[Diana in Wisconsin]

5 Ways to Use Autumn Leaves in the Garden (Practical Applications)

There’s something that doesn’t feel right about leaves naturally falling from trees only to be stuffed into plastic garbage bags and dumped by the millions into landfills. Biodegradable paper leaf bags offer a partial solution. But wouldn’t it be better to simply use those leaves to enhance your garden instead of treating them as trash? Leaves contain a lot of carbon that when broken down makes great mulch, compost, and even lawn fertilizer.

The key to the successful use of leaves in your landscape is to shred them first, which you can do with a mulching lawnmower or a leaf mulcher. If you don’t shred them, they won’t completely break down over the winter, and you’ll have to rake them up in the spring. It’s also not healthy for lawns to be covered with a mat of whole leaves.

Here are five ways to use shredded leaves around your landscape.

Create Compost

Leaves are a great source of brown, high-carbon material for the compost pile. Simply alternate layers of shredded leaves with the regular green materials you add to your compost pile, such as vegetable and fruit scraps, weeds, grass clippings, and plants that you pull out in your fall garden cleanup. Let all of that sit over the winter. Aerate or turn the pile as needed, and by planting time in the spring, you’ll have finished compost.

Make Leaf Mold

Leaf mold is a wonderful soil amendment that is made from nothing more than fall leaves with a layer of garden soil or finished compost. Layer the shredded leaves and compost and let the pile sit for about a year. And when it’s finished, you have the perfect amendment for vegetable and flower gardens as well as a fantastic addition to potting soil.

Use as Free Mulch

After you shred the leaves, they can be used as an organic mulch in flower beds and vegetable gardens, around trees and shrubs, and in containers. Simply apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of shredded leaves to the beds, keeping the mulch from directly touching the stems and trunks of the plants. The mulch retains moisture in the soil, helps to maintain a consistent soil temperature, and limits weed seed germination. As a bonus, the leaves add nutrients to the soil as they break down.

Hoard for Springtime

Once all the leaf cleanup is finished in the fall, you might not want to see another leaf again. But when spring rolls around and you’re in the garden pruning and weeding again, you’ll have an excess of greens for the compost pile but not enough dry material, such as fall leaves. However, if you’ve thought ahead and hoarded a garbage bag or two of shredded dry leaves over the winter, you won’t have any problem making perfect compost in the spring. The dry leaves will help to prevent your compost from becoming a soggy mess.

Supplement Lawns

There is no reason to rake all the leaves off your lawn if you have a mulching lawn mower. If you run over them with a mower to shred them into small pieces, they’ll break down over the winter, providing your soil with nutrients and suppressing weeds. If you do this once a week until the leaves have finished falling, you likely won’t have to rake a single leaf, and your lawn will look better for it next spring and summer. However, keep in mind this requires a mulching lawnmower, which cuts grass clippings into small enough pieces that can be left on the lawn rather than being collected and bagged. The same theory works with leaves. Most modern lawnmowers have the mulching capability, and older mowers can be converted to mulchers by installing a mulching blade.

https://www.thespruce.com/using-autumn-leaves-in-the-garden-2539787

[Diana in Wisconsin]

12 Ways to Use Fall Leaves (Fun Stuff!)

Some things to do with fall leaves were recommended in this article about decorating your home for fall. Here are 12 more things to do with fall leaves that you may not have considered.

Make “bouquets” with them. If you find some leaves still attached to a small piece of tree branch, you can stick it into a mason jar for a long-lasting centerpiece.

Use them as mulch. While you CAN use them whole, if you shred the leaves, you create a nice protective mulch to put around the base of perennial plants to feed and protect them over the winter. If you don’t have a leaf shredder, you can run over a pile a few times with a lawnmower.

Make leaf mold for your garden. These composted leaves are actually a great soil amendment. Here are specific instructions on how to make a leaf mold compost.

Make an autumn leaf garland. Go for a nature walk and pick up the prettiest and most colorful fall leaves. When you get home, use yard, twine, or some other kind of cord to make a pretty garland. Simply tie the leaves to the cordage by the stem, then hang these over doorways, windows, banisters, and mantels.

