This time of year, I start looking for leaves.
I canvas the neighborhood and calculate. Who needs their leaves raked the most? Whose yard has the leaves I need the most? How the heck am I going to get all my work done AND someone else’s leaves raked?
Leaves are a big part of my garden. I use mowed leaves to build up my soil in the Fall. I use oak leaves to increase the acidity in my soil for my azaleas, blueberries, and tamarack. Now I plan to mulch my vegetables in the Summer with some leaves, so I have been bagging and saving mowed leaves for weed control next season.
The only problem is the fact that I have exactly one mature deciduous tree in my yard and it drops most of its leaves in the street.
So I mow the street. I happily mow the leaves in my neighbor’s yard. He’s the one that taught me to mulch with leaves and he isn’t as spry as he used to be.
My son mows lawns and one of his clients has five mature oaks in her yard. She was MORE than happy to let me take some leaves off her hands to boost the acidity in my soil.
But I have found myself cruising slowly past leafy lawns, eyeing up my prospects. There are a couple of lawns that could use some mutually beneficial raking.
And, hooray, I drove past a dozen plastic bags of leaves, waiting to go out for the weekly yard waste pick up. My brother could use some of those for his soil building.
I have been known to cruise the neighborhood, looking for leaves. I have taken the leaves of others. I know I look like a crazy woman, but I can put those leaves to good use. I am just really careful when I am emptying them. I found a squirrel skull in one bag.
Lucky for me, there are no dogs living in the yard with all the bags. I think I’ll be swinging by there once my son brings home the truck!
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