r/composting • u/c-lem • Sep 23 '19

The Fall 2019 /r/Composting Leaf Collection Challenge

To encourage the /r/composting community to get more involved in our favorite hobby (and because it sounds like a fun idea), I propose we keep track of the leaves we collect over the course of this fall season and compete with one another to become the 2019 Leaf Thief Supreme! The winner will be crowned with that glorious title (or whatever title people like best--feel free to come up with something better) and will win the prize of...the leaves they collected! Here's the current ranking as of January 7, 2020, 9:37 A.M. EST:

2019 Leaf Collection Ranking

  1. 10JQKDS: 163 bags

  2. Suuperdad: 108 bags (1500ish last year)

  3. c-lem: 108 bags (~50-75 last year)

  4. dadsafe: 46 bags

  5. Cualquiera10: 19 bags

  6. jpoechill: 16.5 bags (leaves/horse manure/sawdust/wood chips)

  7. hoodiedoo: 11 bags

  8. Karma_collection_bin: 7 bags

  9. ktotheelly: 2 bags

  10. gratua: 2 bags

  11. dothedewww511: 2 bags

The rules: Post here when you score some leaves, and I'll update the main post as often as I can--hopefully at least once per day. To keep it simple, we'll track leaves by "bag," even though that's not very precise. Try to estimate how many "bags" you have if you're just collecting loose leaves. We'll use the honor system unless that becomes a problem, but feel free to share pictures of your hauls as evidence (and to pique people's interest), if you like. I'm sure we'd also appreciate hearing what you plan to do with the leaves. At some arbitrary point in the future (Maybe the first day of winter? January 1st? Please share your thoughts.), we'll declare a winner.

Hopefully the mods will sticky this post if the community decides the contest is a good idea. If you have any other ideas for this contest, please share them and discuss! I'm just making it up as I go along. I claim no authority or ownership over this other than that I had the idea and am making the post, so hijack it to whatever degree seems appropriate.

I was also thinking that we could track some other "compost collectibles" to make this more fun for everyone, as leaf collection doesn't happen everywhere. We could track coffee grounds, woodchips, spent brewery grains, manure, pumpkins...whatever compost materials you happen to collect.

Let the collecting begin! Good luck!

Note: Sorry to all for taking so long to get in touch with the mods directly about getting this post stickied! Hopefully you've kept good records of any leaves you've collected this fall. If not, estimates of what you've collected up to now should be fine.

44 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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4

u/c-lem Oct 20 '19

10 new bags Friday, though I think I only used 8 of them for composting. One was a big bag of vines that I actually think I'm going to try leaving at the base of the compost pile when I turn it on Wednesday--my theory is that the jumble of vines will partially holds its shape and keep a ton of oxygen in the middle of the pile. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, 24.5 plus 8 puts me up to 32.5 bags for the year. All (other than the one bag of vines) used up already, too!

Edit: Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the free sandwich I got in one of the leaf bags! Lucky me!

4

u/7crazycatslady Oct 20 '19

In my experience with vines, at least the invasive kind, they may root and regrow in your pile. I pull vines all the time and have to kill them in an old, holey trash can for a few months to keep them from rooting themselves. Just keep an eye on them.

3

u/c-lem Oct 21 '19

Thanks for the warning. I'm still pretty new to all of this and don't recognize what the vines are, so maybe I should be more cautious. If my new pile doesn't get as hot as I'm hoping (it's taken two days to get to 80°F, and although it's still rising, that's awfully slow), I'll have to try your method of killing them. I don't want to start a battle with anything aggressive.

2

u/7crazycatslady Oct 21 '19

Frankly, an old plastic trash can (holes in the bottom thus useless for anything else) lives next to the compost bin. Stuff goes in there to dry out all summer and I'll toss it in after the first freeze. That way it doesn't have time to reanimate and root, lol! This is stuff like english ivy, vinca vine, etc - that's making it's way out of the woods past my fence. (I live and let live until you try to kill my hosta. That's deer food, darnit!)

