Collecting & Making leaf Compost 101 1/2

            🍁 Collecting & Making leaf Compost 101 1/2 🍁

                                               (Zone 7, Jersey Shore)

🌱 Why Composting Matters🌱

• Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants
  Compost enriches the soil with nutrients, improves its structure, and helps it retain moisture — creating the perfect home for strong, resilient plants.
  
  

• Waste Less, Give More
  Instead of sending kitchen scraps and yard waste to the landfill, composting turns them into valuable food for the garden. It’s a simple way to reduce waste while creating something meaningful.
  
  

• Stronger Community & Planet
  When families compost, they not only improve their own gardens but also contribute to a healthier environment. Composting reduces methane emissions from landfills and closes the loop of giving back.

                        Turning Scraps into Garden Gold

At Henchy Family Gardens, we believe that nothing in the garden is ever wasted. Just as patience grows before vegetables, composting teaches us that even peels, leaves, and clippings can be transformed into something rich and life-giving. Composting is nature’s way of recycling — a cycle of giving back to the soil that gives so much to us.

                            🌻Where to Start?🌻

1. Choose Your Space

• Use a compost bin, tumbler, or simply make a pile in a corner of your yard.

• Place it somewhere with good drainage and easy access.
  
  

2. Build Your Pile

• Start with a layer of browns (sticks, dry leaves).

• Add greens (kitchen scraps, grass clippings).

• Alternate layers as you add more material.
  
  

3. Keep It Balanced

• Aim for a mix: about 2 parts browns to 1 part greens.

• Too many greens = smelly. Too many browns = slow.
  
  

4. Turn It Regularly

• Use a pitchfork or shovel to mix the pile every 1–2 weeks.

• This adds air, speeds decomposition, and keeps your compost healthy.
  
  

5. Wait & Harvest

• In 2–6 months (depending on conditions), your compost will be dark, crumbly, and earthy-smelling.

• Spread it in your garden beds, mix into potting soil, or top-dress around trees and shrubs.
  

Leaves are garden gold: Fallen leaves are “brown” (carbon-rich) fuel for compost. Shredded leaves + a little “green” (nitrogen) = fluffy, moisture-holding compost that improves soil and feeds microbes.

What do you need?

• Leaves: Ideally mix, maple, oak, birch, etc. Avoid contaminated with trash or road grime.

• Greens: Grass clippings, veggie scraps, coffee grounds,farm manure, seaweed,etc.

• Air & moisture tools: garden fork, hose with rose head, tarp or lid.

• Tools?: Bag shredding mower, leaf shredder, chicken wire, pallets, thermometer.
  

  

  
  
  
  

SStep 1 — Collect & Prep

1. Gather: Rake from your property, or take clean bagged leaves from neighbors (ask if they used weed-and-feed/herbicides). Pick out litter.
   
   

2. Shred: Run a mower over leaf piles or use a shredder. Shredded leaves won’t mat and break down 2–4× faster.
   
   

3. Sort special cases:

• Black walnut: compost separately and cure longer, or skip.

• Pine needles: Small amounts; they’re waxy and slow—mix with other leaves.

• Diseased leaves: hot compost only (see temps below) or dispose.

                       🌸 What You Can Compost🌸

Think of compost as a balance of “greens” and “browns.”

• Nitrogen greens: Fruit & vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, grass clippings.
  
  

• Carbon browns: Dry leaves, twigs, shredded paper, cardboard, straw.

🚫 Avoid 🚫

Meat, dairy, oils, pet waste.

(These can attract pests).

Step 2 — Build, hot compost recipe

                             Target C:N ≈ 25–30:1. Leaves are ~50–80:1, so add greens.

Quick volume recipe:

• 2–3 bins/bags shredded leaves (loosely packed)

• 1 bin/bag greens (grass/coffee/food scraps/manure)

• A handful of finished compost or soil (inoculates microbes)
  
  

Layering (“lasagna”)

1. 6–8" shredded leaves

2. 2–3" greens

3. Light sprinkle of water (aim for wrung-out sponge moisture)

4. Repeat to at least 3×3×3 ft (1 m³) for winter heat. Cap with leaves and cover with a tarp if heavy rain is expected.

Step 3 — Manage heat, air, and moisture

Moisture: Squeeze test = Dry, water while turning; Soggy, add dry leaves and fluff.

