Crow’s Nest: Mowing in December

I don’t think I’ve ever done this before in December, but I mowed the lawn around the visitor center yesterday. It’s not that the grass had grown—I was just chopping up leaves. I would have done this one last time for the season in November except the mower had broken down. Now fixed, I chopped up the leaves in place and left them as a source of carbon for the soil there.

Winter winds will blow some more leaves into the yard, but most of them will blow out again too. Only those that hit a solid object like the barn will collect and have to be managed again, about once each month until spring.

I’ve written before about how I dislike the smell of burning leaves. At best it is a waste of a compostable resource. At worst it contributes to air pollution. With air quality alerts being posted for our region each day this week, we really don’t need more smoke filling our valley.

Posted by Daniel Barringer on December 4, 2013.