Our gardens pretty much run on leaves. The primary carbon source in our compost tumblers is chopped leaves. We collect them using a walk-behind mulching mower that has a rear bagger-AND THEY ARE FREE!
I am still shaking my head as I recall how we would rake our leaves up onto a tarp, drag the tarp into the woods, and dispose of them. Our only thought back then was to rid our yard of the carpet of leaves that would otherwise smother the grass.
It took awhile, but we finally realized what our forests have always known-2″ of rich humus created from decomposed leaves is all any plant needs to thrive for an entire growing season. The only other input our forests need to thrive is sunlight and water. Now that- at a time when the word is so over-used and abused-is the true meaning of SUSTAINABLE.
We will elaborate on this later, as we get closer to the growing season, and we delve into the world of composting. For now I just wanted to show you how we put our raised beds to bed for the winter. There is no better cover for your raised beds than a layer of chopped (or not chopped) leaves. Once the ground thaws (and our raised beds thaw sooner than the ground), we turn the leaves into the soil using a digging fork. We will probably already be seeing lots of plump earthworms at this stage. After a few weeks, the beds are turned again, and prepared for planting. By this time there is a plethora of well-fed worms-maybe even a plethora and a half.
We will still likely turn some compost into the soil before planting, but simply covering the beds with leaves goes a long way toward preparing our beds for the next growing season. But I guess it’s only December 4th….

Putting Our Beds to Bed