Autumn chores in the garden. Autumn leaf compost Can oak leaves be composted?

Hello, dear friends!

Fallen leaves, which accumulate in large quantities in the fall in every garden and on personal plot– an excellent material for future fertilization of most plants. After all, properly prepared leaf compost contains high doses of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and potassium - the main nutrients for all crops, as well as a whole complex of macro- and microelements, organic matter, humus.

It is natural that chemical composition compost prepared by trees differs from each other. It is believed that the litter berry bushes And fruit trees the richest in valuable biologically active substances.

Laying material for composting

If an oak grows on your site or next to it, then its foliage can only be used in combination with other plants (no more than 15% of total mass). Oak litter contains a high concentration of acids, which in large quantities are harmful to garden crops. Collected leaves should be crushed, since the fine fraction rots much faster, turning into valuable fertilizer. For this purpose, many gardeners use a manual lawn mower.

To enrich the future compost, grass cut from the lawn is also added to the compost heap along with the shredded leaves. This will allow you to save time and money in the future on adding nitrogen compounds to the rotting mixture. In the absence of grass, ready-made nitrogen fertilizers or collected kitchen waste, in particular vegetable peelings, drunken tea, are used to prepare the substrate. coffee grounds. Never add meat, bones or bread to your compost.

The collected foliage is loaded into (recommended size 1 x 1 x 1 m). During installation, each layer of foliage is interspersed with a layer of mowed grass and soil, simultaneously moistening them. To activate the decomposition processes, the contents of the compost bin need to be spilled with mullein infusion once, and the top closed tightly. plastic film and leave until next season. Make sure that the mixture is constantly moist, for which the compost is regularly watered. In the middle of summer next year The compost needs to be mixed.

Alternatively, to prepare compost from leaf litter, you can use dense plastic bags with holes pierced in them for air circulation. In them, fallen leaves are densely packed in layers, interspersed with grass and soil mixture, not forgetting to thoroughly moisten the substrate. Watering the humus infusion at the very beginning of ripening is mandatory.

Using garden leaf litter compost

The readiness of compost is determined visually - large number, the mass has a dark brown color, a uniform crumbly structure and a specific earthy smell. As a rule, the fertilizer is completely ready by the beginning of September.

Particularly valuable leaf compost for light sandy and heavy clay soils, always in need of improving their structure and physical qualities. On sandstones, the addition of compost helps to increase the soil’s ability to retain moisture, which is so valuable for plants. On heavy soils, compost structures the soil, enriches it with valuable humus, making it lighter and more permeable to air and moisture.

Compost from litter is a valuable organic fertilizer that is used for incorporation into the upper layers of soil during autumn and spring digging, for planting seedlings of trees and shrubs, for adding to planting holes when planting seedlings, for insulating beds for the winter (rose bushes, winter garlic, carrots sown before winter, etc.), for mulching the soil and row spacing during the summer. On this type Trees and most shrubs, flowers and vegetables respond equally well to compost.

Use garden waste to create valuable, environmentally friendly and economical fertilizer for your gardens. Have a good harvest!

Destroying fallen leaves with fire has already become a tradition for many. And people don’t even suspect that they are not only harming themselves, but also losing the opportunity to significantly save on fertilizers.

About how you can use the leaves without harming them environment, say the head of the UGCC bureau on environmental issues, and experts from the environmental organization

What is it and what is the technology of composting?

Composting is a natural aerobic decomposition process organic waste with the help of oxygen and soil bacteria. Compost is a humus-rich fertilizer that enriches the soil with nutrients. Subject to composting conditions in compost pit or box in 12 - 24 months you can get a ripened product. The composting site should be no closer than 15 meters from the source drinking water, in partial shade to prevent the mixture from drying out, and also be well ventilated. The height and width of the compost mass should not exceed 100 - 150 centimeters, but the length may not be limited.