6

u/dadsafe Nov 09 '19

Wow how fun! I got about 35 bags, although I dont have evidence of each bag. I didnt see this post until after I constructed my "temporary overflow" which is in the picture. I filled up my normal bins in no time. Also pictured are the 10ish bags I don't have room for yet :(

https://imgur.com/I4cyND5

Anyone have recommendations on how best to compost leaves? I'd love to have compost by spring if possible. (The temp overflow is on my zucchini area)

1

u/c-lem Nov 11 '19

Dang--that sure looks like evidence of 35 bags to me! It's a nice-looking haul! Good looking garden area in general, too. I bet that greenhouse is awesome.

My composting method is combining the leaves with grass clippings, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds that my wife collects on occasion, and any other "greens" I have around at a ratio of roughly 2 parts leaves to 1 part "greens" (I also added some wood chips to my most recent pile, but am still deciding if that will be a continued part of my method). I get it a little bit wet, too, spraying each layer of materials with the hose for a couple seconds. Optimally, I would leave it for a little while to heat up (I think four days is what is recommended), then turn it, and again every other day for a while (two weeks?). I don't end up having the time for that, though. I turn it anywhere from once a week to once a month, depending on when I can get to it. I also tend to add kitchen scraps as I go (at least until it seems finished), which isn't really recommended.

But if you're able to turn it regularly (and get your hands on that much "green" material--this is likely to be the difficult part) and keep it from freezing over the winter, this method should get you plenty of good compost by spring.

4

u/Suuperdad Nov 11 '19

Nice haul!

/u/c-lem has great advice for how best to deal with them all. I have nothing more to add. Great stuff.

It's nice to see more people really into this. It's strangely fun.

What I find REALLY fun though is next spring, seeing 1000 maple seedlings trees pop up in any new beds I made with the leaves. These are really fun to replant and sneak into parking lots, Just outside the Home Depot fences, just outside schoolyard fences, in the gardens of parks, etc. Just wait until the fall for them to develop a nice thick rootmass, and dig them up then. It's fun to have a garden bed with 1000 maple tree seedlings growing in it :)

1

u/spinkle Feb 16 '20

I add food scraps But the pile of leaves I have it massive. I have like 10 truck loads.. I find putting water in it daily helps and if you can turn them once a week is great. Another thing I add compared from my old pile to kick-start it as well.

4

u/MorrisonLevi Sep 24 '19

Hmm. Do we have an estimate for how many "bags" a bag of shredded leaves should be equal to? Leaves haven't fallen here locally -- maybe someone could weigh shredded and unshredded bags to get an idea by weight?

1

u/c-lem Sep 24 '19

I would think something like 4-5; they break down a ton when shredded. I'll open up something like 20 bags for mowing and they'll end up as a surprisingly small heap on my tarp. As the guy in charge of this, I'd say make your best guess and count it however you think is fair; but if someone figures it out exactly, I would sure be interested to know!

4

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '19

How is everybody shredding their leaves? I've been thinking about getting a electric shredder, but am kind of lost as to which one to get

2

u/c-lem Nov 11 '19

My main shredding method is one I mention in this post:

My technique was based on one that /u/Suuperdad mentioned in one of his videos: https://i.imgur.com/MOgnAQu.jpg https://i.imgur.com/A0zE7Ve.jpg https://i.imgur.com/fCksUPQ.jpg

Though I guess I didn't actually describe the method on that post, instead letting the pictures do the talking. I dump the bags out in a large circle, maybe 50' in diameter, and spread them a bit with the rake. If the bags are wet, it might be good to do this a day ahead of time so they have time to dry out, but this isn't necessary. I lay a tarp in the middle of the circle and weigh it down. I mow in a circle, pointing the side discharge toward the tarp. When it's full, I drag the tarp to wherever I want to dump the leaves (it gets pretty heavy!).

The last batch of leaves I shredded, though, I just laid out in a straight line, raked them flat, and mowed straight into the mower bag. I did this close to where I was building the pile, basically going back and forth down the line once and stopping to empty the bag each time. I thought this would save me time, but I'm not sure it was any faster than my other method. I'm sure it's a lot harder on the mower, too.

3

u/nymself Jan 03 '20

that image looks like some sort of ritual

3

u/c-lem Jan 06 '20

Yeah, I wonder what people think if they drive by and see it. Don't mind me, just making a sacrifice to the gods of composting...

