How to Compost Fruit Leaves

Composting is the natural process of the decay of yard and food waste, with the resulting material used as a rich fertilizer. Composting takes place by the action of decomposers like soil-borne worms, bacteria, and insects upon these materials, making them a part of the soil. You can easily use the fruit leaves in your yard and the food scraps from the kitchen to make homemade, fertile compost -- organic fertilizer for soil. The compost you get from leaves is referred to as leaf mold.

3-cubic-foot plastic bin
Rake
Coffee grounds
Lawn mower

Instructions

- 1
  Collect all the fallen fruit leaves with rake. Let the leaves dry for at least a week to make it easier to shred them into smaller pieces.
- 2
  Spread the leaves on the grass in an even layer. Run a lawnmower over the leaves to shred them.
- 3
  Fill a plastic bin with the leaves by layering. Moisten each layer before creating the next layer. Do not add too much water. The leaves should be moist, but not soaked.
- 4
  Sprinkle some grass clippings, alfalfa meal, or coffee grounds on each layer. These are all rich sources of nitrogen and help hasten the process of decomposition, recommend Barbara Pleasant and Deborah Martin in "The Complete Compost Gardening Guide" (2008).
- 5
  Turn the leaves in the bin periodically using a garden fork. This helps add air to the leaf pile and keeps the leaves from getting compacted.
- 6
  Add enough water to keep the leaves moist throughout the composting process. The compost is ready to use when the leaves have decomposed. This takes about a year. Mix the compost into soil just like fertilizer.

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