Shredded leaves different breeds trees should be mixed with soil, manure or ready-made compost in a ratio of 2: 1. You need to add food waste, grass clippings or some nitrogen fertilizer(such as urine or chicken droppings). Everything should be laid in layers no more than 15 centimeters thick. A layer of any material that is too thick will slow down the composting process.

What happens to leaves and other waste during this process?

Composting consists of three phases. In the first phase, self-heating occurs as a result chemical reactions decomposition due to intense activity of bacteria and microorganisms. Compost can heat up to 65 degrees. Under such temperature conditions, most pathogens die and weed seeds die.

The second phase is the decomposition of materials into stable substances that form humus. The temperature begins to drop, the compost turns brown and acquires soil structure.

The third phase is compost maturation. It becomes homogeneous and begins to smell like forest soil. Compost is considered ready when the entire mass becomes loose and dark. The material must be mixed 1 - 4 times during the entire cycle to ensure sufficient access of oxygen to all layers. Keep the humidity of the material at 50 - 60 percent. The composted material should feel like a well-twisted towel.

It must be placed in top layer soil to a depth of 7 - 10 cm.

Experience of avid gardeners

If you collect plant residues from the entire summer cottage into compost, then next year this fertilizer will be enough to fertilize half of the beds, says agronomist Stepan Kovalik.

By preparing compost, we deprive ourselves of unnecessary work and material costs. In a year, you can make good humus from ordinary leaves, which you will use to fertilize your garden.

If you want to get fertilizer from a compost heap as quickly as possible, then it is advisable to grind the remains, and stir the compost itself more often and water it with EM preparations (these are substances made on the basis of the symbiosis of biological microorganisms, often from a dozen species). The finished compost fertilizer should resemble loose, fertile soil and not smell rotten.

What to do with fall foliage in the garden? An article from the website BOTANICHKA.ru will answer this question.

The autumn leaf is so elegant..., but it must be removed from the garden and there are alternatives to this technique in preparing a summer house or adjoining plot no by next spring. This technique is necessary, since in the space limited by the fence there is a natural accumulation of negative microflora in the form of various fungal, bacterial and other diseases, and pests that winter in comfortable conditions in the form of pupae, larvae, spores, adults, etc. At the same time, according to the laws of nature, everything that is removed from the soil must be returned to it. Otherwise, within a few years, the sanding of the soil and a decrease in its natural (and effective) fertility will be clearly visible when mineral fertilizers will no longer be as effective as they were a few years ago.

How can this be? You just need to economically dispose of the “manna from heaven” that fell from the sky.

Making compost from autumn leaves.

To prepare compost from autumn leaves on the site, you need to make several compost pits (pits - symbol, since it could just be a place, a box, a bag, etc.):
for aerobic rapid composting,
for anaerobic, longer fermentation, but also of higher quality in composition,
humus pit for maturing manure and other animal and plant waste,
sick waste pit,
waste incineration site.

In your garden first aid kit, you should definitely purchase and prepare working solutions of preparations of living effective beneficial soil microhabitats. These are the drugs “Baikal EM-1”, “Ekomik Harozhny”, “Shine” and others. They destroy pathogenic soil microflora and at the same time promote the processing of organic matter into humus compounds.
If there are no EM preparations, you can use tank mixtures of biofungicides and bioinsecticides:
Gamair + phytosporin + gaupsin,
phytosporin + gamair + alirin,
baktofit, trichodermin
mikosan + phytosporin + boverin or bicol.

Biofungicides can be used in tank mixtures with bioinsecticides (haupsin, bicol, boverin, verticillin and others). Before preparing tank mixtures, be sure to check the preparations for compatibility. They effectively destroy infectious microflora and pests (at different stages of development). The resulting organic matter will be free from pathogenic infections and pests.

The pits do not have to be made huge, but it is necessary to use the finished product as an organic fertilizer for the garden and berry garden. During the summer, each of the pits is filled with appropriate waste.