Leave them in the yard. Leave them (get it) in the yard so that they can feed your lawn all winter long underneath the snow. Go over them with a lawnmower to break them down.

Use them in your root cellar. If you have a root cellar or basement, dry leaves can be used instead of newspaper for layering the vegetables you are keeping fresh down there. (Make sure your leaves are dry before using them for this purpose.

Insulate baby trees. If you are growing some new fruit trees or other perennial plants, encircle them with chicken wire or another malleable wire fencing. Then stuff leaves down into them to protect your plants from the harsh winter.
Make leaf art. Use those floating frames with glass on both sides and choose the most beautiful leaves you discover to turn them into art.

Cover your garden with them. When you rake up your leaves, put them in your garden. You can lay plastic tarps over them to help them break down over the winter and nourish your soil.

Add them to your compost pile. Put your leaves into your compost pile and stir them in for added nutrients.
Make falling leaf window décor. Collect a whole bunch of pretty leaves. Get long pieces of transparent fishing line and tie leaves randomly to the line. Hang each line from your curtain rod. As people move through the room or a breeze passes through, the strands will move and give the impression of falling leaves.

Make a pile for jumping in. Duh. This probably should have been first! Is there any better fall activity than jumping into a huge pile of freshly raked leaves? Only laying in the pile or burying each other in it. It’s a great way to spend some time playing outdoors whether you’re old or young.

https://thefrugalite.com/ways-to-use-fall-leaves/

[Liz]

Butter Bean Canapés

A cheap Pepin youstarter using cans at the supermarket. The bean mixture also makes a great first-course salad or meat accompaniment. If made up to 3 hours ahead, the bread will, for the better, soak up the juices from the beans.

Mix 15.5 oz can drained butter beans (large white beans), tablespoon Dijon, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 3 tablespoons chopped onion, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or chives, teaspoon chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut twelve 1/3-inch-thick slices from a baguette. Mound the bean mixture on the bread slices. Serve.

Makes about 3 dozen

[Liz]

Chocolate Rochers

Ideal recipe for the holidays. Rochers French for little boulders, which is what these little chocolate confections look like. Here, rochers are studded with cornflakes, hazelnuts, Rice Krispies, dried cherries, granola, or any other dried fruit or cereal can be used Make smaller or larger, with semisweet chocolate morsels or milk chocolate or bittersweet chocolate. I like bittersweet best because it is high in cocoa content and not too sweet.

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate 1 1/2 cups whole hazelnuts or almonds 2 1/2 cups cornflakes or Rice Krispies Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and put them in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 1/2 minutes. At this point, the chocolate may look like it has not started to melt. Wait 4 to 5 minutes and microwave the chocolate again for 1 minute. (Waiting helps prevent the chocolate from scorching or burning.) Stir after the second minute in the microwave; the chocolate should be almost melted. Wait a few more minutes and microwave the chocolate again for 30 seconds. Stir with a rubber spatula. The chocolate should be glossy and smooth. (You should have about 1 cup melted chocolate.) For hazelnut rochers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scatter the hazelnuts or almonds on a cookie sheet and toast for 7 to 8 minutes. Do not worry about the skin. Transfer the nuts to a medium bowl and pour about 1/2 cup of the melted chocolate on top. Mix well with a spoon to coat the nuts with the chocolate. Line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap. Using a tablespoon, scoop up a spoonful of the chocolate-hazelnut mixture and push the dough off the tablespoon with a teaspoon onto the lined cookie sheet. Repeat, making 15 to 25 rochers, depending on size. Cool until hardened. (Stored in an airtight container, the rochers will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 2 months in the freezer.)

For cornflake rochers: Put the cornflakes in a medium bowl and add the remaining 1/2 cup melted chocolate. Mix well with a spoon until combined. Do not worry if the cornflakes break somewhat; keep mixing until they are coated. Spoon the small mounds onto the lined cookie sheet. You will have 20 to 30, depending on size. Cool until hardened. (These can also be frozen.)