JimFoxvog wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:01 am
Neto wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 7:40 am
We burn those things, and often use trash cardboard to get a better burn of the more sensitive papers, or to help burn leaves. (I sometimes haul the leaves away as well, but the volume is pretty prohibitive, and WAY too much to mulch back into the yard or garden, although we do that as well with part of the leaves.)
We don't need all that pollution from leaf burning in the atmosphere. If you have neighbors it may well contribute to their health problems.
Leaves compost well. My 20 cubic yard pile becomes less than one cubic yard of good compost. As you have a garden you can use compost.
I really don't like to burn them, and as far as our neighbors are concerned, they do it more than we do, and they don't stir the leaves as they burn, either. They just pile it all up, light it, and then just let it smolder. The only way the leaves we have (mostly maple) will rot within less than 3 or 4 years is to chop them up with the mower first. It also works a lot better if there is a fair amount of grass clippings mixed in, to heat it up. Otherwise the leaves create layers that no water permeates. I've stirred piles from a year or more earlier, and the leave still have all of their Fall colors.
When I used to do a lot of composting, I would dig up a fairly shallow area, pile in a layer of mixed grass and shredded leaves (about 4 inches at the most), then a layer of dirt or last year's compost, then repeat, always ending with compost. This allowed the earthworms to get in there and go to work on it as soon as the rotting heat subsided. But it never was possible to compost all of the leaves from our town lot here in Berlin. (No woods nearby to just blow them into, and I HATE the noise from those leaf blowers anyway.) When we bought this place, there were eight maple trees, and around 2 dozen or more fruit trees - apple, peach, cherry, pear, and also a couple of English Walnut trees. (One of the walnut trees died, probably from not enough sun, and they don't bear if you only have one. A huge Black Walnut tree blew down in the straight wind storm here in June of last year. They apparently don't need another near by, because there are nuts all over the back yard again this year, from the other one.) When I was hauling leaves away all of the time, I took many trailer or pickup loads away, packed and stomped down in order to get as much in as possible. Then covered over the top with a couple layers of large garbage bags full, then all tied down for the 4 mile trip to a property my father-in-law had, when I could dump them.
And smoke isn't the only type of pollution that is harmful to some people. I'm not, but all of the rest of my family are very affected by the type of mold from rotting grass clippings. (I had serious allergy problems in the Amazon, and one of the worst causes was from old papers and old books. When I went to our library, I had to very carefully turn each page - no flipping though a book - and then immediately go wash my hands with soap & water when I was finished. The worst thing was if I forgot, and touched my face, especially anywhere near my eyes.) Also, if you have a good burn going, there isn't much smoke produced.
Re: Gardening: We don't garden in the ground anymore - all raised garden boxes, and even when I used to make compost, my wife didn't want it in the boxes. The only thing growing directly in the ground anymore is the grapes, raspberries, and rhubarb. (Strawberries don't like the raised gardens, either. They send their runners out of the box, and do better in the path than in the box. We don't grow potatoes anymore.)
). So now I have them piling up, waiting to fry bacon. Life is good.