Aerobic compost from autumn foliage

For aerobic compost on the soil surface from large branches (from spring pruning), wood chips, poles and other waste are prepared for air drainage. By prying up the drainage layer with a pitchfork, they increase the access of oxygen to plant residues and accelerate their fermentation or rotting. Vegetable components for fermentation are poured on top in layers. These are usually young weeds, leaves of tree crops, post-harvest tops, lawn clippings and other light waste. Layer 15-20 cm, pour a couple of shovels of earth with a working solution of EM preparations (any). Add the next layer. The heap will gradually increase and after 1.5-2.0 months it will be ready to be transferred to the garden beds.

Collection and preparation of fallen leaves for composting

Experts working with EO preparations suggest preparing 3-day compost for the beds. It is suitable for processing autumn leaves.

A pile prepared in the manner described above, where it is folded in layers autumn leaves and tops (healthy) with vegetable beds, mowed grass from lawns, watered hot water at +80ºС, after 5-6 hours add the working solution of Effective microflora (EM). The pile is stirred slightly. The burt “lights up”. After 2 days, water again with sufficient quantity and lightly turn the pile. After 3-4 days, the EM solution is spilled again and this EM compost (“green” unripe) is transferred to the beds for digging. During the warm period, especially in the south and in warm areas middle zone(September - October), the foliage in the soil treated with the EM preparation will completely rot and by spring the soil will be light and fluffy. It is lightly raked from the soil crust and when optimal temperature begin sowing or planting.

Anaerobic compost from autumn leaves

A hole 40-50 cm deep is prepared for anaerobic compost. Crushed organic matter (weeds, tops, other waste) and the same autumn leaves are laid in 15-20 cm layers. A 3-5 cm layer of soil is poured between the layers of organic matter. Each soil layer is slightly moistened with water, then watered with a working solution of any EM preparation. The total humidity of the compost heap is 50-60%. All components are carefully compacted to limit the access of oxygen. In such a pile the temperature should be kept at +25..+30ºС. If the temperature rise is rapid and higher, the pile is wetted. After compacting, the pile is covered with plastic wrap and even sprinkled with a layer of grass. Fermentation lasts from 3 to 5 months (not years), and “green” compost can be added to the soil after 3-4-5 weeks. The disadvantage of “green” compost is a large amount of silage, which makes soil cultivation difficult, but such compost retains a huge amount nutrients, anaerobic EM microflora develops better, which will process roots and other organic residues deep in the soil into humus.

Manure storage facilities

Almost every dacha has a place to store manure and chicken droppings. Usually this is a shallow hole so that the slurry does not spread throughout the garden and supply food to nearby growing weeds. The bottom is covered with roofing felt or several layers of film to preserve slurry. A box made of any materials (wood, plastic, remnants of slate, etc.) is knocked down and installed around it. The manure rots within 2–3 years and is applied to crops that are responsive to the application of rotted manure. To increase the organic component of the soil, once every 4-5-6 years unrotted manure is applied to the garden beds and incorporated into the soil. If there is no manure, composts are used.
The application of manure can be combined with digging up autumn leaves scattered over the beds from under fruit and forest trees.

Destruction and disposal of diseased tops, carrion and leaf litter

The owner of a dacha or private property can act in his own way regarding diseased tops and fallen leaves. Burn it immediately (in case of a viral infection, it is necessary) or put it in a separate hole for 2-3 years at the end of the plot (away from the garden).

The burning area should be in one place so as not to burn the soil in a new area every year: when burning, not only diseases and pests are killed, but also beneficial microflora, beneficial soil inhabitants (worms, etc.).

In organic farming, a pit for infected garden tops and leaf litter is a must. Ash from burnt leaves and tops is not as useful (although it contains a large range of microelements) as organic matter. And returning it to the soil is the first law of geoscience: as much as you take, return as much.

Carrion infected with fungal, bacterial and other diseases, autumn leaves, tops of tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, potatoes, onions and other vegetable and garden crops are placed in the pit. Interspersed with a thin layer of soil. Literally 2-3 shovels per 10 cm layer of waste. Each layer is spilled with a working solution of EM preparations of high concentration (see recommendations), biofungicides and bioinsecticides are added. The embedded components are heated to +80ºС. Ferment for 1.5-2-3 years, constantly maintaining high temperature and adding solutions of EM drugs. This biocompost can also be used for trees and shrubs or lawn grass.

