FREE for the Taking

In case you haven't noticed, free stuff for your garden is falling from those big plants that do such a great job of regulating life on this planet. Autumn Leaves, they're not just eye candy. For the past 10 years my Township has not had to collect my leaves....my flower beds get every one. I use my leaves as fertilizer, compost, compost tea, a good soil enhancement, and mulch to control weeds. As the leaves fall I vacuum them up with my gas powered walk behind leaf shredder. The shredded leaves are dumped into temporary make shift bins to be used in the spring. The leaves don't have to be shredded into fine powder, just chopped up a bit. The heat of the Winter composting will break them down even more than the 8 to 1 bag ratio of my shredder/vac. It's important to chop those leaves up or that big 'ole pile of non-shredded leaves could take years to break down. Even if you use your lawn mower to shred your leaves that's better than nothin'. I never seem to have enough leaves from my own trees and my neighbors are always willing to let me have as many of there leaves as I want. I sometimes wonder what they must be thinking. Do they know I'm helping my sandy soil hold more water and the flowers get a boost of organic fertilizer. Do they realize that my leaves are not gonna end up in an already over crowded land fill. Do they see the the money I'm saving by using my shredded leaves as a mulch. I don't have to buy 9 or 10 cubic yards of hardwood mulch for my flower beds every year. Do they take notice all winter long of the wire and burlap cages filled with shredded leaves that keep my Banana trees warm and cozy here in zone 7. Do they see me thanking all those big beautiful trees for the many many ways they help us. Or do they think I'm just some crazy fool. Either way when I look up to a tree I'm never lookin' down on 'em.