Wealth of leaves - 2024 11 09

 


When I finished gardening yesterday I had the sidewalks blown clean and the leaves collected in the gardens. Last night another rain storm blew in and today the sidewalks are covered with more leaf gold.

This year I am trying a new method to incorporate the leaves into the garden. Instead of putting cardboard down to create a semi-permeable barrier between tree roots and garden beds, I am laying down a thick carpet of leaves. Then I am piling a mound of dirt made up from last year's beds and new compost from the kitchen, as well as worm castings (and worms) from the worm bins.

I'm adapting the Hugelkultur Method to take advantage of the windfall from the poplar tree, but also to protect my garden beds from the moisture and nutrient thieving tree roots that stunt growth above ground.

I'll wait until things dry out a bit and then collect up this latest batch of leaves to form the foundation for more garden mounds.

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