Saturday, October 12, 2013

Learning new tricks


Click pic to ENLARGE
I learned to slow down this summer after my long mysterious illness.

In fact, I'm still having a friend mowing the lawn 50% of the time so I can spend more time with others.

I've been anxious about the leaf situation.  Honestly, with my back issues, I was worried.

The only thing I could think of was to pay someone to blow them into piles by the road and then get them sucked up and taken away.

Oh my mulchy heart!  I have so relied on leaves for winter mulch for years! My poor naked beds! So I am trying something else. 

H. has a powerful z-turn mower.  Right now the ash trees are dropping leaves fast (they always go before frost) so he just chopped them up.  Maybe that would be the way to go. Just let them break down in the grass.  At least I wouldn't have to pay for blowing and removal. Still....

Then H. voiced my own thought: bag up the chopped leaves. I dunno.  Didn't look like they would amount to much.

What the heck.  The next day I set the Snapper to high - no grass cutting, just leave vac'ing.  Wow!  I had no idea how much ALREADY SHREDDED LEAF mulch there was. (Well, DUH - his mowing didn't remove any leaves - just reorganized them.)  Fortunately I'd cleaned out most of the veg bed so it was ready for mulching as was the swing bed.  Riding the mower, dumping the bagger of light, crispy mulch was hardly any strain at all.

Both beds got piles of the stuff.  Later, a little leaf-rake action and VOILA.  Two beds mulched and nice clean lawns ready for the next leaf-fall (probably after frost).

What new thing have you tried that surprised you?  Made your work load a little easier?

7 comments:

  1. What would we do without chopped up leaves!! I love em for mulching. I have a riding mower with a bagging unit and it sure gets a workout this time of year. I'd actually love to have a few more trees dropping leaves.......seems the more yard I dig up for beds, the harder I struggle to find leaves.

    Glad you're finding ways to get things done. See? Things always work out. We just gotta use that woman-brain power. An amazing tool!
    Have a great weekend, Kris. I'm headed back out to shovel "doo". Hubby got me a whole truckload. Yeeha!
    :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay for brain power! Glad you've got all that doo ... I'm past shoveling the heavy stuff these years, but I still have at least 6 39-gal drums of home-made compost at the ready! Yep, leaves are like gold. Like grass clippings and any other free garden goodies. Have a great weekend. Don't over'doo', dear. ;-D

      Delete
  2. Your yard is a park. I like the new fence as it looks so good. I won't be doing leaves for another few weeks as my trees hold on to them for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Larry. The fence in the pic is the one we started in 2009 and finished in 2011. The extension is still in progress. I can't wait until the boards are up! After the ash leaves are down, we get a lull of a couple weeks. Then things really get busy.

      Delete
  3. Yeah - Definitely a "larney" garden - you'd be homesick if you were here - very rough and ready...

    So strange - you're headed for autumn / winter and we're en route for summer... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh trust me, Dani. Nothing "larney" here. It's the green lawns that make it look like a park - and maybe all the benches (I get tired and want to sit down). But you're right. My eyes were brought up with green and the veldt would probably depress me. You, on the other hand, see all it's wild beauty.

      Delete
    2. P.S. Besides, I don't publish the 'behind the scenes' stuff too much. Believe me, this is a working homestead with rain catchment, vegetables & fruits, dirt/mud areas for the bees/birds, etc. etc. One would only need to see my wardrobe - a gamekeeper's dog wouldn't have most of it. LOL

      Delete

Thank you for visiting. I appreciate your notes, comments and questions and will try to reply to each one! :-)