Air: Turn when temps peak or the center cools—about every 5–7 days for hot compost.

Temperature targets:

                       130–160°F (54–71°C) 

                      The core for 3+ days to knock back weed seeds & many pathogens.

                       If >160°F, add leaves and turn to cool it.

Winter Zone 7 tips

• Build bigger to hold heat; use a tarp to cut wind/rain.

• Turning is still helpful, but the pile may slow; it will re-ignite in early spring.

• Start a second “leaf mold” pile (see below) for extra leaves you can’t fit.

Step 4 — Finish & cure

• Active phase: 3–8 weeks (hot process) with regular turns.

• Curing: 4–8 weeks undisturbed. 

• Ready: Soils are dark, earthy, crumbly, and you can’t recognize the ingredients. 

• Screen: Toss chunky bits back in.

                         Leaf-only option: Make leaf mold

• Pile shredded leaves alone (or stuff into aerated bags with a few holes).

• Keep evenly moist; turn monthly (or poke air holes).

• Timing: 6–12 months (faster if shredded).

• Use: Incredible mulch/soil conditioner (high carbon, low N)—mix into beds or top-dress around plants.

                           Using your finished compost

• Beds: 1–2" layer over beds in spring/fall; lightly fork in.

• Transplants: A trowel of compost in each planting hole.

• Mulch: ½–1" around veggies, then cap with straw/leaves.

                          Troubleshooting (fast fixes)

• Ammonia smell / slimy: Too many greens → add shredded leaves, turn.

• Dry & inactive: Add water while turning; add greens.

• Matted leaves: Unshredded or compressed → Break mats apart, reshred and remix.

• Critters: Bury food scraps in the center; avoid meat/dairy/oils; use a bin with a lid.

What to skip, the recap:

Stay clear of: Meat, fish, dairy, oils, pet waste, glossy/plastic, heavily sprayed lawn debris, large walnut loads, and diseased leaves unless you can reliably hot-compost.

Henchy Tips

• Mower-bag trick: Mow/rake at once—instant shredding + collection.

• Free browns: Ask neighbors for clean leaves; label a bin “leaf gold” in the greenhouse.

• Winter cover: A tarp keeps nutrients from leaching and sheds nor’easter rain.

                   

Garden fresh recipe: 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Garden Herbs

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes (peeled or scrubbed, cubed into 1-inch chunks)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 minced cloves)

• 1 tsp paprika (smoked if you like depth)

• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary or thyme (or 1 tsp dried)

• Optional: a drizzle of honey/maple syrup for extra warmth

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Place the cubed sweet potatoes on a baking sheet.

3. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, and herbs. 

4. Spread in a single layer so they roast evenly.

5. Roast for 25–30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown and tender.

6. Optional: drizzle with honey or maple syrup before serving.

Serving Ideas:

• As a warm side dish with roasted chicken or fish.

• Tossed into a winter salad with kale, goat cheese, and walnuts.

• Mashed with a little butter and cinnamon for a sweeter twist.

                       

                        🌼 The Garden Lesson🌼

“Composting reminds us that nothing is wasted. Even in decay, there is life — a chance to begin again, stronger and richer than before.”

At Henchy Family Gardens, composting is more than a practice; it’s a story of renewal. Each peel, leaf, and clipping becomes a part of the greater whole, teaching us to see beauty and purpose even in what we once thought was “scrap.”

   With sun on your face and soil in your hands, 

                                             —We thank you! 

and welcome to the Henchy Family farms Community.

                                                                       -Raquel Henchy, 

                                                                                  Henchy Family Farms 🌻

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6. Henchyfarms.com

© Henchy Family Farms

                 Zone 7

Jersey Shore, New Jersey