Before COMPOSTING LEAVES consider this!

[@karenfrankland7763]

This is the time of year we are out collecting leaf bags. Picked up over 200 so far. We use it in all our chicken runs and duck runs as well as 4 large compost bins we have in our backyard. 3 years ago we put down 12 inches of wood chips throughout our backyard. With the chickens and ducks free ranging in the afternoons, it has turned into a good 6 inches of wonderful top soil. Our chickens and ducks have made our soil in the veggie gardens so fertile. We don't use any chemicals or fertilizers other than some comfrey tea we make from our yard. It's so much fun watching the chickens in the compost heaps as well as keeping busy composting in there run. Everything we grow in our backyard is Edible and we are able to grow enough for us and the chickens and ducks. Nothing goes to waste.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

This is awesome. It's sounds like you are doing it right. Make compost for life! 👌🙂

[@roncatlin7271]

i so wish i could have poultry, lucky you. with my hoa i am barely getting by with composting. educating the uneducated can be so tiring.

[@oldporkchops]

​@@roncatlin7271It's living in a HOA that's the root of the problem.

[@phil5888]

Those chickens love eating garden vegetables too.

[@hogue3666]

@2:22 You said the word "treeage" without even smirking. Nice one! :)

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Lol. 🤘 I had to watch your timestamp to see what you meant. Triage has it's origin in the French language meaning to sort by order of priority borne out the need to battlefield casualty. Thanks for giving me a chuckle! 😉

[@markb8954]

I noted that as well. Triage = treeage.

[@fredparkinson1289]

I love it when he says 'triage' with a straight face! I've got to get a motorized device, raking leaves is too much like work. Thanks for the good advice.

[@ebradley2306]

I add coffee grounds to my leaf piles to help them break down faster. We have a lot of oak leaves.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Absolutely! They are such a great resource and we use copius amounts here on the property. Here is a video I did on thar homestead gold! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGjUeJuBjN5me80 Thanks for your comment and for watching.

[@DoctorMandible]

Oak leaves are tough. They seem to last forever

[@ebradley2306]

@@DoctorMandible That's why the coffee grounds. I have composted oak leaves in less than a year. 🙂

[@compticny3138]

To shred the leaves we collect from the lawn is to add them to a garbage pail or a 50-gallon barrel (even the ones from the lawn mower) and use a weed wacker. Works great and the leaves are "ready" for the next growing season.

[@roncatlin7271]

i shred my leaves this way. i can get 20 lawn mower bags of leaves into a 75 gallon pvc leaf bags by shredding them.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

That's a great idea! 👌

[@lifewithmikeandjenn5814]

I love the chicken yard videos. Thank you for sharing, be blessed ❤️🌿

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Glad to hear this! Thanks for watching:)

[@Jeffrey-w2b8x]

Before I collect my leaves into bags, I drive over the top of the leaf pile with my lawn mower, set at the highest level. Then drive thru the middle of the pile at least 6 times. This reduces the pile to about a 1/2 " high pile, with a leaf diameter of about a half dollar size leaf. Then I put on the rear bagger, and lower the deck to its lowest level, and it picks up most of the leaves. Then finish with a rake. This saves a lot of time and effort.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Very cool. Leaves are such a great resource and it sounds like you have a great plan on how to capitalize. 👌

[@roncatlin7271]

i love leaves with a higher lignin content for the fact that they don't decompose as fast. coconut also has a high lignin content which partly what make coco coir so great at water retention. i also compost leaves and don't mould them, i'm not patient enough for that. i take care of the leaves in my yard and 2 of my neighbors with very old growth trees. i am in kansas which was a timber claim state so there is really no telling how old these trees are. sometimes i will grab some from a park across the street within my hoa development and i seem to have enough to last nearly a year. when i add them to my compost i layer with alfalfa pellets, kitchen waste, biochar if i have any that needs inoculation, layer feed scratchins, worm castings, grass clippings during the growing season and whatever else i can find that is compostable. i garden in raised beds & grow bags, grazon victim 4 seasons ago and still recovering, so when the season is over i compost my garden soil with new, mature compost that i've made so that my garden soil can cook, inoculate & rehab over the winter months and plant cover crops where my raised beds were that were damaged. the cover crop this year looked almost normal but the yield wasn't what i though it should be so 1 more year, maybe two.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Awesome way to bounce back from the grazon. Keep working at it. 👌

[@TouchGrassGardening]

great video, love the commentary.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thank you for watching and the nice words!

[@8oclocktomatotalk]

Great points about the structure & carbon levels of leaves! We’re collecting everything “leafy” on 5 acres for next year’s garden. Thanks for this great video 🙂

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thanks so much! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video:)

[@johnmcdonald9977]

Brilliant!! I am totally in favour of this system. Hot compost to destroy fungal diseases is something I needed to learn about. Thank you!

