Condition the Browns

Condition the Browns:
Composting is the art of mixing green and brown materials. While the greens need quick handling and care not to loose their value. The browns often require some preparation for going into the pile. Browns should be chopped or shredded or mowed up -anything to break down the particle size. Sir Albert Howard threw cotton stalks under the iron wheels of carriages on the road. This helped chop and shred the stalks. He also used stalks and stover as bedding for his animals. They chop with their hooves, moisten with their urine and fertilize the stalks with their dung. It’s a good start to composting.



These fresh leaves are greatly like shingles. They are a long way from turning into humus. You can leave them in piles to be moistened by the rain. ( that’s my favorite) or rake them up quickly.






Just leaving my “borrowed” leaves in paper sacks has moistened them a little. It’s important to have some browns in the spring when an onslaught of greens occurs. These leaves are ready for action.,.. almost.










I mow the leaves with my bagging lawn mower chop them up into smaller pieces. Every time I add leaves, I water to moisten the leaves throughout the pile. I recently combined two bins of leaves into one. I had my garden hose and spray nozzle to allow me to spray the leaves repeatedly throughout the process. These leaves have some ashes mixed into the bin (again on the advice of Sir Albert Howard) but mostly these Browns are getting ready to decompose soon.





This pile is so well rotted that it's ready to go to work. The leaves are so soft that they dissolve between your fingers and worms and worm castings are common. This mulch doesn't meet the visual test for compost, ( i.e., Does it look like what it used to be?) but this MUCK will condition the soil and eventually become it!






Last years mulch was stored for another year. Later this year we’ll be mulching with muck and then covering with this mix of sticks and straw.





The landfill gives us truck loads of fresh chips such as these that spent the winter waiting for a job. I put the chips on paths and around my trees and bushes. They're untreated hardwood chips (mostly pallets) so they decompose cleanly and quickly into the soil.

Use your seasonal wait time to get your browns into good composting condition.