If the garden consists of 8-10, or even more trees, and there are also 1-2 walnut trees growing, plus a berry garden and a lawn, then naturally, it will be difficult to place all the foliage in compost heaps. What to do?

How to completely clear the garden of fallen leaves?

You can do this as follows:
If the foliage is healthy and the soil under the trees is not tinned, it can be treated on site with a tank mixture of biological products. Leave for 1-2 weeks or treat with medications for 2-3 weeks in a row, stirring each time. Tedding will prevent the foliage from caking, and increased air flow will contribute to better overheating. These processed leaf wastes in late autumn (preferably early spring after the snow melts) embed into the soil by shallow digging or hoeing. They will first serve as a good mulch, and then as an organic fertilizer.
Collect leaves with a rake, mower, leaf blower or garden vacuum cleaner with a leaf shredder and spread them over the beds and dig them up.

From personal experience.

I haven't been able to use it for many years organic fertilizers at the dacha. Every year, when digging in the fall, I dig up the first row of the bed and place it in the resulting groove. leaf litter, small weeds, garden tops and add soil to the next row. And so on throughout the garden bed. By spring everything is rotting. I remove the soil crust with a rake and after the onset of stable heat I plant and sow garden crops. After a year I use biocompost. I bring in a bucket per square meter. m area.

Trees usually shed their leaves gradually and autumn cleaning is not enough. By spring, a sufficient amount of foliage, compacted under the snow, accumulates in the beds under the trees and on the paths. I rake the leaves in the beds gradually, as necessary, to clear the soil for planting or sowing, and send them to compost heaps. Or I dig it up along with half-rotten leaves if the soil has not been dug up since the fall. If the leaves are not needed, then I send them to the compost.

What to do with fallen leaves on the lawn?

If there is a lawn on the site, then it also needs to be prepared accordingly for winter. Mown lawns are trimmed again with a lawn mower without a basket or waste bag. The finely crushed green mass will dry out during the autumn month and be beaten to the soil by the autumn rains, where it will rot until spring.

If the lawn is of the Moorish type and has not been mowed all summer, then in the fall it is necessary to mow it (later so that the seeds for next year) and be sure to remove the mow.

Leaves of trees and shrubs must also be removed from the lawn. Otherwise, under the influence of compacted mown masses and leaf litter, the lawn grasses will rot and in the spring large bald spots will form on the lawn, which will need to be re-seeded.

Winter freezing of leaf litter

Some gardeners collect leaf litter in bags for the winter and leave it to freeze in the winter. Some pests and some diseases die under the influence of frost. In the spring, this mass of leaves is sent to compost heaps, and after fermentation - to the beds.

What to do with fallen nut leaves?

The huge leaf mass of nuts always causes fear among novice gardeners. Where to put these piles of leaves. Some of them can be mixed with foliage fruit trees and add it to the soil for digging (see above), and use part of it in composts.

There is another use for nut litter. Leaves are stuffed to the top 1-2 galvanized or wooden barrels, pour boiling water over as much as will go in. Close tightly (so that the film does not tear off in winter). Over the winter, some of the leaves will rot and form a concentrate. From the concentrate, working solutions are prepared for treating plants against aphids, spider mites, Colorado potato beetles and other gnawing pests. For the working solution, 1 liter of concentrate is diluted in 10 liters of water, soap is added (for better adhesion) and the plants are sprayed. First you need to spray 1-2 plants to make sure there is no burn. If the concentration of the working solution turns out to be high, then only 0.5-0.75 liters of infusion are added per 10 liters of water. Spraying is carried out 2 times every 7-10 days. All fruit trees can be treated with this solution after flowering. Processing is carried out in the afternoon.

