I let the worms do it for me.

I’ve been making leaf mould for a few yrs now in central OK. I use wire fencing formed into a circle and wrap in black plastic. I cover it with black plastic. I don’t grind up my leaves and I water for a minute once a week. On average it has taken me 8-12 months to make a pretty large amount of “black gold”. It’s enough to keep my very large raised bed pumping out great tomatoes and peppers every year.

I love growing Giant Grey Sunflowers because they grow to 12 ft tall, have dinner plate sized heads, provide a ton of food for local pollinators, and demand so little to grow. The product list is immense too: - Flower petals for tea. - Young leaves in salad. - Good seeds for us to eat. - Older leaves and funky seeds are chicken feed. - Stalk interior is dried and ground up to use as flour. - Stalk exterior and the 2.5 inch stumps left on/in ground to mulch and break down. I always recommend these to anyone within ear shot lol Leaf mold is best used for perennial plants like bushes and trees. They benefit from the fungal network attaching itself to the roots in a symbiotic manner. Any annuals like veggies or natives only benefit from the nutrients, so better to use compost for those. Lastly, there are many plants that flower late in the year. Aside from natives, I have pineapple sage that blooms from late Sept to the first frost in early Nov (VA zone 7).

After several decades of composting different ways, here's my 2 cents to help folks out: - Number 1 issue I encountered that is rarely mentioned anywhere is compaction/contact. You want your pile contents to be packed down to have good contact, but left loose enough to allow water and air to penetrate. - Moisture, keep all areas of the pile moist while avoiding drying out and/or sopping water that turns things anaerobic. - Nutrient density of your materials is key to determine the size of your pile. "Standard" piles of 1 cubic yard (27 cu ft) are a gauge for basic materials, like leaves, grass, scraps etc. However for example, acorns are so nutrient dense, that when I roughly grind them down, only 1 cu ft is needed to go thermal, and that starts within 15 minutes! - The pile shape isn't too important, but it's worth noting that you want to keep the pile 3ft high or less. Beyond that, the compaction pressure on the biology in the pile is detrimental unless it is constantly turned, like at a compost facility with bulldozers. - Cover your pile with a tarp, leaves etc to retain moisture and keep the sun off it. Also a good idea to keep it in the shade altogether. - 3 full days of 120F + is enough to sterilize the pile (except humanure), so if it cools after that, let it. The pile will turn from bacteria dominated to fungal. Once the fungus has a few months to fully grow thru the medium, then it's ready for the final stage, worm bed or garden application. - If your pile needs a boost in nitrogen to go thermal, there is no shame in using fresh urine (avoid this only if you are on antibiotics or hormone pills) - Additives, beyond your basic materials, you may consider additives to the pile depending on the final application and your nutrient needs. Some additives that I use in small amounts are ash (calcium and potassium), epsom salt (magnesium and sulfur) and powdered raw charcoal (biochar for soil microbes). These tips are general and you must experiment with your local materials. Times, pile sizes, compaction and moisture requirements will differ by climate and materials used. Keep practicing, turn failures into lessons and never give up.

Wow

A fellow Monty nerd! Yay

Good video, pal. These are things I haven't thought of to use. Thanks brother.👍

That’s no grape tomato, that’s nearly a full size tomato! Goodness gracious!

Are you spilling your beer or liquor in the bins? Or bong water? Or is that a natural speech impuderment?

I try to tell everyone . but they want to kill them.

Beautiful. We have 2 African Basil & 1 Magic Mountain Basil (mostly for the bees, they love them) and 10 Italian Sweet Basil in our garden. 🍃

His wings turned into a prism!😮

Drill a bunch of holes in half the length a pvc pipe and put in the middle of your compost to the base. Heat rises. As heat rises from the compost the cooler air gets pulled in through the pipe to the bottom of your pile bringing in oxygen

Best compost is NO compost is easier and saves hours if just leave the weeds where they are and let the rot.

That little Flying Dragon orange plant has a lot of growing potential to a big tree

I also live in Tulsa, greetings.

Nice presentation

Your compost alley looks a lot like mine. Except mines between a hedge and trees. I get better results mixing grass clippings with other stuff like browns and garden kitchen waste. That way it doesn't tend to mat up like it does by itself. Cheers!

I see you collect rain water, thats awesome and Environmentally friendly. The only real con I see is it gets stale from sitting too long and not being chlorinated.

Looks like you'll have a a great garden!

Video starts at 1:21. A few points that were missed. 1. Leaves will not break down without moisture. So wet them thoroughly. 2. Air flow helps but isn't required. If leaving in a closed trash bin like the one shown, cover it to preserve the moisture, block light, and prevent excess rain from pooling at the bottom. 3. If your pile is over 2-3 cubic feet, most leaves will heat up during an initial thermal phase. Adding worms at this time would be smart, as they will find a temperature they like and and stay there eating your leaves all winter. The result will be a combination of leaf mold and worm castings, it'll break down faster, and is great for plants. 4. If you won't be adding worms, ground contact is essential. The worms will find it and help break it down much faster.

Our leaves are falling off before they turn colour here on southern Vancouver Island because of drought, too. We shred them up for leaf mold, mulch and, of course, bedding for my worm farms! ~ Sandra

I enjoyed your video, I just started my backyard garden a week ago in Florida.

Well fed geese

Nice

Audio issue with the video,

Sweet little hummingbird!

At first. I thought it was the weirdest looking bumblebee ever…

Man, it took me seeing the garden the second time before I realized how big it is. You got a farm back there! I can’t wait to see more.

This was a good video explaining the reasons for gardening. I enjoyed it!

Gente faltou o cara do cabelão😂😂😂😂😂😂😂