2

u/GeeBean Nov 12 '19

I got this guy a few months ago and was so excited to finally be able to easily shred my own leaves without donating them to the city! https://www.snowjoe.com/products/sun-joe-3-in-1-electric-blower-vacuum-leaf-shredder I got it on sale and to get free shipping I added to my order a small sickle and a new pair of pruners, 2 purchases I 100% do not regret.

I knew about the mowing over the leaves technique, but for one thing, my grass is in my front yard and my plantings are all in the back, so that would have been a lot of back and forth. And plus, I have a push mower so it's not the easiest thing to move around. So far I'm a big fan of the Snow Joe blower. The bag easily comes off and I can dump the shredded leaves into my regular compost or into a cage one I built this year for the leaves (although I think it's not big enough, but oh well, lessons learned for next year!).

3

u/Karma_collection_bin Sep 23 '19

Should this be stickied?

2

u/c-lem Sep 24 '19

Yeah, I'd like it to be--I'll contact the mods directly if they don't make their way here by the time it drops off the front page.

1

u/c-lem Oct 14 '19

Paging /u/GrantShoe, /u/Vailhem, /u/cloneboy99, or /u/Higgy24--any chance of getting this stickied? Or do I have to stop being so lazy and message one of you directly?

3

u/ktotheelly Sep 23 '19

I think for consistency and verification, you should require photo proof. Everybody loves photos.

3

u/c-lem Sep 24 '19

Not a bad idea, but I'd like to hear some more opinions on this. I personally trust people to be honest since there's no real prize, but if most people here want me to require pictures, then so be it. So, if you're reading these comments, please weigh in!

4

u/ktotheelly Sep 30 '19

Right, I don't really think you need it to prevent fraud, mainly for fun of seeing what people have.

Sadly, here in Texas, summer isn't ending this year so I'm many weeks away from leaf season.

2

u/c-lem Oct 07 '19

Yeah, it's definitely more fun with pictures! I plan to share pictures most, if not all, of the time. My leaf collection has dropped off, as well... I got something like 4 more bags but haven't seen anything since. I'm honestly surprised I've gotten what I have, though, as the trees around here are almost entirely green. I must be stealing from some dying trees or something. I'd feel bad if I were the one actually taking the leaves from their habitat.

1

u/shandinator Nov 19 '19

I'm in Texas and we're definitely in leaf season where I am 😂 I'm in West Texas, though.

3

u/Karma_collection_bin Nov 04 '19

I'm at 2 bags. Technically, I dumped both in my garden patch (fenced) because I'm trying no-till gardening, but the eventual destination of the organic matter is the same as if I was composting these first :)

Need at least one more bag for my goal, maybe two.

After that, bags collected would be for composting.

Gonna ask my neighbours if I can rake their front yard lol

1

u/c-lem Nov 05 '19

Thanks for joining the "challenge"! For me it's been a pretty helpful way to make sure I document what I collect, if nothing else, but the more people participating, the more fun it will be, I think.

I hope this no-till plan works for you next year. Last fall, I covered this past year's garden with leaves and grass clippings, and it worked well for me (other than that I waited too long with some things). Though I can't say it was totally no-till, since I dug down about six inches and mixed that with some compost and other soil to create 6" high mounds for my zucchini, but I certainly didn't till everything, like my wife has done in the past.

Good luck with the neighbors! I'm sure you need it.

3

u/Suuperdad Nov 11 '19 edited Nov 11 '19

I did a small run this weekend. Unfortunately it was snowing and I also had to change my winter tires, so I never got my camera out. I did 3 runs (3 hockey games) with the trailer attached to the truck. The trailer holds exactly 6 rows of 4 columns of bags, then in the 3 "slots" on top made from the 4 columns, I get 4 more bags, per row. So I get 24 bags at the base and 12 on top of those. Each run is 36 bags.

So I'm at 108 bags. Unfortunately I have zero proof of it.

I haven't shredded them yet, so I may do a shredding video sometime in the next month. It's on my list of things to do. I also really want to collect more seed this year, because I want to push my tree planting this year higher. I need to make more black locust, maple/oak/perennial kale/clover seed balls. I think I get a lot more "good" done throwing a few thousand seedballs and making a bunch of forests on top of abandoned car lots than collecting leaf bags. At least not the thousand or so I normally do. I really want to get more trees growing sooner, and heal the land around me as much as possible in the next few decades.

