I put the leaves down on top of the garden area and kept them good and wet all winter. Then I tilled them in the next spring. The raised beds really loved that.

If you have a tractor available for your use, with big piles you can simply turn them with the bucket of the tractor.

I am always surprised, myself, at how little I have to compost, and I live on 6 acres. But I have a 3 compartment system, built of t-posts and old sheet metal from a barn roof. Each bay is about 6 by 6 by 4 feet high.

The first bay is filled with all the new stuff. Then it's to be turned into the second bay when it's full, to begin the next batch, and a third bay when ready.

I have to tell you, my first bay has never become fuller than half way, and it's down to about a foot high now.

Granted, I am more into mulching, and letting the plants decompose where they are. I fight this mental thing about robbing Peter to pay Paul, by stealing vegetative matter from one area to feed another, so my compost bins do not get a whole lot of attention. Not to mention my garden areas are about an acre, and the thought of trying to come up with an inch of compost twice yearly is way too daunting for me.

Instead, I've invested in straw mulch, and am probably going to add sawdust to that, as I have a huge free pile to take from down the road at a sawmill.

One way you can contain leaves is put them in fencing material. Just lightly set up a circle of fence and toss it all in.

Did you look at the FAQs? That might be the place to start, after that, if you have specific questions, fire away. We (the other members) can supply you with our experiences and some of us can post pictures or links to pictures to show different methods/techniques.

So pour a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and be prepared for some good advice, great advice and some not so great advice. Pick and choose what seems to fit for you and then do it. I can guarantee that you will change as you go along, we all do/did.

Lloyd

1 - Spread it in thick layers as a weed control mulch over vegetable gardens and flower beds.

2 - Make wire mesh bins and pile them full of the stuff and let them decompose. No turning needed, but the bins keep things a bit tidier.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1447458/building_a_cheap_wire _compost_bin.html

Depending on your local rainfall, you may need to water the bins occasionally to keep them moist enough to decompose.

********
If you have grass clippings, mix them with something dry (dead leaves, shredded paper, erc.) so they won't stink.

When I need compost I take it from the end that's oldest. Eventually that end gets used up so I start adding new materials to that side and leave the other end alone to finish. I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but basically I add to the left side and take from the right. When the right side is used up I reverse the process. I don't wait for perfect finished compost - I take what I need and let it finish in the garden.

Just start something easy - you can always construct fancy bins later.

Claire

My first week I was sort of a compost Ninja. Since I didn't have enough leaves of my own (I have a lot of palms and dessert plants on my property) I started raiding the green bins of my neighbors in the wee hours of the morning. I stole leaves and lawn clippings from their bins on pick up days and piled them in the corner of my yard where my veggie garden goes in the spring. I layered it, watered it and left it. No measuring tools, no fancy additives, just a bunch of stuff from my neighbors yards. Well guess what, within a couple of days I had a pile of natural materials that were happily cooking away. I started adding kitchen scraps into the pile and was astounded that each time I turned the pile it would emit a plume of steam, and those scraps were nowhere to be found. They were becoming soil. This is all to say...Don't think too much about composting. It will work. This forum is great because as you continue to read you can get knowledge about what other people are doing and what you can do to help facilitate the breakdown and maintenance of your own personal ingredients. But I'm finding that, as a beginner, it's super easy. Hope you have as much fun with it as I've been having. Plus, most everyone on this forum is super nice and helpful.
Enjoy!!
Don

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMYDuBsROg8

It took my husband and I 2 hours to put together. We used 8 ft timbers, blocks at the bottom and chicken wire on the inside. We left the bottom open to shovel the dirt out. We also made it 4 feet high. We live on 3 acres and have over 80 trees, lots of leaves, fruit, and vegetables to compost. It all fit last year and it has worked great. I hope this helps, good luck and have fun!

I've also got a black plastic compost bin, and all the kitchen and household scraps go in there. I compost a lot of paper products too, such as used napkins, paper towels, toilet paper rolls, paper plates, etc.

GASP!!

;-)

Lloyd

Curt

I'm on the early shift, not mulch going on so catching up at SCM. We had a foot of snow yesterday from that Alberta Clipper, I think it went north of you but you're gonna get the cold air behind it I think.

Lloyd

Does anyone here compost clothing? I have a sock I threw in a year or two ago, and every time I sift, back into the pile it goes. Never seems to break down. Pile not hot enough??

Kim

Is it dark brown? I'm missing one of mine! (I usually blame it on the drier).

;-)

Just to keep it slightly on topic, here is a decent fundamentals of composting article.

Lloyd

The Virtual Pile on that site is so much fun =:)

I think our overwhelmed beginner will love it.

Anything alive/recently alive. Kitchen scraps, green leaves, grass clippings, weeds (as long as they haven't gone to seed), trimmings from plants... Any of that kind of stuff.