How to make Compost from Leaves
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Published 2022-12-03
We make a huge amount of backyard compost in this video, using over 400 bags of leaves. Leaves are the main ingredient for the pile, but we must ensure we have a proper Carbon to Nitrogen ratio, which will keep the beneficial and microbes happy and energized resulting in a faster breakdown of the compost. The ideal Carbon to Nitrogen ratio of a composts pile is 30:1. That's 30 parts carbon to 1 part Nitrogen by weight. With leaves being high in carbon, in order to get enough nitrogen into this pile to heat up the compost and aid in breakdown, I must add hundreds of pounds of the magic ingredient - Coffee Grounds!
Coffee grounds are very high in nitrogen and easy to spread on a compost pile and work into the leaves. Once the coffee is mixed into the pile with a skid steer, the pile heats up very quickly in just a few days. Steam is coming off the pile as the inside heats up to great temperatures thanks to the microbes being fueled by the nitrogen-rich material added. Once the pile is hot, we flip it again with the Bobcat skid steer.
Finished leaf compost is sometimes referred to as Leaf Mold. Leaf Mold is totally organic and a great soil amendment for organic gardening.
When building your compost pile it is great to work in layers. Start by adding an area of leaves and then start to add thin layers of nitrogen into between the larger layers of carbon rich leaves as you go. Green materials are usually high in nitrogen, with good sources of nitrogen being: lawn clippings, plant material, fruit and vegetable scraps and of course, coffee grounds. Carbon rich materials are: Leaf material, straw, cardboard, shredded paper and wood chips.
It's very important to flip and turn your compost pile if you want to have your compost broken down as fast as possible. By turning or flipping a compost pile, we add air and oxygen into the pile. The microbes are living organisms and need oxygen to survive and thrive. Flipping the compost often helps ensure the breakdown process continues.
We also examine some finished compost made years prior and test its growing power. Finished compost is a compost material that has completed the breakdown process and ready to be used. Finished compost is great for use in gardens and flower beds and landscape, as well as top dressing a lawn. As a test for the pile of three year old compost, I plant a Castor Bean plant in it as well as some kettle gourds. After a few months the plants are demonstrating excellent growth and look healthy and large. This shows the power of the finished leaf mold compost as a direct growing medium. It contained all of the macro and micro nutrients needed to growth the plants all summer with no added water or fertilizer. These plants were only given what Mother Nature gave it, all natural. The length of time it takes you to get finished compost will vary on how well you have your carbon to nitrogen ratio worked in, and also how often you flip the pile.
If you want to make your own backyard compost, mulching your lawn in the autumn with a lawnmower and bagging system is a great way to try and make your own compost. The mower mulches both lawn clippings, which are high in nitrogen with the leaves, which are high in carbon, resulting in a perfect blend of compost ready material. By chewing up the leaves with the mower blades, the microbes and bacterial will be able to get into the leaves quicker to break them down.
In the next video, we'll check back in with this compost pile and follow along on the breakdown process until the very end when the hundreds of pounds of leaves and coffee grounds become that terrific soil amendment known as black gold - finished compost. Thanks for watching.
All Comments (7)
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Composting can never get boring. 😁 Great video!
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Ryan I really enjoyed compost video and the time line to see how compost breaks down.
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I have found that the needles and pine cones from the three big Scotch Pine in my yard, does a good job in my compost. It helps the compost stay loose. I also get wood chips from the local tree removal services. They are happy to get rid of there chips. If they have a lot of pine in there chips, I use it for my walk ways between my raised beds. I'm going to start finding coffee grounds. Thanks for the ideas.
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I’m going to try this. I have 5 acres of pasture to get plenty of green grass clippings, and 50 or so hardwood trees that dump a ton of leaves. I can use my sweeper to get the clippings and leaves and push them into a pile with my tractor. I live in central Florida, so green grass clippings is not hard.
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I found this rather interesting, If you get back into giant pumpkins you should make some videos on that. I've seen your process but im sure other people would like to see it too.
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Wouldn't it be better to have it covered or in a box?
