I take the lazy mans approach to composting. We have a spot roughly 5 x 5 foot. We also have a TON of leaves every fall. Generally my approach is any compost still there In The fall at leaf time gets moved to one side or is pulled out and sifted through1/4" hardware cloth. With the smaller stuff going into my dirt bin and the larger going back to the pile. We usually use the lawn mower to pick up the leaves because one it's just too much to rake and two this chops them up some. They get dumped into the pile. The pile gets as high as 4 foot or more before it's all done. In the summer lawn clippings go on. All kitchen waste and chicken poo(scooped from sand) gets buried into it. Because we live in the marsh and have a deep well or water has too much salt in it so I cannot water it like I should but when I clean out the pond all that water(can be several 100gallons) goes onto it and it does sit at the edge of the drip line of a shed roof. Maybe once or twice a year we'll take the tiller to. Occasionally it'll get turned some with a pitch fork and the chickens also take a turn. Years ago it used to get a little more turning when my son need some "encouragement" to do the right thing we'd send him out to turn the pile but that was pretty effective motivation so he quickly learned to do the right thing and anyway is now off in college. Every now and then some of the ashes from the wood stove goes in.
It takes about a year to abreak down this way and sometimes longer for some things which is why i'll screen it through the hardware cloth but it is very low maintenance and most of my dirt needs are in the spring anyway. I usually always have some finished stuff in my dirt bin. I'll use half finished stuff as mulch.
Water is a real key. Too much and you wash the good away but too little and it will not break down. Also leaves have a tendacy to shed water so it should be stirred good as you put water to it unless everything is already fairly damp.
If you really have tons of leaves i'd suggest just pile them somewhere out of the way. Definitely don't bother bagging them. then if you want a constant supply of fresh compost get or make a tumbling bin and dump in some from your pile.
I also use dry leaves as nest box material and dump a load or two in the chicken run- they love scratching in it and helps to keep it dryer. And some go intotheblueberry patch to help with weeds and again gives the chicks something to scratch in so they don't tear up the roots of the blueberries.
It takes about a year to abreak down this way and sometimes longer for some things which is why i'll screen it through the hardware cloth but it is very low maintenance and most of my dirt needs are in the spring anyway. I usually always have some finished stuff in my dirt bin. I'll use half finished stuff as mulch.
Water is a real key. Too much and you wash the good away but too little and it will not break down. Also leaves have a tendacy to shed water so it should be stirred good as you put water to it unless everything is already fairly damp.
If you really have tons of leaves i'd suggest just pile them somewhere out of the way. Definitely don't bother bagging them. then if you want a constant supply of fresh compost get or make a tumbling bin and dump in some from your pile.
I also use dry leaves as nest box material and dump a load or two in the chicken run- they love scratching in it and helps to keep it dryer. And some go intotheblueberry patch to help with weeds and again gives the chicks something to scratch in so they don't tear up the roots of the blueberries.
