My turn

I chuckle in the fall as everyone groans about raking their leaves. In my yard, most leaves stay where they fall or get shoved onto the beds to make a nice winter blanket for my plants. But come springtime, my beauties are awakening from their slumber and need my help getting out from under that now-wet, heavy and decaying blanket.

I avoid carbon-producing leaf blowers and instead choose the old-fashioned way -- manual labor! That means lots of raking and, around my tender perennials, crawling around on my hands and knees and hand scooping. I never think of my yard as very big until this time of year.
After a couple hours of sweaty work, my yard-debris bin is full and my deck and rock walkways are sporting a leaf-blanket of their own. AND - I've only done one corner of my property (the easy corner)! But now my plants can bask in the spring sunshine and flourish.

-Liz :)