One concern as a homeowner is when the leaves begin to fall, there can be so many. I live on a lot that has an abundance of mature trees with large leaves on them that litter our yard year and year. This is not the end of the world as my children love to pile them up in the back yard and jump in them. The raking gets old sometimes, but it is nice to be outside during that time of year.

A solution to just raking the leaves and throwing them away is to compost them. Leaves are an excellent composting source and during the fall season, they are abundant. If you don’t have a lot that has many trees and leaves, you shouldn’t have any problems getting your neighbors to give you their leaves. In fact, many will be more than willing to give them to you as it is one less thing that they have to do.

If you start your composting in the fall, by the time the spring rolls around you will have a wonderful stock pile of compost ready to add to your garden and plants. Compost that not only is a great fertilizer, but also was free and didn’t cost you anything but a little time and effort to gather some leaves, grass clippings, and food scraps. Just in case you are thinking it, yes, you can compost just your leaves, but it will take a little longer than normal for them to break down than if you combined it with something like grass clippings and food scraps.

Below, I have included an excellent video to build on this concept of utilizing the leaves from the fall for your composting needs. Enjoy!

1) Desire – The bottom line with anything in life is desire. If you want to do something bad enough, then you will find the resources, knowledge, and skills to make it happen. Composting is no different.

Although composting is not a very difficult process to complete, it does take some will power to make it happen. As with anything in life, there are going to be some set backs, some items that you over look, and some small fires that you have to put out. Just hang in there and know that nothing about this process is difficult, you just have to do it.

2) Compost Bin (Area) – A compost bin is a structured area that you will use to contain your compost. Thi structure could be made of wood, wire, or any materials you use. It is totally up to you. The truth is you don’t even need a bin. All you really need is an area to pile your raw materials for the composting. It is widely suggested that you don’t pile your materials on concrete, plastic, or anything else that doesn’t allow the materials to touch the dirt. The dirt is important because as the materials breakdown, worms will migrate into the compost and further assist with the process…and you don’t even have to ask them to participate. They will do it on their own.

3) Green Materials – Grass clippings and food scraps are great sources of green materials. These are critical to a composting process because they provide the nitrogen necessary to accelerate the breakdown of your composting materials. It is not difficult to find these materials as you have to cut your lawn each week and you have neighbors who do the same and would be willing to share their grass clippings with you anytime. It is great because none of these materials cost you any real money, yet create all the compostable material that you will need.

4) Brown Materials – Brown materials come from leaves, straw, and paper sources amongst many others. The chief element these materials bring to the compost is carbon. This again is very important to the composting process, but again, not very difficult to gather. In the fall, the leaves are plentiful as they magically fall from the trees and end up in your yard anyway. Like with the grass, you can always ask your neighbors to assist you by providing their leaves for your composting project. And again, you shouldn’t receive much resistance from them in this request.

5) Time – Yes, it does take time to gather and construct your composting undertaking. But the process also takes time as well. Mother nature needs 5 to 6 months in order to properly breakdown the raw materials to effectively turn them into usable compost. During this time, you will have to turn or mix the compost as well on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Again, this is leaning on your desire to complete the task as it does require some level of follow up and follow through.

A major question that people always wonder is should they use food scraps in their composting. The truth of the matter is it really depends on what you want to do. Many people say that meat and bones are not compostable, but that simple isn’t true. They are compostable, but not really recommended.

The fact is that meat and bones will biodegrade and turn into a soil that is usable in your garden or for plants. The problem is what the meat and bones attract, rodents. Rodents love to eat. I know that is a big secret, but it is true. If you decide to use meat in your composting, then you should expect to attract some rodents that are looking to feast on your stock pile of food for them.

The second reason you might consider not using meat and bones in your compost is the smell. As meat and bones rot and decay, they let of an awful smell that you may not be ready to tolerate. This smell can carry far beyond your yard and enter those of your neighbors and trigger complaints to the local municipality about you and your unhealthy smells. Now, if you have a secluded property far away from neighbors and out of their nose’s reach, you may want to consider composting with meat and bones.

However, meat and bones are not the best materials to use in your composting. The main problem is that they most meats have been cooked and process in oils that do not compost well. There are too many fatty acids and preservatives in them and they may not breakdown completely. Another issue is many of the works, which are great for composting, will not touch the meat and may be driven away. This meat may not be completely broken down and you end up with compost with chunks of meat inside of it because of this.

At the end of the day, this is your garden, your project, and your decision. Just be advised of the possible adverse effects that may result from using meat and bones in your compost. Also, consider how easy it is not to use meat and bones in your compost as the other items such as leaves, food scraps, grass clippings, paper, and straw among others are freely available.

The next problem is that oils or food items cooked in oils generally do not compost well, as the oil and fat act as preservatives. Red wiggler worms, which are great for compost, will not touch the meat. So you might end up with finely composted material with chunks of oil-coated meat still intact. In summary, an attempt to compost meat may not result in material that can be taken up by plant roots.

Watch Movie Online Logan (2017)

Composting is a way for these people to take better care of themselves and the earth at the same time. They can take care of the earth through composting because it is like recycling the earths materials back into itself. And composting is a better way to take care of themselves because it will help them to grow better foods that have the needed nutrients from the soil to produce better and more organic food that they eat. This movement is big and composting is at the center of it all.

What is composting?

Composting is nature’s process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil known as compost. The important thing to remember is that compost is a process in which organic materials go through a process of breaking down into a different substance. This process is known as composting and it has many benefits to the world of agriculture, health, and even landscaping.

The composting process takes between 5 and 6 months to complete. The amazing thing is that it is not a labor intensive process, but one that happens naturally with the assistance of nature. The breakdown process is completed absent of human intervention, even though there are way to interject knowledge and technology into the process. You can turn the pile over once every so many weeks if you like to accelerate the process, but it isn’t necessary at all.