Love this approach! I learned this from master gardener Jay Rogers for smaller gardens. He used to take leaves and grass clippings and garden left overs and put them in black plastic trash bags or cover with black plastic in an unused bed and give it some water and a 4-8 months to "cook" (turning over a few times) and he ended up with rich compost for his garden. This is not practical for a farm, but it works great for a small garden and it is the same compost is better than fertilizer concept.