» Medicines

On every garden plot grows a lot various trees and bushes. And each of them sheds its leaves in the fall. In addition, after harvesting, whole heaps of plant waste remain. Where should all this wealth go? Some gardeners simply send them with the trash, some burn them. Both decisions are wrong. All these components can be used to prepare compost. However, many find reasons not to start litigation with its preparation. One of the reasons is the lack of space for constructing a pit or a plot of land for a heap. But it turns out that humus can also be prepared in bags.

Before considering how to do leaf humus in bags, you should understand the general concepts.

Compost is an artificial fertilizer made from tree leaves and plant waste.

In addition to leaves and plant waste, food waste can be used for composting, such as cereal crops, fruits, vegetables and even tea grounds.

What benefits does compost provide? It is difficult to answer this question in one sentence. To understand its importance in agriculture, one should list its main advantages.

• preparing humus relieves the gardener of the problems of removing garden plant waste, as well as some food waste;
• no costs required. All components are located right under your feet in the garden area;
• it's environmentally friendly pure fertilizer, which is rich in micronutrients and humus;
• after adding it to the soil, it becomes loose and allows air to pass through well. In other words, the soil begins to “breathe”;
• soil saturated with compost retains moisture well;
• can serve as mulch. If there is enough of it, then you can evenly cover a certain area of ​​the bed with it. Its presence in the beds prevents weeds from germinating and retains moisture in the root system of plants;
• humus lying on the beds attracts birds and sometimes hedgehogs, which rid the plants of harmful insects or slugs;
• Beneficial bacteria and fungi multiply in it, which contribute to the decomposition of organic components. It breeds worms, which, on the one hand, loosen the earth, and on the other, can be used for fishing;
• saves the gardener from looking for a place to burn;
• a natural product that saves the gardener from oversaturating his plot with all sorts of chemical fertilizers.

Disadvantages include:

• some leaves that have flat shapes are endowed with the property of caking together into a dense mass, which complicates the process of rotting;
• rapid evaporation of moisture. To ensure the decomposition process, you should frequently water the compost.

After familiarizing yourself with the advantages of compost, you can try to understand the technology of its production.

Technology for preparing leaf humus in bags

The main component for production is fallen tree leaves. It is recommended to prepare compost in the following sequence.

Selection and procurement of components

Ingredients for preparation can include foliage, grass clippings, small tree branches and other plant waste. The preparation technology is the same for all methods of laying it, including preparation in bags.

The compost readiness time depends on the type of tree. Products deciduous trees such as birch, oak, maple and all fruit trees decompose faster. The finished product from such raw materials can be obtained within a year. Raw materials of evergreens and coniferous species decompose slowly, and the ripening period increases to 2-3 years.

Leaves can be collected with a hand fan rake. Such rakes do not damage the stems and roots of plants. Where there are no bushes or trees, it is better to collect leaves with a lawn fan rake. Garden vacuum cleaners are widely used for collection.

They can operate in suction and blowing mode. When operating in suction mode, the leaves are drawn by the vacuum cleaner into a special collection box, which is included with the vacuum cleaner. In blowing mode, leaves can be collected into separate piles. The advantage of a vacuum cleaner is that before sending the leaves into the collection, it shreds them. Finally, if leaves need to be collected from large lawns, it is best to use a lawn mower.

Avid gardeners buy their own lawn mowers or vacuum cleaners. These mechanisms are very beneficial, because they grind the products and collect them in special collections consisting of a bag or basket. This frees the gardener from the physical labor of moving it to a certain place.

Grinding

Leaves must be shredded before composting. If they are collected using a vacuum cleaner or lawn mower, then they are already shredded. If the leaves are collected in another way, then To chop them, you can use a special leaf shredder called a mulcher.

Laying material for composting

The collected and shredded leaves are placed in places where the compost will ripen. It could be a pit, fenced compost heap or free-standing containers or thick plastic bags.

The collected leaves are placed in selected containers and lightly compacted.

To create favorable conditions for leaf rotting, oxygen is needed. Therefore, the bag should be pierced in several places.

Before you start placing the future humus in the bag, a layer from the top of the soil should be placed on its bottom. After this, the bag is filled with other components.

