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gixxerific
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The Helpful Gardener wrote:Smartest organic fella I know is [url=https://plantscapesorganics.com/]Mike Nadeau at Plantscapes[/url]who teaches for NOFA, and Mike stopped leaf removing and went to mowing/mulching on a lot of his properties, and years later he's still a fan; likened it to topdressing with compost. With a squirt of compost tea on top of it to get the ball rolling? Fuhgeddiboutit...
8)
:mrgreen:
HG
Sounds like a smart guy. What I don't bag for garden purposes ends up on the lawn. I'm gonna do the ACT treatment this year on the lawn. I need to find one of those siphons for your faucet that suck it up out of the bucket and adds it incrementally.

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applestar
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When you get one, can you explain to me how it's supposed to work because I have one and have not been able to get it to work correctly. It seems like a simple enough device.... :?

vermontkingdom
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What a joy to read about all these crazy folks out there collecting leaves! I have enough but all these postings created additional leaf envy. On my way to church yesterday I passed a house three streets down from us with a huge pile of bags on its lawn. A guy was raking so I asked if the leaves were available. Yes, indeed although he seemed a little surprised I would want them. It took four loads in my Neon to get those 38 bags to my backyard. By the way, much to wife's disapproval, I'm also able to get 22 five gal. buckets of horse manure in that little sucker.

SkyKero
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I never thought I'd have manure envy :)

I am coveting the leaves in my mom's yard -- Next weekend...

S.

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soil
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woo hoo I was driving down the road and this guy had a HUGE pile of leaves. at least 8 ft tall. I asked what he was doing with them and he said burn pile!!!! I offered to save him the trouble and took it all. time to start a new leaf mold pile.

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gixxerific
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applestar wrote:When you get one, can you explain to me how it's supposed to work because I have one and have not been able to get it to work correctly. It seems like a simple enough device.... :?
I would think it is pressure driven, like a pump of sorts. All you should have to do is hook the siphon to your spicket than the siphon tube into a bucket. The flow of water should pull what is in the bucket out at a slow ratio. They would I assume have a back flow preventer on it to keep water from the hose going into the bucket. What brand is it is it? I would be happy to try and help you figure it out. :)

vermontkingdom I about peed my pants when I read the last sentence in your post.

soil it makes me happy to hear you saved a pile of leaves from the fire. It is illegal to burn leaves around here, though people, ignorant people still do. Burning leaves releases many gasses that are considered poisonous to carcinogens. I hate to see burning leaves. But love to see composting leaves. :D

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soil
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gixxer - here a controlled fire is better than a ton of dry leaves catching everything on fire come summer.

but yea, now its going to be nice leaf mold come spring.

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kimbledawn
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I'm losing my hair!! Well, maybe my mind. Trembling with this tiny eye tick. My children know what wrong....everytime we pass bags on the street they whisper, "Hey mom are you gonna get those? :roll: " You better get those!..

I think they like my madness. They love to see me screech to a halt, in high heels and a business suit and struggle to stuff bags of leaves in my car ! A car that already carries me and three children. The see me look longingly at the bags I have to leave behind and they laugh at me when I drive by the next day and those bags are gone....

I wonder?..Did the MAN get them? :shock: huh did he? I can only hope that some deranged leaf-o-maniac came behind me with a car full of kids or maybe a dog and carried the leaves I left behind to leaf heaven...

Hello my name is Dawn and although you may not know me...I'm one of you. :twisted:

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gixxerific
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Kimble the first step is admitting you have a problem. The next step is to affirm that problem by going out to get more.

I'm glad I could help. :lol:

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stella1751
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LOL, Dawn! I know how you feel. One of my biggest pre-theft fears was that I would encounter another organic gardener on my leaf-stealing spree. I got a vision of us tussling over bags and racing our engines as we jetted from leaf bag to leaf bag, trying to beat each other to the goods. Sort of like the Organic Gardener's version of Black Friday, for me the first Tuesday in November will now be Golden Tuesday.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone in Casper, Wyoming. I don't want to resort to violence, but I am prepared to do what is necessary to get my leaves :twisted:

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soil
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score today! was driving around and saw this guy raking leaves and bagging. I asked what he wanted with them. he said the dump.... so then I asked if I can have them. so he says come back when I'm done and there yours. so I stuffed as much as I could in the back.....26 bags :)

SkyKero
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I have to say -- I started my compost pile (finally) -- last week!.. and the area designated is already mostly full.... plotting to clear off the ivy this week for the next spot!

-- friend brought grass clippings
-- I cannot stop collecting leaves
-- my parents save their food extras for me
-- bi weekly trips to the starbucks ....

and now...
I couldn't help myself -- I stopped by my local QT .. and will take them a 5 gallon bucket for them to save their coffee for me...

... I have become and addict in just a few weeks....

... thank you...

