Used to dump all my dead leaves and clippings in the trash...

I was that guy throwing everything in the green bin for years. After reading about soil depletion from a guy at the Seattle Urban Farm Co-op last spring, I built a 3-bin compost system from pallets. Now I save about 40 bucks a month on fertilizer and my tomatoes actually taste like something. Has anyone else noticed a difference in their vegetable yield after switching from store-bought soil amendments?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_laura15d ago

My tomatoes went from tasting like water to actually tasting like tomatoes after I ditched the Miracle-Gro.

evan_grant7015d ago

Read this thing from Cornell extension about how leaf mold specifically feeds the soil fungi that store carbon and help roots take up nutrients. My carrot harvest doubled after I started adding my shredded leaves direct to beds instead of composting them first. That free layer of organic matter beats any bagged stuff I used to buy.

kai83915d ago

Yeah I used to be one of those bagged soil guys too. Thought you had to buy the expensive stuff to get results. But after a few seasons of watching my garden slowly get worse I started looking into it and found the same Cornell research. Now I'm doing the shredded leaves thing and it's wild how much better everything looks. @the_laura you're spot on about the taste thing too. My peppers and carrots actually have flavor now instead of just being watery. The free leaves from my neighbor's yard are way better than anything I was spending money on at the garden center. I'm kicking myself for not figuring this out years ago.