I haven't dug in it yet to look at it, but I know where there is a GIANT oak tree. At the bottom of the tree, a fence sits behind it. Over the years (about 15) since the fence was built, fallen leaves have piled up at the base beside the fence. The pile is a good 3 feet deep. I'd say there's some pretty decayed leaves down in there an probably a shit load of nightcrawlers as well. I'm thinking about digging some up to use in a soil mix. What do you think? If it's full of night crawlers I thought about filling some plastic totes with it and let them go to town all winter. If it's not full of worms, I could probably use it straight away. Also, I know a place where a long row of pine trees has been growing for a very very long time. The trees were planted in the mid 70's as a sort of divider between two streets running parallel to each other. Since one street sits at a higher elevation, there is a gully where the pine trees are. Anyway, there's a huge amount of fallen pine needles in that gully. The gully has never flooded, and was put there more as a precautionary thing. The gully is just a ditch in the dirt not not concrete or steel. Like the tree, there's a pile several feet deep and probably some rich stuff in there. Would either be good for compost if I dug it up? I'd say yes on the oak leaves, but possibly no on the pine. I would think that the pine needles have an extreme PH one way or the other. One more thing, I read somewhere that the soil under fallen trees in the woods is PRIME stuff. Any truth to this? If so, what type of fallen tree is best? What I mean is the decayed stuff under the tree when you roll it over and there's all kind of rotten composted wood and super rich looking soil under it. Any info appreciated.
Rick540 At the very bottom of the pile which is alive with worms - what color are the leaves and how much of their original structure is still somewhat intact? LD2 You may be the luckiest bastard on the this board if the color is correct.
I'll go dig through it tomorrow and post a pic or two. What color am I looking for? A dark, almost black color like normal compost? As far as state of decay, I assume I want material that's completely broken down correct?
Rick540 If it is black and still retains about about 50% of the original structure then this is what is called leaf mold. Leaf mold usually takes 3 - 4 years to get to that point. Hopefully. Oak leaves take even longer because of the high levels of lignins which microbes bind into more stable humic substances (fulvic acid, humic acid, humins). Leaf mold can be used as part of the compost profile in your soil mix but you should probably do some reading on mix ratios, etc. Leaf mold is the preferred bedding for serious vermicomposters because worms produce castings rich in bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, et al. but are usually weakest in developing fungi colonies without adding and using specific food items. Leaf mold has some of the highest fungi colonies of any decaying plant material. Start a worm bin would be my suggestion - a really big one and take advantage of both the leaf mold as well as the teeming worm population - you're home free. HTH LD2