Lumber & Leaves

On the way home from work I spied about 1/3 of a sheet of 4' x 8' plywood and several bags of leaves. This may not sound exciting to most folks but to me it was and is special. After tending my morning chores I headed out to pick up my curb bounty. The plywood was at the end of a "T" in the road and for some reason I decided to turn right and see what may be awaiting me down a dead end street. Holy Cow, Batman! What looks to have once been a wooden privacy fence was on the curb. I loaded up about a dozen 6' long 4 x 4's and some 1 x 8 planks. Most of the planks aren't anything special but can always feed the backyard fire pit. I paused to load up the plywood I had originally set my sights on and was back on the road to fetch the leaves, about 6 sacks. As I was about to turn down the road I live on I saw what appeared to be more. I eased down and loaded them half dozen up and looked down the side street and saw even more. By now my truck was loaded to the gills so I had to go offload some. On trip #2 I also loaded up a few oak logs some 4-6" diameter to help erosion control in the Swamp. I did bust myself on the shin offloading them and had to pass on a couple a bit too heavy for me to lift but in all it was 2 good runs. I'm off work this week on Monday and Tuesday nights so I may try to empty the truck and fetch more usable lumber and possibly logs home.

Most of you probably don't give a rat's butt but some may ask, "Why do you get so excited over bags of leaves?" Well. I'll tell you.
A # 1 I've 2 compost bins in my back yard and hardwood leaves are some of the best things God ever made to put in them. They help break down all the other organic matter I toss in there and as they rot seem to attract earthworms which help the process and provide me with fish bait.
B # 2 I have 1 raised bed garden and want to build at least 2 more this Spring. Instead of buying dirt I can make my own 100% organic soil by composting the leaves.
C # 3 The ducks have their bit of the yard looking like it was sprayed with Agent Orange so I want to add as much good organic material there as possible to minimize sloppiness and keep it from becoming a mud wallow.
D # 4 All through my backyard are areas that seem to stay wet unless we're in in severe drought. The leaves can be dumped there (composted or not) to soak up water and build up the low spots.
E # 5 Most sacks of oak leaves also contain oak nuts, aka acorns. Wild ducks eat acorns. My ducks eat acorns which means less feed I have to buy for them which makes me a happy redneck!