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rainbowgardener
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I was working on using some of the leaves that I have brought home, people's yard waste bags at the curb, for mulch. While I was doing that a very large japanese beetle crawled out of the bag. It made me worry a little, what all have I been bringing home with the leaves. I didn't see any others, but who knows about eggs.

Anybody else having issues like this with your bags of leaves?


Incidentally Sky Kero, congratulations on becoming a full-fledged composter very rapidly! :)

top_dollar_bread
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rainbowgardener wrote:I was working on using some of the leaves that I have brought home, people's yard waste bags at the curb, for mulch. While I was doing that a very large japanese beetle crawled out of the bag. It made me worry a little, what all have I been bringing home with the leaves. I didn't see any others, but who knows about eggs.

Anybody else having issues like this with your bags of leaves?


Incidentally Sky Kero, congratulations on becoming a full-fledged composter very rapidly! :)
I get spiders, earwigs and other small critters with the leaves I collect from a near by park. Only issue is when they crawl on me, as I hand move the leaves to my piles :P

got to thank stella for another great thread!!
like most posting here, I have been collecting leaves from every place I can get them. I thought id show some images of my leaf compost pile that I started a few weeks back.
I'm hoping to make a more fungal dom compost out of it, as it is mostly composed of leaves and it wont be turned..
here's some photo's on how I did this
I started off with some sun dried vines to help prevent anaerobic conditions
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01649.jpg[/img]
then I layered some leaves on top w/ some EWC
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01650.jpg[/img]
I gently packed down the leaves, added more vines and moisten w/ ACT
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01651.jpg[/img]
I then layered a very small batch of chopped weeds, these weeds are edible but I usually use them for compost and worm food
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01656.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01657.jpg[/img]
then I add some chopped up leaves and mix that up with the greens (weeds)
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01654.jpg[/img]
in between layers I used dried stems from my native sage, this will help aerate the pile
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01655.jpg[/img]
I continue layering with lots more browns (leaves) then greens (weeds) till my I get to the top
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01659.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01660.jpg[/img]
I then watered the pile down with weed and garden soil tea
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01652.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01653.jpg[/img]
added a bit of garden soil to the top and covered with moisten paper
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01661.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/top_dollar_bread/DSC01662.jpg[/img]
this pile is mostly made up of browns and wont be turned but I'm pretty sure it wont go anaerobic.
with in one week the pile was looking good but I had a huge colony of ants living in side, unfortunately for them I then put this pile under water, in a trash bin for a few hours and now its just sitting in the sun again.
I didnt plan on letting the pile sit in water but ther were so many ants I couldnt just let them live in my pile. I hate the ants around here so I let them get the best of me :twisted:
sorry for all the photo's, hope you don't mind
this pile is in my DIY compost bin, that works like a charm
it is just open to all small critters, lots of life in ther But no ants allowed :)

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soil
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the ants were just aerating your pile. by the time its ready to harvest that compost I doubt they would still be there.

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stella1751
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Great stuff, TDB! I love your visuals :)

The leaves I got about three weeks ago are composting their hearts out and shrinking like mad. I did not expect a warm November, not after the frigid October we had up here. I seriously think this batch will be done by May, depending on the weather.

I need to water my cages, but the hose is put away for the winter, which means I need to hand carry gallons and gallons of water. Maybe tomorrow ...

top_dollar_bread
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soil wrote:the ants were just aerating your pile. by the time its ready to harvest that compost I doubt they would still be there.
yes but I kill ant colonies on site, many are attacking my vines, citrus plants and a few others. these guys like to put [url=https://www.oisat.org/images/softscale.jpg]scals[/url] on every plant they can and have multiple colonies surronding my property.
its a full on war with these guys thats been going on since I moved here..I don't know if the ants in my pile are the same ant that are working with the scales but I destroy them anyways :twisted:

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stella1751
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TDB, this might be really dumb. (I hope no one makes me feel embarrassed :oops: ) I have great luck with baking powder for my ants. Whenever I see 'em starting to swarm or whatever it is that makes them crawl around in black masses, I sprinkle them and the surrounding area with baking powder. Within days, they have moved on. I read somewhere that they hate baking powder, and based on my experiences, it's true.

I wonder whether you could add baking powder to your compost pile. Does anyone know?

Funny story: I was baking cookies the other night and could not find my baking powder. I knew I had at least two huge cans, but they weren't in the cupboard. Then it hit me: they were in the garden shed :lol:

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rainbowgardener
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Any powder thing like that acts as a barrier to ants. It could be baby powder, chalk line, cleanser powder, bone meal. Just make a good thick line of it. If they try to walk across it, it clogs up their spiracles and they can't breathe. So they won't cross that line. Make a circle of it around something and they can't get to the something inside the circle.

