Composting Your Fall Leaves

Composting your fall leaves is really quite easy. It can be as simple as making a big pile that sits and composts over the winter. This will give you some rich compost for the spring, but perhaps not as much as if you layer your composting more carefully. Mixing dry brown leaves with fresh green leaves will allow the composting process to work more efficiently. Here are a few tips on composting your fall leaves.

How to Build a Garden Compost Bin

There are many ways to build a compost bin for your backyard. Some bins are quite elaborate with separate compartments for garden and kitchen compost. Some bins are mere piles with a bit of mesh around them. Allen Smith uses an easy and attractive design that he developed from playing with Lincoln Logs as a kid. He explains how to build this compost bin in the following video:

Leave It To Nature

Fall is just days away. Many leaves are already starting to change colour and fall to the ground. If you do not already have a composting area for your leaves, then now is the time to get a good spot ready. You can build an open compost pile or an enclosed bin. Your area of choice should be a relatively sunny spot that is open to receive rainfall.

Why you should compost your leaves:
- Compost enriches soil with nutrients
- Compost helps sandy soils retain moisture
- Compost helps to loosen compact clay soils
- Mix compost with potting soil for indoor plants
- Use compost as mulch
- Composting saves transportation and disposal cost
- Composting saves landfill space and tax dollar

The “Don’t Bag It” - Compost plan offers some great tips on how to get started with composting.

Backyard Vegetable Gardens

There are dozens of reasons why you should start a vegetable garden in your backyard. Not only do the vegetables taste better than store bought ones, but you can guarantee that they will be organically grown. No need to be wrapping or bagging your veggies either. Just put them in a bowl and take them into the kitchen. Don’t be put off by thinking that maintaining a garden is difficult. Start off small to get your bearings and build from there. Before you know it, you’ll be saving money and the environment the practical way.