From things people have said, the extra step my friend always takes may be unnecessary.
He thought that oak leaves had "too much tannin" to break down during the first year. So he would bag all his oak leaves DRY and let them "age" for a year.
Then he would turn them into his garden WHOLE, late the next fall. He felt they were broken down "enough" to plant next spring. (I could see whole leaves half-buried in his seed bed and I thought that was "wrong".)
I thought that, if he was going to save them for a year anyway, why not let them compost during that time? And I think he "should" have chopped them before turning them under. But his method worked for him: his garden soil did improve each year.
Possibly the bags kept them from blowing away, and I know that he just "didn't like" the idea of composting. he had once managed to collect so much soggy green stuff that he made a layer of slime on top of some plywood, and ever after thought composting was vile.
Everyone has their own preferred methods, and it takes all kinds! But apparently, almost any method can be made to work.
