This past Saturday morning, this is what I heard!
Saturday was the beginning of the first extensive raking season of "a year in the woods." It was a beautiful, clear, blue-sky, warm day! Beginning around 8:00 a.m., I raked the 4 inches of last Fall's oak leaf mulch from the south and east and northeast flower beds. Next, I grabbed two big, blue tarps (I'm guesstimating them to be around 9'x12') and headed to the backyard.
I didn't shred these leaves... there were tooooo many of them. I raked until 2:00 p.m., when my friend/neighbor Chris and I enjoyable a walk in the woods. We returned around 4:00 p.m. or so, and I resumed raking. I admit to taking time to cook and eat a quick meal, and then I finished raking for the day. My it felt good!! A grand total of 18 tarp-loads of leaves were dragged to the ravine. Not bad if I may say so myself! :-)
On Sunday afternoon, I managed to rake and drag 5 more tarp-loads. And this evening (Monday) I began work in the "Sunny bed" in the front corner of the yard, as well as the north edge of the driveway, and hauled 4 1/2 more loads to the ravine.
Unshredded leaves take much longer to decompose. My theory about the lack of deer in my backyard is that they don't appreciate trying to climb the bank when it's covered with so many layers of foot-deep leaves. I'm going to operate on that theory and continue to drag those leaves down there! ;-)
I tell myself, by composting leaves, I may gradually increase the square footage of land back there! ha. (What do you think?) We own land on the other side of the ravine, and a small trickle of water flows between the banks. I haven't pursued the possibility that mosquitoes breed there, but I assume it's very likely.Can you see the edge of the ravine back there?
These photos were taken from the dining room windows
at nearly 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
You can probably tell by the source of sunlight and slant of the shadows.
Looks nice and clean, though, doesn't it?(Sunday's raking cleared leaves from about 10' behind
that soon-to-disappear log pile.)
It will remain beautifully clean for only so long...
...as you may notice, if you look closely at the trees,many still hold their leaves. ;-)
But those will be a project for another day.And I'm ever-so-hopeful that I haven't raked too early!
Nothing shady here, yet.
