How many bags of leaves will you get this fall?

Today I mowed the lawn, probably for the last time this season. It was lightly carpeted with leaves from my eight very large birch trees which have provided me with fall leaves since 1997.
Last year I went all out as I wanted to make enough compost for 2013, which I am happy to say I did. All my beds now have a covering of compost and they wil be further covered by a layer of leaves and the rest of the leaves will start my new compost piles.
My tally of bags for last season was round about 70, but Llama Momma exclipsed everyone, I will have to look up her last year's tally.
So far this year my tally is Nil,  but I have several bags of grass clippings, and a few bags of horse and chicken manure so I am in better shape than I was last year when I started. Plus lots of veggie stuff in the freezer (I save evry bit of peels and wilted stuff that I can). My neighblour also drops off little bags of leftovers as well.
Right now the wind is blowing briskly and once again my newly mown lawn is lightly covered with leaves with many more to come.
This year will be easier for me as I have a "new" (cost me a dollar at a moving sale)wide-headed rake, whereas my old one was half the size and with tines missing.
Can't wait to start.

NONE   I've started my winter escape to the Philippines. In WDC area now and leave Wed night.

Kay

I don't use bags.

Zilch - the leaves haven't started falling yet!  I'd say in a month, Halloween, we should have some fallen leaves.

Actually I have a tiny bit of green leaves from pruning.  But I do have a new net compost bag, 60 gallon ??, to store the leaves this winter.  It's supported by a wire cage so it's easy to put the leaves in. I could even turn it??

Not going to be too aggressive this year as I already have 2 cubic yards of compost finishing up. If anything I'll probably throw whatever I rake off the lawn into the chicken run and let them do the work for me. I went from nothing to a pretty good size compost operation in less than a year, especially with the chickens.

I haven't wanted to rake the leaves, since we've had so much rain that the ground has been mucky more often than not. I just don't enjoy raking cold bio-goop over my feet and slipping about in it.

But my compost pile really needs the leaves. Aside from the occasional bit of newspaper and cardboard boxes, it's almost all greens. I think I'll have time this weekend to go for at least a few bag fulls.

Problem is avoiding all the Round-up places, which relegates me to the slippery hill out back. With my bad knee, slippery, uneven ground does not sound enticing.

Marc, Just don't forget your cell phone in case you slip and can't get up! I slipped on a wet grassy slope about your age, and my left leg was cocked under my right. It hurt so bad I had to lay there for a while before even attempting to get the leg straightened out. No cell phone, laying there on someone's lawn, dreading that they might have dogs. I had just taken water samples at their well.

Cell phone - don't leave home without it!

Kelejan wrote:
My tally of bags for last season was round about 70, but Llama Momma exclipsed ....

Kelejan
Had to look it up myself, guess I tried to erase the insane memory of 150 bags.  Won't need to collect as much this year.  Both corrals roughly 6 by 8ft. and either 4 or 5ft. tall compressed to about half the volume.  If anybody wants to see pictures of the craziness it is here on page 15.
   https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t14020-leaves-compost-leaves?highlight=leaves

LM, in the old link you mentioned possibly leaf mold from the leaf corrals. What exactly if leaf mold? Decomposed, crumbly leaves? Time for me to learn something.

Briefly its good stuff.   
This is a nice small article I think you'll like   http://organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/a/LeafMold.htm

LM, Thank you for the post. I won't say I learned anything 'cuz Camp will quiz me on it!!  

Seriously, I wanted to save leaves for next year's composting activities, but I think it would be nice to have some pure LM for my dirt flower beds. Maybe 50/50 this fall.

Sounds good.  If I refer to myself as LM will people think there's  ol leaf mold or llama momma?   sorry, it's really late and I need some shut eye...

Last fall, before I ventured into SFG, I saved 2 bags of gathered up leaves. (I just like to save things)
After building a couple of compost bins this year, I'm collecting discarded veggies from a local grocery store.
Those 2 bags came in handy.
A friend of mine (row gardener) has been collecting a truckload of leaves from our borough trucks, these are nicely shredded from the fans that vacuum them in.
He uses these leaves the following season for his immense garden.
This year he had some left over and told me I could have what was left.
About 32 cubic feet I gathered, all leaf mold.
This material mixes nicely with the material form the grocers.
There will be nothing for our leaf gatherers to collect in my neighborhood this year, I'll have them all in bags for use when needed.