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applestar
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Stella, that's like me with my spice jars of ground cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Cinnamon was upstairs for sprinkling around my seedlings to forestall damping off, and the cayenne pepper was in the pocket of my gardening jacket because I had finally had enough with some neighborhood cats using my strawberry bed as a potty. :roll: :lol:

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gixxerific
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More leaves you say! That looks good enough to eat TDB. :D I'm about to go pick up another load of Horse manure for my leave pile. I am going to look for a place to pick up some more leaves while I'm out. They are everywhere (we are in the country you know) it's just getting a safe place to stop and pick them up. I don't get bags of others I get them from the sides of roads.

I've been framing in my basement all week and have been saving all the sawdust for the pile as well. Plus the coffee grounds from Starbucks which I will get some more on the way back today as well. It's gonna be some good stuff come next spring. :D

As far as the weather one of our local weatherman comes out with his predictions for the seasons every season. He is usually spot on, he's very good at reading weather patterns. But he was saying at least for MO December should be mild with little to no snow but Jan and Feb are going to be VERY cold Feb being worst. Snow and Ice all around. Oh he was also saying Spring probably won't be coming early next year either. But that is another forecast altogether.

If interested go [url=https://www.fox2now.com/weather/]here[/url] scroll down a bit and there is the detailed forecast for Jan, Feb, and Dec. Look for Dave Murray's Winter forecast videos not far down on the page.

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gixxerific
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Some pics of "Almost" done for the winter garden and compost. I have been using my tiller to stir everything up in the compost pile. Anyone see anything wrong with that?

[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC03103.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC03104.jpg[/img]

rot
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..

I think the only rule that applies to how you stir things up in the compost pile is to do it safely.

to sense

..

top_dollar_bread
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looking good gix, I recently removed a patch of grass similar (in size) to ur picture for another small garden.
ive just been top dressing with coffee grounds and manure along with weeds and grass clippings.
I wish I took a before and after pic, its amazing how the soil has soften uped and ther is so much life in the soil now!!
I will be planted many heirloom toms and a diversity of peppers in this new patch
cant wait till spring :D
happy turkey day and remember to compost your veggie scrapings, my worms are going to have a feast

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gixxerific
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top_dollar_bread wrote:looking good gix, I recently removed a patch of grass similar (in size) to ur picture for another small garden.
ive just been top dressing with coffee grounds and manure along with weeds and grass clippings.
I wish I took a before and after pic, its amazing how the soil has soften uped and ther is so much life in the soil now!!
I will be planted many heirloom toms and a diversity of peppers in this new patch
cant wait till spring :D
happy turkey day and remember to compost your veggie scrapings, my worms are going to have a feast
It really is amazing to see the amount of worms in my ground now. The life is crazy especially since this was horrible soil before. I have brought life to it, and that makes me happy. :D I can't wait till spring either this should be a good year, weather permitting.

Happy turkey day. :)

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Duh_Vinci
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Gix - looking good!

Thanks for the inspiration, this weekend I will start to do the same! I wanted to wait till later in the year, but the weather is nice, leafs are plenty, coffee grounds in abundance - why not, let the red clay TRANSFORM!!! :lol:

Regards,
D

Ermintrude
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I had a real bit of good luck. I past someone just bagging up a whole heap of leaves. So now I have a huge plastic bin full to the brim, and they are already quite well compacted.

I save all my coffee grounds for my raspberry plants. Can't seem to get enough of them.

Lehcar
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Well. I suppose this explains the odd visit I received about three months ago in mid-October

A gentleman came to my door, leaf blower/vacuum in hand and asked if I would like him to clear the leaves off of my front lawn for free. Free, you say? Surely... you jest. My husband has been dodging this chore for weeks now and you--a strange man--have offered to do this hated task for free? I was so shocked that all I could do was nod "yes" and let him get to it. I didn't think to ask what he was doing with the leaves. My husband later smiled with glee, did a little dance and--like me--didn't question the gentleman's motives.

At the time I thought he was perhaps advertising for a lawn care business... but when he cleared the leaves and left I was stumped.

Now that I think about it, he had a mulching attachment that mulched as he vacuumed and he emptied the shredded leaves into the back of his pickup truck. He also cleared my neighbor's across the street, to the right of me and a few down the road, I suppose whoever would answer the door and give him permission, he cleared their leaves. I'm guessing that clever man put in a full day worth of leave-vacuuming and is now sitting pretty with a GIANT pile of leaves in his compost heap.

I'm thinking this is a ridiculously clever idea.

I'm also thinking he's gonna have competition next year for those free leaves!

rot
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..
The neighbors next door moved out and I mowed their lawn while doing mine keeping the grass clippings. Everyone thinks I'm being nice.
..

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rainbowgardener
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"I'm also thinking he's gonna have competition next year for those free leaves!

I have a gardening friend who lives about five blocks away in the same neighborhood. Both of us were out this past fall collecting people's leaves. Fortunately, there were plenty to go around. She brought home 30 bags of leaves. I don't have that much room even to store them and quit at 9. But it did occur to me that if one more person in our neighborhood catches on to the leaf thing, it might become a serious competition! :)



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