Here in Beautiful West Michigan, Autumn is starting to wane a bit. Most of the leaves have fallen; so there are quite a few naked trees running around. Well OK, maybe they’re not really running; but most are definitely naked. If you have a lawn, Autumn can be a very frustrating time. Seems like we get a batch of leaves off the grass, everything looks nice, and then BOOM!! a hefty wind shows up and blows another gob of leaves all over the place. Then we get our rakes, blowers, garden tractors (and if you’re lucky leaf vacuum trailer thingy) and go clean up the mess.
When I was a kid, seems like everyone burned their leaves. Not only a big waste of wonderful fertilizer, but a big source of air pollution. I remember when I was little, I lost much hair and eyebrows when I jumped into a leaf pile my father made. He sternly warned me to jump in BEFORE the fire was set next time! OK, maybe I didn’t really do that. But hey, anyone remember leaf smoke filling the autumn air? Those were the good (?) old days when no one was very particular about particulates. Leaf burning is somewhat rare now. Instead, many of them are bagged up for the gobbich man. Hey, nobody asked me, but my two cents is that leaves are NOT gobbich, man!
Being an organic gardener, I have been a leaf collector for many years. Before I discovered the magic gold mine of free compost at our local landfill transfer station (affectionately called “the dump”), I would pull my trailer all over the neighborhoods and gather up bagged leaves. Some people gave me rather strange looks when I parked my trailer in front of their house to make off with their leaves. When someone was in the yard, I’d always ask first; and then they’d say, “Sure!” Then they’ll lead me to the other 195 bags in their back yard.
Leaf collectors are becoming more numerous now; as more folks realize their value in the garden as fertilizer and mulch. Not only that, a bunch of us leaf collectors get together at the old Breakfast Burp Cafe and trade leaves on Saturday mornings. All of us wear masks and are socially distanced, of course. My “prize leaf ” is a 1971 maple that really makes me proud. A nice bowl of leaves are really great with milk and sugar too! High fiber.
OK, I may be fooling again…
As I’ve already mentioned, and much to my Beautiful Honey-Pie’s chagrin, I would actually gather leaves from other people’s yards. I’ve learned my lesson though; and in the interest of domestic harmony I make sure our yard is leafless before I go looking for more. However, we do have some friends that bring me their leaves!! This is a wonderful thing!! Initially they expressed concern that “we mostly just have oak.” I reassured them that I take every kind of leaves I can get my mitts on: maple, pine needles, and yes even oak. Contrary to popular opinion, there’s nothing wrong with oak leaves in your garden; especially when they are composted. After 38 years of building up what used to be basically beach sand, my garden soil is nice and black, thank you very much. This year, all the leaves in our yard got ground up nicely with our garden tractor / leaf bagger combo. I put them directly into the garden, and got pretty much the whole thing covered with a nice layer of mulch. Also tilled several loads into one of the beds; into which garlic will soon be planted.
Call me loony if you must, but yes, when Autumn arrives I really do love leaves. I love them so much that I’ve unofficially renamed Autumn “Fertilizer Season.” Whatever doesn’t get tilled into the soil is used for mulch; which keeps weeds at bay and prevents the soil from losing moisture. I’ve also learned to spread a healthy layer of leaves over a bed of carrots to keep them fresh through the winter. I just mark the bed with sticks before the snow flies, and when I want carrots I carefully shovel the snow off first, then scoop off the leaves, and pick carrots. I get a couple more sticks and mark where I left off; then cover the rest back up with the leaves, and also put the snow back. I’ve used this technique to enjoy carrots “on demand” several times, and when I have a good year I can have fresh carrots pretty much all winter long.
Well, cold weather will be here before we know it; and I’m absolutely certain that this is exactly the way all the woodland creatures will prepare…