Composting is probably my favorite chores in the garden after harvesting (of course). My only problem is that I don't get enough natural compostable material from my property because I don't have any large trees.
A lot people I speak with complain about how they have to rake leaves and put them in bags and all that nonsense. I would gladly take these people's leaves and compost them. My goal is to get on a larger piece of land and own a truck so that I can make this happen, but for the time being in have to make other arrangements.
In the past, when I owned a minivan I would sneak around on the nights before trash pickup and fill the back of the van (and sometimes the front as well) with paper bags full of leaves. I always felt like a criminal or something while I was sneaking around like that, but then after listening to one of Mike Podlesney's podcast interviews with Nikki Jabbour, they both confessed to doing the same thing, so now I don't feel so weird about it.
Another means I started this year was offering to clean up the neighbors leaves. That worked out even better because nobody had to buy any bags. I bagged them with the lawn mower and made a bunch of runs back and forth across the street to my compost area. The leaf pile got pretty tall, I covered it will some finished compost and I winter touch it until spring. Actually, I will need to add some more leaves next weekend, because it looks like a big pile right now, but it is very fluffy still and it will shrink down a lot.
When I mention compost to non-gardeners, I get some strange looks because people don't know the benefits. My wife is always worried that it is going to stink or attract bugs, but I have not had any problems with a compost pile except for a sore back after turning it. It's so worth it though, when I get to smell that fresh dark earthy scent of fertility and I love to stick my hands in it when it's nice and soft and wet. The plants love it almost as much as I do.
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