What did you do in the garden today?

[Bugseye]

Okay, adoptive leaf mama (you know who you are), I was going to adopt some orphan leaves here, but the town's got me on this one. When I went down yesterday, there were humungous piles of leaves and trucks scooping them up right from the curb. Rats! I don't have it in me anymore to bag up someone else's leaves and tote them home, as good as they would be for my plot. Oops, now I've lost my train of thought. Choo choo.

 

[Bugseye]

Oh, yeah, retrieve seedling pots from deck and get straw bales to start rotting for next year. We had some frozen mix falling this morning, so gotta get with it.

 

[Beekissed]

Collected more leaves today and the Lord led me to HUGE piles of bags at just a few places, so not much running around, just like last time. First stop loaded the truck and trailer so full that I had to leave 6 bags behind. And all these bags were stuffed so incredibly full that I got my gas money's worth today, for sure.

Second trip, same thing happened. Saw a few bags, stopped and got them, rounded a corner and saw a mountain of bags and that ended the search. The best thing? All those very full bags completed the load to the very last inch. God is incredible, isn't He?

Now, for the clincher. I had first thought I would like to collect an even 300 bags and store some in the woods if I had gotten too many to use this year. Then, as the bags began to mount up in the garden once again, I was thinking...I'd be happy with 250 bags. So, this evening Mom and I were unloading and debating if I should make another run next week, as there are still plenty of places with HUGE amounts of leaves to be had~but she was wanting to clean up the truck and get it in for regular maintenance this next week. We were mulling it over as to what to do.

As I was driving the truck down to park it, I was asking the Lord to give me some sign about when to just QUIT. A person can get carried away with greed~ be it for money, material goods or even something like leaf hoarding. I was asking Him to show me what to do, as I didn't know if letting go was being wasteful of what He was providing or if continuing on was just greedy. Anyhoo, before I got out of the truck I was tallying today's take~ 69 bags~ and then adding it to the 181 already collected...grand total....250 bags even.

I think I got my sign. Today was my last leaf gathering day of the season.

What a Father I have!!!!

All this leaf bounty in easy stops, kind and generous people, truck and trailer to haul it with, a strong young man to help me, He eased my back pain enough that I could complete the task and then He even let me know when to stop working.

I am so very loved.

 

[lazy gardener]

My attempt on Saturday was a bust. No action at the dump compost center. I've not seen any bagging going on.

 

[shortgrass]

Mine was a bust from 45 mph wind and a blizzard lol; DH said "you're crazy" and I dropped it for the day


I did however, get a new catalog in the mail; I forgot I had a bored day a few weeks ago and spent a couple hours online ordering free catalogs

So I got my Peaceful Valley Organics catalog to dig through and dog ear by spring

 

[Bugseye]

Okay, seedling pots are in and clean, just waiting to be sprayed with bleach when seed time comes again. Also grabbed a few stray veggies that may still be edible. Gosh, I just hate seeing the season go. Yep, Leaf Mama, you are indeed blessed by Papa. Glad you collected a fortune in leaves. Maybe I should order more catalogs to stave off the need to plant.

 

[Guvnah]

... and store some in the woods if I had gotten too many to use this year. ...

...I think I got my sign. Today was my last leaf gathering day of the season.

What a Father I have!!!!

All this leaf bounty in easy stops, kind and generous people, truck and trailer to haul it with, a strong young man to help me, He eased my back pain enough that I could complete the task and then He even let me know when to stop working.

I am so very loved.

I store up bags too. Not to the extent you do, but I want enough bags of leaves to supply me with leaves to cover the floor of my chicken coop cleaning-after-cleaning until NEXT November.

I find that the thinner bags don't hold up as well as thicker ones. Your basic thin bag will not last through next summer. They'll get brittle and will break more easily as the year progresses. Just be aware of that. Today's plastic bags are made with corn starch in the material to facilitate decomposition in landfills. That's why they break down. Sun and moisture accelerate that.

As far as I am concerned, I can't get enough leaves. I have stored up (what I think is) adequate supplies of raked leaves (as opposed to those that were collected with a mower) for the coop floor. And I think I have enough mowed bags to complete my compost pile. (Mowed leaves are much more chopped up and often have grass clippings mixed in. PERFECT for making the compost pile!)

PS: I enjoyed reading your awareness of God's messages to us. Sometimes it takes a brick to the head to hear it, but what a gift it is to us when we are able to listen to those small, still whispers too!

 

[Beekissed]

I LOVE the bags with mixed grass clippings and shredded leaves! Those are my favorite! I heard of a fella that shreds all his leaves and just puts them over the hill into the river. I'm going to look him up if I'm still here next year and ask him if I can come and get them instead. Ideal compost, you are correct!

I won't be storing bags in the woods this year....since I stopped at 250, there won't be enough for storing in that manner. Probably would just be a favorite snake hideout anyway, though that wouldn't be too bad. All those baby snakes makes for great food for my flock!

I've learned to listen. More and more I am learning to listen....I think a person could live a whole life and not learn it completely enough, but even learning a little has been so rewarding that I can't turn away from it. He's all wise and I know nothing.

Less than nothing, actually. Just enough~ sometimes~ to listen to His voice.

It's a process....

 

[LindaB220]

Finished spreading those leaves....my only fear is that I've spread them too deeply and they won't compost as much as I think they will before spring. Only time will tell.... This side of the garden is left yet to put leaves on. I did manage to get three cartloads of wood chip on it, though, and will cover it with leaves if I get a chance to collect anymore. If not, I'll just toss some from other parts of the garden onto this space so I'll have an even amount all over. Hoping the chickens will help with that also. Now I can't see my mounded up tater rows except for the marker flags I placed on the end of each row.

Outstanding job on this, hon. I remember the day you started it..

 

[Guvnah]

My garden is done for the year. Snow is coming next week.I'm just working on winterizing my ducks. I'm planning on painting inside of duck pen yellow. As someone gave me 5 gallons off light yellow house paint. I figure the yellow will make it seem brighter in there.
Other than that I still have a ton of kale in my garden I don't know what to do with. This is the first year I planted it. Ducks won't eat it. I haven't found anything I like with it either. Anyone have any ideas?

Kale chips.

I've not been a big fan of kale, but someone made these and brought them into work. They were surprisingly tasty.

You can google a million different recipes. Here is one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/176957/baked-kale-chips/