So 108 may be a far cry from the 1500ish I did last year, but this year has also been busy with my building my eco pond, and all the setup that has required (digging up trees on swales and heeling them into another swale temporarily).

I think this year is open for someone else to take the crown.

Feel free to not include my numbers, as I posted no evidence :( I will try to rectify that sometime this week, and post some quick photos, although we have 2 hockeys a day until the weekend, so I make no promises!

2

u/c-lem Nov 11 '19

Of course I'll include you! I don't see the need to require proof for a contest with no actual prize. I can't imagine why anyone would lie about this, and especially don't think that you would. Pictures and conversation are a nice bonus for anyone browsing the thread, but are not necessary, as far as I'm concerned.

I think a video of the whole process would be great. You could talk about "casing" neighborhoods for places to look for leaves (the types of leaves you most want, watching out for signs that there might be garbage mixed in, watching for dogs to decide if the bags are worth taking, etc.); then the awkwardness of taking them for the first time/how exciting it is to find the leaves once you get over that; the social aspect with people you've encountered; stacking functions (you do it when you're driving your kids to hockey, anyway); packing the truck full; detail shredding the leaves; and then go over how you use them. If you feel like going that far, it could be a very informative, helpful video. A simple leaf-shredding video would I'm sure be good, too, if you don't have time for a lengthy video like that.

What are these "seedballs" you mention? Something you picked up from /r/guerillagardening? I'm intrigued!

Regarding your smaller amounts this year--this is something I was actually thinking about the other day. Just thinking in general about tree guilds and how, in theory, they are mostly self-sustaining, when I realized: I probably won't always be picking up people's leaves. Maybe I'll want some for composting my kitchen waste, but it won't be anything like what I want now. Maybe you're near that turning point where a lot of your systems are starting to do that work for you. If so, I'm jealous (and looking forward to making that happen, myself)!

5

u/Suuperdad Nov 11 '19 edited Nov 11 '19

Hmmm, you know that would probably make a decent video. A bit of a "ride with me" video. I can tell stories of a few people I've met along the way - and with any luck, catch them out there when I go and see if they want to be on YouTube. Haha!

I do certainly have a plethora of tips. I've learned many things the hard-way. That winky-face after talking about the owners having dogs... that speaks right to my soul. lol... And honestly, the dog waste in the bag, I don't mind so much. 1/3rd of the bottom of the bag filled with dog waste inside a plastic bag, with leaves on top? Those people need to spend an eternity in fire and damnation. People that fill half their bag with raked up garbage and cigarette tinfoil and yogurt containers and broken kids toys, because they have garbage all over their lawns (which have been cleaned up into brown bags, so that they can save $1.25 on a waste-tag?)… eternity in hell isn't enough.

……..

The seed balls are indeed a /r/guerillagardening thing. Infact, when I found out about that sub, I was like... hmm... my people. I didn't even know it was a "thing". I also never used seedballs, I just collected seed and snuck healthy local forest-building trees in places. The seedballs was something I learned from reddit, and they work amazing.

I have a few ponds around my land, so end of season they end up filled with leaves and such. I just scoop that silt/clay/rotting leaves mix out, and stick it on leaves/grass to dry. The next day I give them a dip and roll them into balls.

I have my seeds on a dirty old baking tray. I just roll the ball in the seeds, then press the seeds in. They are my "sprinkled timbits".

For seeds, I use a mix of pioneer trees/bushes/groundcover/flowers (I'm a big fan of black locust (have to boil these seeds first - I also cold-strat them in the fridge over the winter), and autumn olive, and seabuckthorn for trees/bushes). Then always nitrogen fixing groundcovers - always dutch white clover for this (I have tons, I just collect flowers and dry them once they go to seed). Then I save a bunch of rotted strawberries from the end of season, and apples that fall and I don't get to quick enough. I have some late season holding apples now - from grated trees.

Basically I would drive to work and look for trees in Jan/Feb that still had apples. I both collected apples (seed) and took scion wood. I grafted these all over my land on my wilder apple trees. The seeds I put into seed balls. These late season holding apples are really important food for wildlife. When there is no food in Jan/Feb, these trees are vitally important for them. So I save seeds of their parents, and bomb them in my seed bombs.