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thanks so much! Appreciate ya. 👊

[@jacobbrizammito7187]

Great video, locals here usually burn leaves, its such a waste. I find leaves make a great mulching compost after maturing. The worms love them.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thank you glad you liked the vid. Leaves are so good and to burn them is a shame. 😉

[@MichaelJosephJr934]

I've been doing this for a few years. One thing I've learned is to lift the bag. If it's heavy I pass. And definitely look into the bag and at property. I typically go to a few of the same homes each fall for pickup. Because I know what I'm getting there based on experience. I also know the home owners at 2 of the properties. Occasionally I'll get a bag with grass clippings in it or stuff I don't want. I still shred that bag but I use it but not on my edibles. Might go on a walking trail or shrubs. Also I shred twice. It only takes a minute to run it through the shredder a second time. This ensures to kill any Asian Jumping Worm Cocoons if present.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Excellent man! Definitely can be a surprise in those bags sometimes but sounds like you know your way around the neighborhood. 👊

[@joniboulware1436]

You are conscious of those jumping worm problems and that is good. But, those very tiny cocoons are likely to go through the shredding process, no matter how many times. I believe jumping worms came into my yard via leaf collection off site. Now I have to solarize all my compost before using it.

[@TheTrock121]

I like Maple Leaves, but they do tend to have seeds. After dressing the beds w/ leaves I like to screw upright pallets together to store more leaves.

[@timothywolfenden4478]

Smart man....and wise.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thanks 🤘

[@Madmun357]

I live in the desert, but in town I pick up SO many leaves from parks around town.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Yeah that's excellent. It's kinda hard to pass it up once you realize the value. Make compost, mulch alot! 🙂

[@gardenoftwitty]

Wow!!! Awesome video and great information. Im composting big time right now. Every bit of info helps Peace N Love

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

So nice of you! You are welcome. 😉

[@gardenoftwitty]

@@therealprtrhsenteal Thnk You! Peace N Love

[@jeffday2574]

We collect leaves in our dump trailer and haul them up for our goats to eat. They absolutely love them. And since the town has begun charging for them in the landfill which is dumb. People haul them up now for my goats and they turn them into goat magic which makes a fabulous fertilizer for our gardens

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

That is a great idea. I never thought leaves as a feed source for goats. Being resourceful in an unconventionally is the sign of a smart farmer! 👌

[@jeffday2574]

@@therealprtrhsenteal thank you I give them Christmas trees and pumpkins the day after Halloween when I get them cheap. This year I fed 150 pumpkins to my goats and I also give them fruit tree prunings from the orchards. During summer months they take care of volumes of excess squash.

[@jeffday2574]

@@therealprtrhsenteal today the goats are getting unsold Christmas trees about 50 of them they love them it's like candy to them

[@unionse7en]

urine w/ leaves perhaps

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Urine is a great thing to add! 👌

[@leemeyer748]

We generally move all the leaves right into the grass. After winter the leaves are basically gone…..

[@rafaelsuarez230]

Collecting leaves by pressing them with two plastic lids has been my cup of tea for many reasons. Maybe you could try it

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

That could definitely work!

[@Allknowingkeith]

I haven’t watched the full video and can tell that this should be on the news right now.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Lol 😉

[@Allknowingkeith]

This our first year owning a home. We have two trees in the front and the leaves are everywhere. My grass is dying so slow that I’m trying to save it. Also, I believe this is a mulberry tree in the back. I just cut down a tree on the side 🤦🏽‍♂️ and we have another tree on the other side. I just want some nice grass.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Lawn clippings are another valuable resource! 👌

[@malcolmt7883]

Leaves did more for my garden than anything else. I don't compost, but I apply about three inches of shredded leaves in June, and by Spring of the next year there's only a half inch or so of the leaf mulch left on the surface. Over all, that's at least 500 pounds of organic matter right into my rocky pitiful native soil.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

That is awesome! You are following nature's example and reaping the benefits. 😉

[@jeffday2574]

We use leaves directly in the chicken coup as well for deep littler and they scratch around in it and tear it up.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

I do that too however I use mixture of leaves and wood chips to help the leaves from matting and becoming a shitty mess.

[@jeffday2574]

@@therealprtrhsenteal it's pretty dry here a high desert like 7000 feet in altitude. So moisture isn't a factor. It's good for the chickens I think plus these leaves are dry. The goats eat piles of them I tried to use them in their barn for litter and they disappeared. Lol they eat a dump trailer in 3 hours. It's strange but there is something in them.