To speed up the rotting process, there must be enough moisture inside the bag. In addition, moisture must be maintained throughout the entire ripening period. Given these circumstances, plastic bags should not be tied, but left open. If the autumn or spring is too dry, it is recommended to moisten the leaves inside the bag with water.

Garden bags for making compost can be purchased at any gardening store. They must be black and dense.

The following cannot be used as bookmark components:

• animal residues: droppings, small bones and other meat waste;
• use freshly cut and perennial weeds, as well as remnants of the root system of plants;
• waste from diseased plants;
• fresh manure;
• waste containing toxic substances and toxins.

Adding Nitrogen

To speed up decay, it is recommended to add nitrogen-rich plants to the bag. Such plants include lawn grass, nettle, comfrey and others. If after a while the compost does not show signs of rotting, then nitrogen biological products should be added to its composition.

Maturation

The compost prepared in this way is left in open bags for maturation.

The decay time can be from 1 to 2 years, depending on weather conditions.

To create uniform rotting conditions, it is recommended to stir the compost several times during ripening.

Production equipment

Manufacturers have developed many devices for making compost. However, their use is beneficial only in large farms. In such organizations, composts are produced in large volumes, and the use of small equipment is not rational.

To prepare humus in individual summer cottages, and even in cramped conditions, it is enough to use those devices that have already been mentioned in this article.

Such devices include:

• fan and lawn rakes - they are designed for collecting;
• garden vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers - used for collecting and shredding;
• mulchers - intended for grinding.

Most gardeners know that soil depletes over time, which means that on such lands you can expect good harvest not worth it. Therefore, soil fertility should be increased annually. It will take several years to improve the soil.

Thus, compost in bags will save every gardener money and will maintain soil fertility every year.

Everyone knows that the main organs of plants are roots, stems and leaves. And if the first two receive attention, then the leaves are unlucky in this regard. They are only said to contain chlorophyll and, through the process of photosynthesis, provide carbohydrates and other nutrients to the entire plant. Well, as for already fallen tree leaves, most publications believe that they are no longer suitable or needed, since they have no nutrients and are not a fertilizer.

This means that the amateur gardener concludes that the fallen leaf should be taken to a landfill, which is what is done in the city. What will happen to tree roots without this protective layer? Are autumn leaves really so useless?

Flower growers were the first to talk about the use of leaf humus. And it's clear why. The moisture capacity of the soil increases and its structure and mechanical composition improve. Is this only necessary for flower growers? If you bring leaf litter from the forest, or even take it from your own plot and just put it in a heap, it will be stored for a long time without rotting.

Forest leaf litter is another matter. This is where the desire to prepare leaf humus and compost began.

In a deciduous or mixed forest, without depriving the trees, I rake up a layer of half-rotten leaves, capturing a little of the top layer of soil. Usually this layer already consists of leaf humus. This composition has an acidic soil solution. I put all the prepared mass into spherical hemispherical piles and compact it a little.

Readiness of leaf humus determined by appearance and smell (a purely forest smell appears, and not a putrid smell). Such humus can be added to the soil as a loosening and fertilizing material. Forest litter prepared as humus or compost is especially good for clay soil.

How do I prepare this compost component? I water the pile with slurry, a solution of fermented herbs, and you can also add feces, as recommended. But I don’t add the latter for sanitary and hygienic reasons. For such short term, which I set aside for preparing compost - 8 months; helminths, if they are there, will not have time to be disinfected and will get into the soil. Also, it seems to me, we need to pay attention to the preparation of prefabricated compost, where the conditions are different, and so are the preparation times.

We are talking about fallen leaves, but they are added to the prefabricated compost and from fruit trees and shrubs only if the leaves are healthy and not damaged by pests and diseases. Affected leaves should be burned or removed from the garden plot further away, where they are disinfected naturally.