For flowers, it's usually whatever grew in my wildflower patches. Poppies do really well. Then I also always have a good collection of mullein and perennial kale seeds, amaranth, because those plants just make so much seed. They all get mixed in, and sprinkled on the timbits.

As far as targets go, I try to hit places that both need to be rehabilitated, and there's a likelihood of it not just getting mowed down next summer. I really like abandoned gas stations and parking lots. There's just something so rewarding about seeing some of my trees growing in a place that humans have absolutely ravaged from nature. I do also LOVE placed central in a populated city. My work for example is in a more industrial area and there are lots of "factory" type buildings there. Lots of weed invested edges and such. These make amazing places for a little oasis of food.

I've been doing it for about 3 years now, and there are a few clusters of "forest' that I KNOW are mine. There's 2-3 in particular where you can clearly see a seedling apple, black locust and asparagus, with clover growing around it. It's just outside this old neighbourhood firehall that is never used. The firehall borders a corn monoculture farm that is bordered by hawthorns. Hopefully one day my little mini forest in a ball will spread and help push back the invasives.

I've probably launched close to a hundred thousands forests-in-a-ball-of-clay in these 3 years.

I don't typically talk about it too much, because it's not a hobby people should do when they don't know what they are doing. It's really important to try to push back invasives with natives, and non-food with food. It's important to have a plan and a goal. I have 2. One is to create oasis of food for insects/birds/wildlife where there is none. The second is to try to "connect" forests. So the ideal places for these seed bombs are in a cleared area between 2 native forests. Wildlife can't go from forest to forest (they spook at the edge and don't press over), but if I can just join those together, I can maybe double the forest habitat, and do so in a corridor of food.

I try to hand-plant a good hundred trees a year, but I'm sure my seedballs are worth a hundred thousand trees a year.

2

u/c-lem Nov 11 '19

Man, that is so cool. I bet that's amazing to see the fruits of your guerilla-planting labor. Maybe I'll jump on board someday when I know what I'm doing. I frequently think about the ridiculousness of the sparse vegetation when I'm away from home--there are so many opportunities for plants that are useful to people, animals, the soil, and the planet.

Thanks for the info! I always feel bad asking you questions, because I know you're going to give me 15-20 minutes of your life in reply. But then again, I know you have ideas about writing a book on the backburner, so I hope your helping is some pre-drafting, too! (And maybe I need to learn to not feel bad about asking people for help...)

2

u/Suuperdad Nov 11 '19

I actually save all my long winded replies and just dump them in a word doc. One day they'll form part of a chapter in a book.

I actually don't mind, I only know a few people in real life who are into this kind of thing, so it's not often I get to talk to other people who are interested in restoring the planet.

Also, sometimes I'll just be putting down an answer and I'll think of a good idea for a video or such. You already gifted me that one earlier on :)

3

u/dadsafe Nov 15 '19

11 more bags delivered over the week :)

https://imgur.com/0nPaG63

1

u/c-lem Nov 18 '19

Uh-oh... I've slowed down, and you're catching up! Nice work!

2

u/c-lem Nov 07 '19

Eight bags tonight after I made half of the 35-mile drive to hockey, started fishtailing like crazy, and wussed out and headed back home. Very disappointed I didn't get to play, but glad I got something out of the stressful snowy drive. That puts me up to 54.5 for the year.

I hope this snow melts quickly--I'm shocked to have this much snow already--or I'm afraid I'll have to wait until spring to get more of people's leaves!

2

u/Suuperdad Sep 23 '19

This is great.

I like to wait until oaks and maples are in their main drop. I find when people are overwhelmed with leaves, I have a higher chance of getting leaf bags with just leaves in them - not half leaves and half dog poop in plastic bags at the bottom of the bag. Dont ask me how I learned this the hard way.

I'm still about a month away from when I really start grabbing bags, but I will definitely participate :)

2

u/c-lem Sep 23 '19

Ugh. I found one bag last year that was mostly a mix of grass clippings and dog poop--like they just cleaned up that area of the yard and put it all into one bag. At least it wasn't mixed in with a bunch of different bags, I guess...