Jimmy Cee, you are becoming quite the compostables gathering KING!!!  Sounds like you are in good shape for next year's garden. 

Personally, I intend to gather them all and put them right into the bins.  One side will be the active, the other will be the holding area for the extra leaves.  May need to make a pile outside the bin as well, but the area is fairly well hidden from sight. 

GG

GG,
years ago my wife tried to explain how important compost was.
I did gather up stuff that was easy to find in our yard, however now I realize how much compost is valued at.
I enjoy the compost chore as much as gardening itself.
I owe this the the SFG book, it has taken over my life. so to speak.
Of course being retired, having physical ability, and being able to improvise has helped greatly.

Jimmy Cee, you are making up for lost time in the compost department!  Keep it up!

GG

Goosegirl wrote:Jimmy Cee, you are making up for lost time in the compost department!  Keep it up!

GG

I just love it when people get the compost and worm bugs for the first time.
We'll save the world yet.  

My tally has reached four bags, all shredded and mixed with saved grass and kitchen scraps and coffee grounds. Eventually my leaves will be corralled as I run out of "greens".
Meanwhile, today I will probably collect another few bags and keep up with the shredding and mixing. We have a whole week of dry, sunny weather forecast.
I must admit I am not aiming for 70 bags this fall as it was a lot of work in the spring turning all the leaves, especially the first turnover.

I agree w/ Jimmy Cree - this composting is addicting.

I'm going to the grocery store for fruits/veg's because  my Husband and I don't garner enough for me... I want a HUGE pile...

Just mowed the grass for, hopefully, the last time this year.  Got a 65 gallon trash can full of grass clippings and some of the first leaves to fall, but...

We have a seven acre park behind our backyard.  Every year, the park service mows and bags all the leaves around the 10th of November and hauls them off (probably to the dump's compost pile).  Last year I snagged about 1/5th of them that they didn't have room on their trailer for.  This year, the park service agreed to dump the leaf / grass mulch along my back fence.  I'm expecting enough to fill up four 8'x4' compost piles four feet high, if not more.

I'm pretty excited because we've created four more 8'x4' square foot beds for next year (bringing our total to 12), and also created a lot more flower beds, so we'll need everything we can get.

The only problem with having that many leaves is keeping them wet enough during the winter, and turning them occasionally.

I have very few leaves, but tons of pine straw. Can you make compost out of pine straw?

Cajunsmoke14 wrote:I have very few leaves, but tons of pine straw. Can you make compost out of pine straw?

Yes.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/compost-pine-needles-44418.html

I can't qualify how many leaves we have as yet ,  the  gales we got in the early hours of this morning blew most of the fallen ones away and left a few on the trees .

 The covering on the fish pond had a good trash bag of leaves trapped under the edges of the pond net . ,  Alison cleared these out and out them in the composter whole whilst i set about taking down the trashed flowers in the raised flower beds.

 Twas a good blow last night , just over 16 miles away there were recorded gusts of 98 MPH.
 Perhaps they will top the hundred ( ton ) to night .

With luck we might see the last of the trees lose their remaining leaves  and  get them cleared out of the garden for free  .... blown way down the hill to the village nearly 2 miles away 

Never thought I'd be contributing to this thread since I don't bag my leaves but my neighbors unloaded on me today! One had his SUV full - 11 leaf bags of leaves mixed with grass, one had 2 giant tarps full of gardening debris and one had 2 huge wheel barrows full of grass - all are organic gardeners. I normally have 3 compost piles out there in different stages of development but now I can't find them.  

I was also given some Canna tubers & a Dappled Willow.

What a wonderful day!

CC

I'm up to 54 bags so far with the promise from friends with more to come.  The nearby village again decorated lamp posts with corn stalks and pumpkins and agreed to give me everything later this week so they can put up Christmas displays.  Have to admit it was a fun adventure last year, this year I admit not as much fun but the need is there and I want this extra stuff as insurance to keep on hand for next years compost use too.