Turning leaf collection business into a composting business?

Eric Hanson wrote:D,

I LOVE your utilization of all those shredded leaves!  I think you are right on about adding in the nitrogen to help break down the leaves into compost.  I kinda wish I had a similar vac/trailer combo and if I did I would be sucking up leaves left and right.

Out of curiosity, have you considered fungal decomposition for at least some of those leaves?  I am obsessive about wine caps and I would think that they would break down your leaves quickly and leave behind wonderful bedding material.

You wouldn’t have to replace all or even most of your bacterial compost, it would just be something to try as you have a LOT of compostable material.  

Great job and please keep the videos coming.  It would also be pretty cool to see how those leaves ultimately get utilized.

Awesome job and keep the videos coming!

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Steve,

I wouldn’t have guessed that wine caps were not up to the task considering the way they went through my woodchips, but this is good information to know.  Perhaps another species is appropriate.

Eric

steve bossie wrote:

Eric Hanson wrote:Steve,

I wouldn’t have guessed that wine caps were not up to the task considering the way they went through my woodchips, but this is good information to know.  Perhaps another species is appropriate.

Eric

i don't know of any that feed on fresh leaves. i know once composted by bacteria and molds, blewits and parasol mushrooms will grow on it. thats why i put blewit spawn into the soil and compost on the edge of the pile.
as it composts the blewit spawn moves in to colonize the compost. then when i spread it around the trees they colonize and grow out of that compost.. even after I've spread a pile of compost, if i put more on the soil where the pile has been the mycelium is still in the top of the soil there and recolonized the new compost pile. tough critters them fungi! ;)

Eric Hanson wrote:D,

So I am doing a little digging about wine caps and leaf debris.  What I am finding is that the fungal spawn appears to grow and consume the leaves but don’t tend to fruit much.

If your primary goal is to get good quality compost then wine caps might well do the job.  If you are looking for mushrooms to eat, you might only get a couple at best.

For me, the primary goal of the mushroom is the fantastic compost they produce.  The mushrooms are just a tasty bonus.

I will keep digging and see what I can come up with.

Eric

William Bronson wrote:Although  compost will happen on its own,  I like the idea of helping it out.
I already plant into compost piles, making  beds out of  pallets, and filling them with everything.
How could one be more methodical about it?
I'm thinking leaves,   potatoes and chickens.

Beds 4 high, 10 feet long,and  40" wide,  would take 8 pallets and some bailing wire to build.
Start with potatoes,  buy them by the sack,  spread them on the ground and cover them with leaves.
Maybe add more after 1 foot of leaves,  more still at 2 feet of leaves, stop pilling up leaves at 3 feet deep.
They may rot, get eaten by voles or they may grow,  but no matter what,  you get some "greens" added to the bed.

Add a "lid" over the bed, just 3 more pallets ,  and rotate chickens through it,  feeding them with sprouted seeds.
Do this until you are ready to plant spring crops, then cap the leaves with finished compost and plant into that.
I'm thinking Austrian Winter peas,  or alfalfa or another nitrogen fixer.
Harvest,  start a summer crop,  or maybe the potato's are peeking out?
Wow great ideas! Thanks
I already have 10 plus bags of leaves in my back bed, for the chooks to play in,  so maybe I will try this, no need to build a new bed.
I might even try it in the greenhouse.

Eric Hanson wrote:D,

That is a whole lot of mushrooms you have there!  If it’s actual mushrooms you want, I think you may be ideally suited, what with a lot of potential substrate and a appetite for the shrooms themselves.

Eric

D. Nelson wrote:I really am more interested in growing mushrooms to eat. A little over a year ago, I purchased a large stainless steel Harvest Right freeze dryer. I'm planning on freeze drying much of what will be coming out of my orchards, garden and mushrooms to boot! I've already done some large batches of Shiitake and Portobella mushrooms. I like variety!

[/quote ] try any of the oyster mushrooms. i find they taste better than the others I've tried. love them sautéed in butter and garlic! i have a few raised beds made of large maple logs. i inoculated the logs 6 months before using them to make the bed. they have been flushing 2 times a summer for 3 yrs. now. i have summer and fall oysters in there so some fruit in mid summer the others in early fall.