Nick Kitchener wrote:6 of those?? So what happens to them? It looks like you have about 1/4 acre and these leaves are stored in a big heap. Do the worms just deal to them rapidly?
I'm worried because it won't go above freezing here until late march. Typical daytime temps will be between -10 and -18 C for the next 3 months straight. Everyone local is telling me that the ground will freeze solid regardless of the 3 ft of leaves and plastic cover.
I'm hoping that the insulation will be enough to keep the soil biology active. We got a couple of -20 C days the other week after some rain, and the ground froze hard as a rock. But even in the edge of the garden where there is only a thin covering of leaves, the ground was soft with no sign of frost so I have hope![]()
Oh, I forgot to ask about your Amaranth Pilsner? How'd that go? Can you elaborate? Did you malt the seed?
I acquired some old barley varieties from the gene bank last spring with a view to eventually brewing with it. One of them is Morovian Hana.
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Maybe it’s time we start thinking about separate piles devoted to leaves only
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Ken Peavey wrote:
Adding Greens
This does not speed up the process, it CHANGES the process. Instead of leaf mold, you will have compost. There is some cellulose in the leaves which will compost, but you are creating conditions to promote the bacteria. The fungi will break it down if you let it, and will produce more humus out of the same amount of cellulose than the bacteria will. If you want to make compost, go ahead, but it will be compost, not leaf mold.
Just leaves, nothing else.
Magnus Fundal wrote:
Ken Peavey wrote:
Adding Greens
This does not speed up the process, it CHANGES the process. Instead of leaf mold, you will have compost. There is some cellulose in the leaves which will compost, but you are creating conditions to promote the bacteria. The fungi will break it down if you let it, and will produce more humus out of the same amount of cellulose than the bacteria will. If you want to make compost, go ahead, but it will be compost, not leaf mold.
Just leaves, nothing else.
I would really love to have a look at your references on this. The statement makes sense, but this is the only place I've encountered it so far, and "some permaculture forum" doesn't sound too good in the master's thesis.![]()
Plus, I want to read more about how and why.
From what I've read, lignin is notoriously hard to break down, and it generally occurs through fungal decay. I read a remark in an article in "Nature" (I believe) that coal formation mostly occured in the carboniferous period because lignin-decaying fungi hadn't evolved yet.
Wikipedia suggests some bacteria can break down lignin as well, though. It's sounds plausible that we encourage these bacteria by adding nitrogen to the leaves, but please, show me your sources on this.
I want to read more about how and why.
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Ken Peavey wrote:I have no references or sources to offer other than my back field and years of personal observation to support my conclusion that compost is different from leaf mold.
Ken Peavey wrote:
Can you send me a copy of your thesis when completed?
Magnus Fundal wrote:
Don't mind if I make my own observations, then.
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Brian Knight wrote:Inspired by this thread I started my own dedicated leaf mold pile recently. Potential problem though, its getting hot!
I usually add coffee grounds to my leaves for compost, but after reading this thread and encountering what indeed seemed to be a different product with older, bagged leaves set aside for my compost water heater I wanted in on more of the mold action.
Maybe its the volume, a 5' diameter by 5' tall well compacted and moistened leaf pile. The heat definitely took longer to form and is not getting as hot but several weeks after creating a leaf-only pile, Iam getting temperatures close to 100F! I measured at the end of a cold snap with almost a week of sub-freezing outdoor air temps.
I absolutely did not include ANY extra nitrogen sources in this leaf pile. Its all bagged leaves from the neighborhood and sometimes small amounts of grass makes it in but seems an unlikely amount to make a difference. I did not see any to remove when making it. Anyone else getting such high temperatures with leaves only? I wanted leaf mold, which I have experienced in piles of separated/bagged leaves, not more compost! Iam thinking looser piles may be better. Thoughts?
Let's go surfing in my spinach
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Ken Peavey wrote:Has anyone found or experienced any negative effects or disadvantages to employing leaf mold?
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Victor Johanson wrote:I had a big mound of leaf mold in my front yard, and noticed insane germination and astonishing growth of weeds. Lambsquarters grew about seven feet tall! Later on I learned that the fungal decay involved produces gibberellins, and I suspect that's what produced the phenomenon. Since then I've incorporated it into my seedling mixes to good effect.
Let's go surfing in my spinach
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