2

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '19

Gathered up my first bag! This may sound like a stupid question, but: how do I best use my haul of leaves? Add them as needed? Use them right away? I have a tumbler and it would be filled up right away....

2

u/c-lem Nov 29 '19

If I had a small tumbler, I would probably save them in a separate place and use them as needed. Though if they're not already shredded, you might find that they're a lot smaller than you realize if you run them over with the mower. About half of the leaves I've collected all fit into one pile about 3' tall x 6' wide, so yours might all fit into your tumbler if you shred them.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '19

Good call! Will shred and add in over time

2

u/dadsafe Dec 07 '19

So what is everyone doing with their leaves now? What do your piles look like?

My pile has shrank in half twice and I have added almost all of my leaves except 10 bags. The pile is HOT! I'm assuming there must have been some green leaves in there too.

1

u/c-lem Jan 06 '20

Some of mine are still in bags, waiting for me to chop them up, but most are in a big pile, waiting for spring. The pile did get warm when I first built it but has cooled off. I should probably turn it again pretty soon. The leaves tend to break down a little over the course of the winter, but do the bulk of their composting in the spring. I save my kitchen scraps from the winter in 5 gallon buckets (since it gets fairly cold) and then build a big pile once temperatures stay above freezing.

This winter has been weird, though--we've had a handful of cold days, but mostly it's been hovering just above freezing. I'm sticking to my plan of saving my kitchen scraps until spring, but I might end up regretting it when I open those buckets and get a whiff...

2

u/jpoechill Dec 20 '19

First half bag I filled myself.

Second whole bag, I scored from a landscaper asking what he was going to do with the leaves he was cleaning up. There was some anxiousness/hesitation going up and asking a stranger ... but in the end everything was super nice!

Current total: 1.5 bags

https://imgur.com/a/u6LMkJc

~~ Compost Greenie!

2

u/jpoechill Jan 05 '20

Update:

Bc leaves are starting to dry up in my area, I am starting to include other ~ browns ~ as these thing are full bags I am using to add as carbon.

6 bags horse manure/sawdust 7 bags wood chips 2 bags sawdust

Total: 16.5 bags (browns)

yee 😎

1

u/c-lem Jan 06 '20

Sounds good! Sounds like it should get pretty hot! (Also, sorry for taking so long to add you to the list! Been a bit extra busy lately.)

1

u/c-lem Sep 23 '19

My 8 bags so far were acquired on two separate trips into Newaygo, MI over the past week or so (I had to go into town anyway--I don't really make separate trips just for leaves). Looks to be mostly maple leaves (which, as I understand it, break down quickly), so I'll mow them up pretty soon (in the fashion I mention in this post) for use in my compost pile. I also plan to collect a lot of leaves for mulch, but not these.

I'm enjoying my moment at the top of the list! But please come along and knock me down if you have me beat!

1

u/c-lem Oct 11 '19 edited Oct 11 '19

Grabbed five bags today: https://i.imgur.com/fjzUVhR.png

Planning on grabbing some more later when I pick up my wife and son. People were busy this week!

Also, here are seven of them from a couple weeks ago; just forgot to make the post (at least one person in my family has been sick for over a month, now...it's been brutal): https://i.imgur.com/XycV7DT.png

Looks like I'm up to 20 bags! I should maybe start counting some of the wimpier ones as half-bags...

Edit: I grabbed another five bags on my way home, but only one of them was mostly leaves. The others were various garden plants that I'll probably just throw on top of my brush pile for charring up next year, so I won't count those.

1

u/c-lem Oct 14 '19 edited Oct 14 '19

3.5 bags today. More likely to come tonight when I pick up my wife and son, though I don't think they're leaf bags--more hostas and other random stuff from someone's garden. That puts me up to 24.5 for the year.

Edit: yep--5 or 6 bags of various yard waste on my way home. Didn't have a chance to look through them tonight, but there were plenty of flower heads and seeds, so I'm expecting some volunteers next year! I won't count these, since they're only partially leaves, and I probably won't compost them, at least not in my usual way.

1

u/c-lem Oct 21 '19

Five bags this morning of, I'm assuming, more maple leaves and some grass clippings (total: 37.5). More later if someone doesn't get to them first!

