Hi--please clarify: are you taking yard waste somewhere or bringing it home?? Please say you are bringing composted yard waste home...grass clippings, weeds, etc can all be composted right in your yard to make the most valuable garden additive you can get.

Becky

Becky-you are right. My husband had his hip resurfaced last fall and we did not rake our acre yard that is full of trees. So this load was alot of leaves. Do you compost or use all your leaves. Do you compost every weed. The city composts so my load was composted.

I compost everything! Cardboard, paper, fruit and vegetable scraps, yard waste, coffee grounds, leaves, weeds, flowers, grass, junk mail, etc. Leaves and junk mail are great in winter because we always have kitchen waste (which are a green) and it needs to be mixed with a brown(paper and leaves). I shred everything and throw it in the compost bin. If it smells add more browns, and if it is not hot enought add more greens.

Lee

Thanks Lee! You put smile on my face this morning :-) Now I know the use of junk mail.

We have 5 acres, and we don't mow or rake most of it, and have more than 100 trees. We just let it be natural for the most part, we have some nice prairie areas and some lovely park like areas. We mow a little around the house and gardens, and then just paths through the rest. The leaves we do rake go into the 3 compost bins or directly onto lasagna beds with other ingredients in the fall.

Not only do we compost all our stuff, but I get large amounts of leftover produce from a weekend market near my house to compost. I also take OPBL (other people's bagged leaves) when I see them and bring them home to use. No matter how much compost I make I never have enough! A lot easier to take other people's bagged leaves than to rake our own. :-) Can't imagine taking yard material away, I hope that where you take it, some other people can get the resulting compost for their yards? I would think hauling it away is more work than composting it.

There is one place I could take my yard waste, but I have no idea how one can get it back, it only goes away. Looking at their system I can't imagine it is actually composted, since so many plastic bags and pots and things get mixed into it.

Marcia

Marcia, your five acres seem to be much easier to take care of then our 1 acre. What do you do with your twigs and branches.

Diane