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[baymule]

Only on a gardening site could you post pictures of a truck filled with bags of leaves and others be envious.

 

[ninnymary]

Gathered 6 bags of leaves this evening! I think I'm close to my goal of 28 but as long as I have the room I will gather some more. By room I mean as long as my husband doesn't complain that his garage is getting full!

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

Unfortunately, I'll not be able to get a pic of total bags collected and the massive amount that would show, as today I'm grabbing the opportunity of good weather to open up those bags and spread out the leaves. If I don't, I wont' be able to move the rest of my wood chips into the garden, as the bags are blocking my way. Hope to get that done today as well....hope, that is.

Will take a pic of the next group of bags collected though...should be just as plentiful if all goes well. Just going out one day this week for collection. Hope to go next week as well.

 

[ninnymary]

Bee, are you laying chips on top of the leaves? I'm assuming this way the leaves won't blow away.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

Some...I only have part of a pile of wood chips to move to the garden. The fencing will keep any loose leaves from blowing away, though they may pile a little along the fenceline over time. The rains and snow will soon tamp them into place and no more blowing at all.

I'll be planting garlic and onion seeds around the inside of the fence, so the piling of the leaves there will be perfect!

I'll see how the leaves settle with rain this month...if I don't have the desired depth to the litter mass at that point, then, yes, I'll be hauling and placing wood chips on top of it all to get to the depth of materials I need throughout the garden. If the snows hold off and the wood chips piles can still be forked easily, I may have to haul some in the month of Dec.

 

[Beekissed]

Eli is out visiting, so he helped me get those bags located and opened. Only two of the bags had too much trash in them to open up on the garden, so they were removed. But, the rest were distributed and what a huge variety of leaf types and materials~pine needles, flower trimmings, vegetables, grass clippings, chopped leaves, etc.

I'd say it covered 9/10 of the garden at 1-2 ft depth. Can't really see my mounded up tater rows now, except the cheery orange flags sticking up out of the leaves.

The chickens are currently helping me spread them out more smoothly...

Now, to finish hauling the wood chips...hope I can get that done before dark catches me. Also got to do some last minute wiring on the utility trailer also.

I can't believe the bounty of these leaves!

I won't need much more to complete the garden coverage. There's simply no more places to put them and I can't put them any deeper for fear they won't mulch down fully by spring and I'll have difficulty planting through them.

I think one more day of leaf collection should give me enough for winter coop bedding and to cover the last bit of the garden. And maybe even then some...I may store the extra leaves~in the bags~over in the woods. Can't hurt and they can be utilized in the summer months for this or that.

Will post a pic of the spread out leaves later on this evening. They sort of look lumpy right now but I expect they will mulch down and even out with time, weather and the chicken's efforts.

 

[baymule]

Bee I stored bags of leaves outside only to discover the bags deteriorate. Makes a mess of plastic shreds.

 

[ninnymary]

Oh no, I have some bags of leaves outside. I'll keep an eye on them. Bay, how long did it take before they started to deteriorate?

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

I'll have to make sure only to store those with the heavy duty contractor bags...they should last through the winter, at least.

 

[Beekissed]

Pics of the leaves and such emptied into the garden today...

And the section of the garden that's left to cover with more leaves, hopefully gathered this week or the next. I placed three cartloads of chips on that area today as well.

Lots and lots of bags to dispose of. I was soaked from the waist downward after moving all those wet bags, hands were filthy, back was aching....but couldn't keep a smile off my face!