Last Saturday, four bags full off to the municipal leaf recycling depot, just from the front yard.
Tomorrow, nine more bags from the back garden: elm leaves! Oak leaves! Poplar leaves! Maple leaves! Some spruce needles just to make it fun when I’m scooping them into the bags! And don’t get me started on the Russian thistles! (Damn Putin!)
And since it’s late October and wet here in Saskatchewan, I think I have chilblains in my hands, plus the sore back from stopping and picking up, stopping and picking up…
Snow can’t come fast enough. Soft, cool snow, covering up all the leaves and nature’s détritus that I’ve missed. Snow that puts the back garden into a peaceful state of repose for months.
Fortunately the hot chocy and Screech have mellowed me out a bit.
Hee. I am just waiting for snow to come cover up the bird shit in my birdie area. I don’t remember the birds being so voracious or shit-filled in past years. It’s full-time job filling up their feeders!
How I miss the promises that November brings in Canada. But it’s probably not so bad in southern Ontario. Here in south Texas, it’s still near 90 most days. Manitoba plates can be seen flying south for the winter.
Just started bagging leaves today. Bought a pair of hand rakes, which look like giant sporks I strap on my hands. Extremely helpful. I should’ve bought them long ago. My husband refers to me “Wolverine-ing” the leaves, instead of raking.
We make use of our leaves. Pick them op with the lawn tractor, and use them to mulch the flower beds and various other areas. We actually use the leaves from a corner of a horse pasture because our yard doesn’t have enough!
We have a few neighbors who burn their leaves. They are far enough away that the odor is minimal and actually pleasant, but I don’t imagine living right next door would be enjoyable.
This works much better if you use something to shred them (leaves tend to compact and form a gooey, semi-impermeable barrier on top of the soil that is slow to break down and results in soggy soil underneath).
I have to grab fallen leaves where I can find them, before Mrs. J. shreds them into oblivion by repeatedly mowing over them.
For me, that’s my father. He does all the yardwork and snow shoveling. I am left to lounge inside and occasionally fill the bird feeders (around which he has cleared the snow for me!).
And then, a week after my original post, even more leaves came tumbling down. More raking and picking up, with sore back in the morning.
Plus I accidentally cut off another guy in the line-up to drop off leaves at the city recycling depot, and he got snotty with me. Sorry, I just didn’t see you.
We had a neighbor (West Coast) who piled up and burned all kinds of yard debris one year, including poison oak. Protip: do not burn poison oak. The resins spread in the smoke, leading to skin reactions from people at a fair distance away. You can also inhale the smoke, which does nasty things to your lungs if you are reactive to poison oak.