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- #81
I'm keeping them bagged for now...all the loose leaves I have now seems like a lot, but I know come spring I'll be feeling low on carbon again.
Yeah, the year I got bagged leaves, I used them to mix in with my coop litter throughout the winter. In the spring, I would cut the grass and toss in a bag of remaining leaves to mix it up.
I'm strongly considering buying one of those pull-behind systems with storage space and an additional blower. The one I'm looking at holds about 400 gallons, but also isn't cheap.
On my dream list.... Still healthy enough to mow up a load of leaves, dump them in the chicken run, repeat a few more times, then call it a day. Doing that a few times a week allows me to keep up with the leaves falling from the trees without much problem.
I made one of those big leaf bag collection things out of a big tarp. It attaches to my mower and tows behind. Holds massive amounts of leaves, but I discovered it was way too heavy to empty where I wanted to when full. Since I dump the leaves in the chicken run, it took me more time and effort to get the leaves out of the big leaf bag, load them into wagons or wheelbarrows to move them into the chicken run, and I soon abandoned that idea. It was easier, for me, to just use the 3-bin collection system on my mower and dump more often.
I estimated that I got maybe 5X the amount of leaves in the big leaf bag compared to a full load in my 3-bin system. But, it was too much work to move the leaves into the chicken run. Smaller was better, in that case.
It's tempting, though, as emptying is the worst part of the leaf pickup at this point....that and the dust, which I get comically coated in.
I always keep some dust masks ready for those projects. I hate breathing in all that leaf dust. Also, I get covered in the dust from head to foot. I have to strip off my clothes at the washer and jump into the shower before Dear Wife lets me sit out in the living room. OK by me. I can't stand being covered in all that dust either.
My leaf and grass clippings pile was steaming hot the other day, and as I add food waste to the system (and the chickens own manure), we're getting some incredibly nutrient-rich compost.
Yeah, that's why I call it black gold. The chickens make better compost in the chicken run than I was ever able to make in my compost bins. And, they do it a lot faster. Chickens and composting just go together naturally.