It is (was) leaf collecting time! (just found this in drafts)

(this must have been written at the beginning of December)


I am sure my neighbors think I am crazy, I drove up to the circle around the corner and took as many bags of leaves as I could fit in my car.  The man who was out cleaning up the yard and had carefully bagged all the leaves did give me a very funny look when I asked if I could have them.  I will go back tomorrow to collect more.  They make such great mulch for the large areas we have that need to be covered up so they don't grow weeds.  These are nice big oak leaves and will take a long time to break down, which is great for our purposes.  We can also just save some of the bags of leaves and keep adding them to the compost pile.

This morning I raked up what we had from our one remaining oak tree.  I raked the leaves off the new sod and took some back to the garden, but then left quite a few as mulch around the oak tree. I am sure that when God planned for trees and forests the creator intended the leaves that fell to be returned to the soil to nourish the forest plants and trees.  Here we are, raking them up and sending them off to landfills in plastic bags, then spending money for mulches and manufactured fertilizers.  Is there something wrong with this picture?  I think so.

This past week I have been busy cleaning up the garden for the winter.  It takes a while to get everything done.  Here is the list:

• removed a purple coneflower from the flower bed that has Betsy's buttons
• cut back the goldenrod 
• pulled weeds
• changed out the bricks at the end of the driveway for landscaping stones.  Still need about 12 or 15 more landscaping stones.
• cut back vines near the drainage area and planted the remaining osmanthes behind the little fence I placed there to prevent someone walking through and having a fall.
• pulled weeds
• put more soil that had collected in the corner of the driveway over the septic tank where we need a thicker layer of soil.
• dug up part of the flower garden next to the veggie garden as it had become pretty overgrown and weedy.  Placed a layer of leaves over the bed, and then 2 layers of black plastic .  Weighted it down with bricks to let it "cook" for the winter.  It will become the tomato bed next growing season.
• Mulched with a thick layer of chopped leaves around the carrots to keep them warm for the winter.
• cleaned out more of the garden behind the fence at the end of the driveway.
• Pulled weeds.
• Removed the browned out cypress vine from all the shrubs where I had let it grow to feed the hummingbirds when they migrated.
• Oh, and did I mention I pulled weeds?

The weather has remained so warm that the forsythia is blooming, there are violets in bloom, the Carolina jessamine looks like it is getting ready to burst out in bloom and there are jonquils up for an early show near the driveway.  It was very sunny and beautiful on Thursday, but we have had cloudy, dreary weather for Friday and Saturday.  Every once in a while the sun will burst out, but not often.  We are expecting storms on Monday and then a big cool down.

Friend Eleanor left her dog, Frisco with us for a few days and it was so nice to have him out in the garden with us to keep us company.  Eleanor also brought me a wonderful gift.  It is a  new trowel from Garden Works perennial products  and is called a Tiger Trowel.  The label says it is proudly made in the USA.  It is a 16 gauge heavy duty stainless steel blade with a handle made from recycled materials and is great for digging in hard soil or clay.  It can be used to cut back vines   and overgrowth, and the split-tip end can be used to pop out dandelions. It also has a graduated blade to measure soil depths for planting bulbs.  An altogether wonderful new and very useful tool  Thanks Eleanor!