Deep litter, compost pile, AND worm bin?

[CarinaRose]

Chickens should not eat rhubarb leaves.

But rhubarb leaves tend to be large and flat. You might be able to just lay them flat on the soil, to serve as a mulch until they decompose in place.

Rhubarb leaves should not contain weed seeds or dangerous bacteria, which are two of the main reasons that some things should be composted rather than added directly to a garden.

That’s a good idea to use the leaves as mulch! I’ll keep that in mind.

 

[gtaus]

the fact that we already own the bin (and it’s one of the cute ones) so I may as well use it, and it looks like it can only add value to my garden.

I agree. I only had a plastic tote for my worm bin, so nothing that I kept. After my worms died, I think we rinsed out the tote and used it for storage. If I had a worm bin today, I think I'd use it. As much as I talk about how great my chicken run compost is, I think worm castings are still considered the "best" fertilizer. FWIW, there are a lot of worms in my chicken run compost system. So, I am thinking I must have some good compost out there.

That’s a good idea to use the [rhubarb] leaves as mulch! I’ll keep that in mind.

Recommend you take those big rhubarb leaves and chop them up, maybe with a lawn mower, before you use them as mulch. Even regular sized tree leaves should be chopped up if used as mulch. If not, they can mat together and form a barrier that prevents water from soaking into the soil. The water could just run off the leaves instead of soaking through like you want.

I have actually seen piles of tree leaves that had a top layer of leaves get rained on, form a carpet mat of sorts, shedding water, and all the leaves underneath are bone dry. In my chicken run, the chickens are constantly scratching and pecking the leaves, breaking them up into smaller pieces, and I never see that matting issue.

Using leaves as mulch is a great idea. Just chop them up first.

 

[NatJ]

Recommend you take those big rhubarb leaves and chop them up, maybe with a lawn mower, before you use them as mulch. Even regular sized tree leaves should be chopped up if used as mulch. If not, they can mat together and form a barrier that prevents water from soaking into the soil. The water could just run off the leaves instead of soaking through like you want.

It depends on where and how you want to use them. I was thinking of them as a nice mat that kills some weeds underneath, and later decomposes to enrich the soil. Having the water run off, and end up in the ground beside them, would not be a problem for that use.

I temporarily forgot how many different ways people use mulch. You're right that for some uses, the water running off could be a problem.