Broadforks are superior to tillers. A tiller will increase compaction over time by turning the soil over, killing mychorizal fungi and destroying glomalin which allows water to separate sand, silt, and clay from organics. A broad fork doesn't turn the soil over. It just opens it giving roots easier paths and more oxygen. A broadfork will decrease compaction over time.
I'm deffo gonna make one.
The general consensus that I'm aware of is that using oak leaves isn't an issue. However, it may take a year or more than softer tree leaves for them to adequately decompose. There are oak leaves in my compost as I use whatever fills up in my ditch. The oak leaves always take the longest to decompose. As usual, you want to balance the brown leaves with a green manure of some kind. For green manure, I use algae and weeds from my pond. Rarely do I use grass clippings due to the risk of weed seeds.
Cool, thanks! I don't even really care much if they take years to decompose, they're still gonna be effective as a mulch for weed suppression which is what I'm looking for.
