I was on my way to the Kits Community Garden to drop off my foodwaste yesterday, when I hit the leaf jackpot: a half dozen, giant brown paper bags full of lovely, dry maple leaves sitting on the boulevard. I manage the compost bins at the garden and have been none too proud to announce that fact. I’ve been using soggy straw for my carbon source all year and the bins are also soggy and not breaking down very well.
I have a nasty cold and wasn’t exactly feeling up to hauling big bags of leaves, but haul I did. It was less than a block. Managed one on the first go and snuck back for two more. Not that the owners of the house would have really minded whether their leaves wound up in our bins or the city composting site, but still, they had raked them all. Didn’t want to rub their faces in it. So I was discreet as I filched two more. Yeah, real sleuth-like, dragging two huge bags along the sidewalk. Once safely in the back parking lot where the garden is, I filled an empty garbage can right next to the compost bins. Now I had no excuse not to add a dry brown layer after adding the wet food waste. Then I put the bags under cover, where they’d stay dry through the rainy season. The interminable cold, rainy season. Those fall leaves were definitely a bright spot in my November day.
Yes! The importance of carbonaceous material. This year we bit the bullet and bought 6 90L rubbermaid barrels for the purpose of stuffing with enough leaves to keep our 3 composters happy until next fall. I hope it’s enough! I painted the lids and took pictures. I’ll post them on facebook if you’d like to have a look at my fun composty leafy project.