Don't Mind If I Do

Today, I was driving my Mom home and I couldn't help but notice the piles of black plastic bags on the curbs.  Every third or fourth house on the street had a pile of at least ten big bags.  Recently, our local garbage and recycling service sent out a pick up schedule for leaf litter.  Instructions were clear, you put your leaves in garbage bags on the curb and they will pick them up on a specific day.  
Last year I learned that I can use leaves that fall in my yard and driveway to mulch my garden, but I only have one tree.  This fall we tilled our oldest compost into our backyard garden bed and were planning on buying soil amendments in spring from my local forest products source.  I was even considering buying straw to cover my beds until I was ready to plant.  
Driving by those piles of bags, destined for the local leaf dump, I couldn't help but see big neon "FREE" signs blinking above them.  I stopped and threw three big wet bags of leaf mulch into the back of my Jeep.  When I got home it took five minutes to cover last years small garden bed in a rich blanket of leaves.   Easy, Quick, and Free!  
Tonight I decided to research my free stuff a little better, I found these two wonderful pieces:

ScientificAmerican.com

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talk-pulling-for-the-planet-using-herbicides

EcosystemGardening.com

http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/life-in-the-leaf-litter-dont-throw-a-good-thing-away.html