it easier for plants to recycle again to us.

Bill

LOL... Fair enough in my book and works for me.. :)

I've become quite enamored of the lasagna and no-till concepts of gardening. I don't work anything into the ground anymore, the prospect of which would generally deter me from adding organic matter in a timely fashion. Keeping the soil strata intact and not scaring the worms, just like Nature does it, is the best.....

This statement should become a standard. I've added it to my garden quotes file, with proper attribution, of course. :-)

Ok, this has me thinking about what I have been doing, which is loosening the soil with a garden fork, or better if I had one, a broadfork. I'm certainly not arguing, just looking for the easiest and most beneficial way of improving and maintaining my soil.

My thinking, and others too, is that loosening the soil with a fork allows for aeration and sifting downwards af soil amendments...compost, ash, powdered stone, whatever. Is this too a waste of my energy and time and not that beneficial? I do raised beds and containers, so compaction from foot traffic is not an issue. One thing for sure, I haven't used a tiller for several years. Shooting rabbits in the garden doesn't trouble me, or pinching caterpillars of the bad kind, but the sight of chopped worms is just wrong.

Is what you are describing also described as "The Stout Method"? I thought the biointensive method as espoused by Jeavons sounded best and it was beginning to produce great results. One thing I didn't do, was the double (or even triple) digging that is recommended in some of the biointensive methods.

This whole business of food production is appearing to be more simple than I had imagined, and I am continually deconstructing my methods and knowledge. I guess the old KISS acronym applies.

Thanks for the re-direction.

Charlie