This applies not only to leaves from trees, but also to vegetable and other herbal leaves, which are also added to the compost, but in healthy looking, without rot, pests, diseases. In prefabricated compost, leaves contribute to better aeration, moisture retention and act as a ripper. But to speed up the maturation of the compost, the leaves must be added in crushed form.

Otherwise, the leaves of a tree such as aspen stick together in plates and are stored in this form for years. It is best to add birch and linden leaves, which do not need to be chopped. Dry leaves are used not only for compost, but also as a component in the construction warm beds, where in a mixture with straw, hay, grass residues it helps to generate heat for plant roots, and is also protective layer from the dank, cold layer of soil. To do this, I collect dry leaves in dry weather and store them in closed containers until spring. In particular, they are stored in barrels under a canopy and in cans.

I also use the dry leaf as a mulching material for tree trunk circles fruit trees and shrubs, as well as vegetable beds. Including as a protective layer, and therefore, plant roots from freezing and drying out of the soil. The soil under the leaf is always moderately moist.

Now the autumn period of plant life has arrived. This year, the leaves of birch, linden, rowan and other plants are the first to turn yellow and fall. Next, massive leaf fall will begin. Dry leaves are used along with dry peat and crushed straw as bedding material in a layer of up to 30 cm, which absorbs liquid well when preparing a site for preparing any compost.

I tested the dry leaves for their suitability as an insulating and at the same time aerosive material for winter garlic, planted at the end of September - the first ten days of October. On the bed with planted garlic, I pour a layer of 5-10 cm of dry birch leaves and cover it with spruce branches or raspberry stems, Jerusalem artichoke - so that they are not blown away by the wind, in winter I also add 20-30 cm of snow. There has never been a case where winter garlic, planted to a depth of 8-10 cm, it froze for me. In the spring, when the cover is removed, it actively grows and produces good large bulbs.

Good results are achieved by ripening compost in boxes or compost heaps.

Over the years of gardening, I have developed the following technology. Considering the possibility of compost freezing, I prepare the latter in shallow pits. installation technology is the same

The depth of the pit is 30 cm, width is 2.5 m. Experience has shown that the process of rotting and fermentation in the pit does not stop in winter. Now I'm already taking care of preparing the compost for at the right time. Deadlines are at the forefront of my mind. And microorganisms, bacteria, flea beetles, fungi, worms and other living creatures in the soil will figure out for themselves what to do with this organic matter and plant food. This is noticeable in trial, test beds. Plants grow more actively than on ordinary ones.

So, having provided a five-centimeter bedding layer in the pit, I lay layers of dry leaves of deciduous trees (except oak, which rot poorly and contain tannins) moistened with a solution of saltpeter or urea (urea). For every 10-centimeter layer of leaves, I always add a layer of garden or turf soil. For what? In order to, in addition to the structural composition of the soil and the macro- and microelements it contains, also introduce soil microflora into the leaf layer.

Next comes the next layer of bulk leaves. Here we already moisten it with slurry or a solution of fermented grass. You can add a solution of fertile garden soil from your site. Next is the next layer of leaves, which we will moisten with a solution of caustic soda.

Caustic soda itself is not a fertilizer, but caustic helps extract chlorophyll from leaves. Then the next layer - the solution is added wood ash, then again a layer of leaves moistened with water. We cover everything with a five-centimeter layer of mowed grass. The next layer is covered with chopped straw - for oxygen, hay - for microorganisms, and moistened with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.

The compost pit is covered with 20x10 cm sods, laid tightly to each other on top of the heap, with the grass cover facing down. Then I install two vertical tubes to the middle of the pile - for air and humidification of the pile, then I take them out and fill the holes.

I have two of these holes. One is where the components are assembled. The other is where the composition is shoveled. I shovel it about a month after placing all the material in the first pile. This must be done to loosen the compost, and therefore improve aeration, for better mixing of the composition of the heap.

Therefore I had to give up classical forms composters and move on to heap forms. In addition to other advantages, I consider the main thing for me to be convenience and ease of shoveling (after all, age and strength are not the same) in shoveling itself. After this, the compost is ready and can be added to the soil.