[rightly_dividing]

Thanks. I have read about compost a lot, but do not have enough of the right ingrediants to make any, unless lots of oak leaves would do. I will look into a soil test and see where that leads me.

This year being my first sucessful effort in gardening has opened up new questions; like how to prepare for next year? As in what to do and when to do it.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Oak leaves, egg shells, coffee grounds, and the vegetable peelings, etc. from your kitchen would make a fine compost pile. If you could get some barn litter to throw in every now and then, that would be a bonus. Saves on the trash bags too, since you will need fewer.

Many soil amendments should be worked-in during the fall, as they will be more readily available to the garden in the spring (if, for example, you needed to add lime). A brief phone conversation with your extension agent would help, since he/she is likely to be familiar with the type of soil you are gardening (sand vs clay, etc.)

[greeneyes]

Oak leaves are wonderful, but decompose a little slower than other leaves, compost made just from leaves is called leaf mold.

Just put your leaves in a trash bag, make sure they are moist, tie up the bag and pole a few holes in it. Make sure and leave it in the sun.

Not usually available commercially, it is a great soil additive, but does not contain much nitrogen (heavy on the carbon).

If you make a pile composed of layers of leaves, grass clippings and kitchen waste peelings etc. you would have a pretty good compost with more beneficial stuff for the soil.

[Aliska]

Oak leaves are great but maybe don't break down as fast as other leaves. Leaves, green and dirt. In about equal amounts is what I've been reading people do.

That hard part is will it cook hot enough to kill the weed and grass seeds? I bag what I can of that, let the city take it, then it gets in their compost :-(.