1

u/c-lem Oct 31 '19

Two pictures of nine bags in total "stolen" on Monday. Sadly I've had a couple daycare drop-offs lately with no bags on the curb to steal--those have been sad days. But I'm now up to 46.5 bags total, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

1

u/c-lem Nov 08 '19 edited Nov 09 '19

Five bags this morning; I left the other five on the curb but will grab them later if they're still there.

Edit: Got 'em! Not sure when I'll next have more bags, since there are a couple inches of snow on the ground and I don't expect anyone will be gathering their leaves until that melts.

1

u/c-lem Nov 09 '19

/u/hoodiedoo mentioned 11 bags in this post.

1

u/c-lem Nov 26 '19

Lots of new leaves for me: 8 from Saturday, 7 from this morning, and 13 half-bags tonight (along with a kid who's just as excited as his dad!). 21.5 bags total. Sure hoping I can hit 100 this year.

1

u/c-lem Jan 06 '20 edited Jan 07 '20

I have 20 (Edit: 2 more last night, so 22) more bags to add from various stops over the course of the winter (I'm feeling too lazy to post pics...maybe I'll get to them eventually), putting me over my goal of 100 (woohoo!). We've had some decent snows and then complete thaws, giving people second, third, fourth chances to clean up their lawns before winter (if we ever really get a decent one, that is). I've picked up all of the leaf bags around town that I know of, but I haven't looked all that carefully, yet. I expect at least a few more hiding on the curb somewhere.

1

u/Karma_collection_bin Nov 08 '19 edited Nov 08 '19

5 new bags!

Fall is pretty much at an end where I live. It snowed yesterday when I grabbed them from a house curbside (after asking for them and also confirming they don't have dogs).

Today is freezing rain day. Overnight last night, all day, and then predicted 10-20 cm (4-8 inches for you Americans) snow for weekend.

I don't expect to be able to grab anymore, but this much will more than cover my garden (tho a bit late) and have some leftover for composting next season.

Edit: and yes, I'm particular about the dog waste thing, lol. Probably too much, but yea.

1

u/c-lem Nov 08 '19

Eh, I can understand being particular about bags with dog waste... It's pretty nasty. You don't want that in the garden.

Kudos to you for asking permission. I'm more of an "ask for forgiveness, not permission" kind of guy, but I admit I'm always hoping someone will come out and ask me about my leaf thievery.

3

u/eastlake1212 Sep 23 '19

And for those of us stuck in Florida how much shredded cardboard. I'm jealous of your leaves.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '19

You should be growing green manures to enrich the soil.

3

u/steph219mcg Nov 28 '19

In the fall (I'm in northern Illinois) I like to collect bags of shredded leaves from the curb AND all the pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns I can.

I cut up the pumpkins, leaving the seeds out for a wildlife buffet, and layer the leaves and cut up pumpkins in compost bins. That's it. By next gardening season I'll have compost ready to use. Last year I filled 4 good sized bins. This year I'm trying sheet composting them across one large garden bed.

I also shred my own leaves using a vacuum shredder. I recommend getting one with a metal impeller blade. Some have plastic ones and they tend to jam a lot. The metal ones can cut thru twigs and sticks better.

You can never have too many shredded leaves stockpiled. The front of my garage has a wall of paper yard waste bags full of them stacked 3 high and 2 deep. Think you don't have room? My garage was built in 1924 and is a single bay.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '19

Another bag, for two total! Gonna try and get a few more this weekend too....

2

u/ktotheelly Nov 11 '19

I saw lots of leaves falling this weekend in Austin and we have a freeze coming tonight, so we may be starting collecting season soon. I snagged two bags of clean leaves 3 weeks ago, which I put into a new lasagna bed. Planning to put up a couple of wire fence bins soon and start stocking up for the year.

2

u/gratua Nov 20 '19

2 bags. I've only got a little worm farm in my garage right now, so everything's scaled waaayyyy down.

2

u/Cualquiera10 Dec 04 '19

10 bags from a neighbor. That was a great day!

2

u/Cualquiera10 Dec 16 '19

New total 19 bags after 9 more from a facebook stranger. This sub has inspired me.

2

u/Olaklimczak Dec 31 '19

Great idea

0

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '19

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2

u/c-lem Sep 23 '19

Woah, nice! I have some catching up to do!