Much Compost From Leaves

I recently bought a leave blower that has the option of vacuuming and shredding the leaves into a bag so you can use it as mulch. Now I have a giant pile of shredded leaves. My question is how long should I let this sit here and compost until I start using it in soil etc? Should I just mix it in now?

Considering the nice mix of brown and green in there, it'll start composting readily. Just put it in a corner.

you need to compost it until it resembles dirt. Prior to that if it is mixed into the soil it will pull all of the nitrogen out of the soil during the decomposition process.
Also if you want it compost in the forseable future, you need to add green plant material to the brown leaves. The better mix of brown to green you have in yopur pile, the faster it will compost. I run mine through a screen ant that really seems to produce nice soil. Add a few worms and you have a party in your pile

Ditto that...there has to be a ratio of nitrogen to carbon for decent aerobic decomposition to happen. I don't know the exact ratio. If you have too much green matter(grass clippings) it becomes more anaerobic and doesn't work. Too much carbon (sticks, twigs) doesn't work too well either. Chopped leaves can go right on top of beds as mulch. Especially oak, because they dry out and get nice and crumbly. Waxy Maple leaves dont break down so fast. Real finely chopped leaves should sit first. Like over winter. In a pile somewhere outside. Or put into a compost bin. By spring you won't even recognize them as leaves anymore. I used to have a huge leaf pile. Mostly oak and tulip poplar and beech. The pile was about six ft high at the end of the season. If I cut through the pile I could see the progression of decomposition that happened over the years. The rich, sweet, black gold was at the very bottom. It was several years old. And teaming with life...some you could see but most you couldn't. Well anywho...save your leaves. Chop them up. They can be finely chopped and put on your lawns as a conditioner even.

well i guess i contradict what others have said but i see no prob with adding them now, ive already added a shit ton of leafs on the top of my beds for over winter, after winter i just mix them in seems to work just fine, i also have a compost pile but it is not ready so i just add leafs and grass clippings on top.
and like said above well chopped leafs will decompose faster, also if you want a hot compost and want to speed up the process look up bokashi, my compost stank at 1st and was not warm at all, so i added a bag of bokashi and i swear over night it stopped stinking and it was gaining warmth.

mcpurple said:

well i guess i contradict what others have said but i see no prob with adding them now, ive already added a shit ton of leafs on the top of my beds for over winter, after winter i just mix them in seems to work just fine, i also have a compost pile but it is not ready so i just add leafs and grass clippings on top.
and like said above well chopped leafs will decompose faster, also if you want a hot compost and want to speed up the process look up bokashi, my compost stank at 1st and was not warm at all, so i added a bag of bokashi and i swear over night it stopped stinking and it was gaining warmth.

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I take no exception to your adding leaves on top of a bed over winter. That is mulching and works just fine. By the beginning of spring that material should be quite decomposed on it's own and even if it isn't I'm not saying it will kill your plants. Not at all! But as plant material decomposes it eats nitrogen and you should be aware of this and look for signs of deficiency. If there is not a problem then great but if you are looking for it you might save a few days or weeks of slow growth by catching that deficiency early. Pardon my ignorance but wtf is "bokashi". That's a new one on this old farmer

doser said:

I take no exception to your adding leaves on top of a bed over winter. That is mulching and works just fine. By the beginning of spring that material should be quite decomposed on it's own and even if it isn't I'm not saying it will kill your plants. Not at all! But as plant material decomposes it eats nitrogen and you should be aware of this and look for signs of deficiency. If there is not a problem then great but if you are looking for it you might save a few days or weeks of slow growth by catching that deficiency early. Pardon my ignorance but wtf is "bokashi". That's a new one on this old farmer

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http://www.bokashicomposting.com/
the link will show you, a google search will show you alot of goodies. i didnt really want to type up a page to define bokashi so just click the link.

good new as well. i tunred my compost the other day and it is getting very hot now, and it smells like fresh dirt

you should use some compost activator. it really speeds up the process

it sure will speed it up and that is kinda what bokashi helps do. also to help speed it up is to add some finished compost to your own pile.
you can buy a bag or get some from a freind. i put about 5 gallons of finished compost i got from work to speed things up.