It’s that time of year already. Autumn … or fall, if you prefer, a bittersweet season when summer heat retreats and leaves begin their graceful descent to the ground. So it’s also time for me to cast a watchful eye on my neighbor down the street.
Every fall “Neighbor Joe” mulches his fallen leaves with a lawnmower. He then piles the mulched leaves at the curb for the county’s Snuffaluffagus contraption to vacuum up and cart away. As soon as I notice Joe’s heap of freshly chopped leaves I tip-toe over with my wheelbarrow and seize the gold (and brown and rust) treasure, and quietly steal away with it. Sure, I’ve got leaves falling on my own property but I rescue Joe’s because his are perfectly prepped and primed for tossing into my garden. One simply cannot have too many leaves.
Joe could, of course, let his mulch-mowed leaves remain on his lawn to slowly feed his expanse of turf, and reward his plant beds as well with a decent layer of the bounty. But Joe is like almost everyone else in my neighborhood who rakes or blows their leaves to the curb. They all want the outward appearance of a tidy yard. If they were aware of the multiple benefits of leaf litter, might they instead decide to keep their leaves on their property? Possibly. Perhaps.