[@eigleenalegri2664]

Very good information. I shred with my riding. Mower to help the process.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

I'm glad you liked the video. Thank you for watching:)

[@Athopyskitchen]

Thank you so much..very interesting and educational garden video❤..God bless you and your family.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Very nice of you to say. Thanks for watching and to you and your family as well:)

[@larryhuston8433]

Great tips for composting!

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thank you!

[@kurt2272]

Great video very informative

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks much for the feedback! 😀

[@jmallory6297]

Great idea, thank you!

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

You are welcome! Thanks for the kind words. 😉

[@johnliberty3647]

Leghorns and various game fowl are great at shredding leaves. Beasts of burden that can also lay eggs. You can eat the chickens too but the best scratching breeds have the least amount of meat. Mix in scratch grains as well as bird seed and those chickens will dig to China to find them as they drop nitrogen pellets. My way is not the best way but I share it with anyone who might want to try something different.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Composting with chickens is the way to go! 👍

[@ronachadwick7908]

Lot of pesticide in rdside leaves nr me. Council sprays kerbside weeds.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Probably best to avoid for sure!

[@alexna6129]

Добру справу робиш, дядьку! Сьогодні бачив величезну (3х7х2м) з якої йшов пар. Ото добриво буде.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

I had to translate but thanks for the nice words!

[@aceofspades5786]

@2.37 omg. Surely a billy goat is a good investment and save a load of time. Watching from Uk, into this also.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thanks for watching! Appreciate it:)

[@baneverything5580]

Here in Louisiana, even in winter on cool days, there`s always the risk of a venomous snake encounter too in leaves, and a copperhead is invisible in them. And I`ve been badly stung by yellowjackets when gathering leaves and pine needles under trees. Makes you get paranoid in the future after being bitten and stung. It`s always a big surprise! For a few years I refused to go near trees or bushes in the fall. And now we have killer bees too! I dread meeting up with those! Angry normal honeybees are bad enough. I can`t imagine encountering something far worse.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Lol Cajun Country sounds pretty terrifying! Be safe and take care of yourself. 😉

[@sandraconner6968]

I avoid oak leaves b/c they don't break down fast enough.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

We have access to alot of oak leaves. I actually like them quite a bit in our system. Can I have yours! 😁

[@crazysquirrel9425]

Avoid Walnut like a plague. Anything in the walnut family problems can give you some issues (Juglone). The gold standard for leaves is Maple. Oak is a bit waxy and takes a long time to break down. When I compost my leaves I mix in used coffee grounds. I mow my leaves at least once to chop them up for faster decompostion. I don't want them all into fluff. I leave various sizes in the mix. I drench them with dechlorinated tap water or rain water mixed with plain old sugar and Alaska Fish Fertilizer. I put mine in contractor sized black trash bags and poke a bunch of holes in the bags. Then let the sun do the work.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Way to go! Turn those leaves into black gold. 👌

[@ReadBoutGarvey]

Juglone does not survive composting.

[@crazysquirrel9425]

@@ReadBoutGarvey You forgot the word HOT. Leaves compost naturally in the soil over time. Juglone does not go away during that process. If it did, new grass (seed) would easily grow under black walnut trees. It takes time to cold compost to the point where juglone is eliminated.

[@livefreeordie3992]

Personally I would not use leaves from the road, oil and anti-freeze contamination risk is too high. just look at any store front parking and the amount of cars leaking fluids is mind boggling.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Great point for those collecting leaves in parking lots! 😉

[@swatson1190]

We live in a forest. Loads of leaves and pine needles

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Excellent! 👌

[@Chranos83]

great information :)

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thank you!

[@tommydong8070]

I personally wouldn't be using those fallen leaves on the street as they could be "contaminated" with motor oil or the like.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Motor oil and contaminants should be avoided. There is always a risk using organic material from an unknown source. Do your diligence.

[@prabu6352]

Dari alam kembali ke alam, Composter 👍

[@fortablet2933]

how do you handle leaves that have been hit with weed killers or other chemicals

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

I have not experienced leaves treated with chemicals (that I am aware of) . Leaves falling from trees in autumn are not generally being treated with chemicals however I would avoid them if I had knowledge they had been. There is risk anytime you gather organic material from an un known source however the risk in my opinion is minimal and I have yet to encounter an issue with collecting leaves in this manner. I hope this helps.

[@ticktock2383]

Do not use if you are in an area with chemical plants. God bless!

[@kimrocksthetrees]

Leave the leaves on the ground where they fell. Only clean gutters & walkways. Leaves are not litter. Leaves on the ground serve as winter habitat for 1,000 species of beneficial insects & small animals. Do not mow, mulch or vacuum them until springtime.

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

I support your right to leave your leaves wherever you like. 👌

[@brandishoogy]

Great video

[@therealprtrhsenteal]

Thanks so much. Glad you liked the video:)