Fertilize With City Leaves

Fertilize With City Leaves FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 10-6-23 A Washington farmer says leaves from city streets make great fertilizer for his wheat ground located just outside Spokane, Wash. According to a report in the Capital Press, T.J. McKelvey lets the city dump hundreds of loads of leaves on his farm every year. He's done so for the past 15 years. He says the city is happy to do it because it saves the street department the expense of paying the refuse department to haul them to the city dump. Once dumped on his land, he lets the leaves decompose under snow till spring when he disks them into the ground. He says they not only fertilize the soil but, during the 3 to 4 years it takes them to completely decompose, they absorb water and help keep the soil moist. One problem with using city leaves is that he often finds bottles, cans and other debris in them. When he started taking leaves he was the only farmer involved but gradually others have also started requesting leaves. Can an excess amount of leaves be in any way harmful to the soil? University of Minnesota soil scientist Curt Oberdahl told FARM SHOW that as far as he's concerned, the more leaves the better. "It's good organic material for the soil. I can't see any problem except that you have to realize it's not a complete fertilizer. You won't get nitrogen from leaves so you'll still have to apply that," he explains.

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