"Harry K" wrote in message
om...
"PrecisionMachinisT" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"PrecisionMachinisT" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Curly Sue" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 20:44:13 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Rochester NY: We're being buried in leaves. My son and I raked
up
40+
bags
of leaves in about 2 hours this past Sunday. We seem to be
alone in
the
use
of that prehistoric tool, the rake. I'm surrounded by neighbors
in
their
early 30s to mid 40s, in good shape, all of whom use leaf
blowers
and
take
all day to gather the same amount of leaves.
And...cripes....the
noise!
Want
an investment tip? Hearing aids - the Next Big Thing for an
entire
generation.

What's with these things? Is Home Depot putting guns to
peoples'
heads
and
forcing them to buy leaf blowers?

End of Totally Pointless Rant

Best of both worlds- rake the leaves into a pile (quietly), then
use
a
leaf vacuum/shredder for two minutes to suck them into a bag.
Another
advantage, 1/2 (or less) the number of bags. Save the shreds
and
use
them for mulch in the garden.

Alternatively, just mow the leaves and let them disintegrate in
place.

Just moved in. Not enough garden dug up yet for the volume of
leaves I
have.
I tilled a 40x40 vegetable garden two weeks back, and it's already
got
8
trillion bushels of a mowed grass/leaf mix mixed in and piled on.
Next
spring, I'm removing 1/4 of the total lawn area and creating
enormous
flower
& shrub beds. Then there'll be a home for the leaves.



Composting is kinduva art--probly best to mix the brown and green
matter
together in a pile.......the green ( grass clippings ) providing the
nitrogen, and let it all break down good *before* you till it
in.......

Yeah, but I want to start small. I have a corner lot, so the place
where
I'd
like to put multiple compost bins is where it would be visible to two
neighbors. I'm waiting for delivery of a Soilmaker (your basic tall
plastic
box - a model I've used in the past). I'll probably add 3 more in the
spring. In this neighborhood, an open pile or a chicken wire thing
would
look out of place, even though they'd be beautiful to me.

Or.....plant a hedge to surround the compost factory. We'll see. I
have
more
ideas than I have time and cash at the moment.



We corrall them in with old pallets--and its much easier to turn the
pile
over if your corral is twice the size as your pile, turn from left to
right.

Probly lots of ideas in one of the gardening forums, one might be just
what
your doctor erdered.

I go with the mowing em. Honda self prop rear bagger. Remove bag it
is a very good mulcher. Two passes with leaves higher than the deck
leaves nothing but a powdering of very small bits behind. Good for
the lawn and a lot faster than the raking or blowing methods.


The wife runs a small plant nursery here part time, and so several of our
neighbors and even the city public works dept are delighted to drop off
leaves and clippings for us.

--

SVL