It is that time of year when the leaves change hue. It is beautiful sight to see the Maple tree in our front yard show off to all of the other trees in the neighborhood. The Maple in the back yard is a bit more conservative in it’s coloring and draws far less attention to itself. They both demand my attention this time of year because they fill the gutters of the house with their cast offs.
My ancient Stihl backpack leaf blower and I climb up the ladder and run around on the roof to clean them leaves out of the gutters. Otherwise we are in deep do do when it rains.
Today was our first go-round. Depending on the weather, this roof climbing, gutter blowing, fun fest will need to happen at least twice more before snow flies.
I hate picking up leaves. Nature should clean up after herself. I have bike rides and other fun on my agenda.
But I do like to make compost.
Making compost is really very easy. All you need is: Carbon in the form of dead leaves. Nitrogen in the form of green grass. And Microbes found in dirt in the yard! Add a bit of moisture, give the mixture time to cook and viola, you have made some really great dirt. I learned this from a book I read years ago: “Let It Rot” by Stu Campbell.
Impress your spouse. Amaze you friends. Make dirt at home.
After the ancient Stihl backpack leaf blower and I corralled all them pesky leaves into heaps, I put on my cowboy hat, chaps, and double buscadero rig and sauntered out to the shed to get my trusty steed. An ancient Snapper Riding Mower with bagger attachment. It always starts first pull. Ye Ha.
The bagger on the mower makes mixing the compost recipe easy. The trick is getting the leaves chopped up as finely as you can before you pick up the three dry ingredients. I pre-chop the leaves with my push mower set really high. It is fun to run around the yard like a crazy person with your lawn mower. Normally you use your mower in straight lines or sweeping curves following the contours of your grassy areas. Not today. Your goal is to be a Veg O Matic.
Slowly the Snapper and I roamed around the yard chopping the leaves into even finer bits and cutting the grass. The magic microbes just come along for the ride. Then the mixture is shot thru a chute into the bagger bit of the mower.
The full bag of ingredients is carefully dumped into the compost bin. A gentle mist of water caresses the mixture. Back onto the Snapper and do it at least another 10 times.
The compost bin we use is really a modified 6×6 foot chain link dog kennel type enclosure that came from Menards. Most years it gets filled to the top. By spring it has cooked down to about half height. By the end of the summer it is come and get it compost time.
We have lived at this undisclosed location in Minnetonka for over 20 years. Never has a tree leaf or blade of grass ever left the premisses. At least not in it’s original form.
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