To Rake Or Not To Rake...       12/10/2008  

• In cottage country, raking leaves can be a formidable task, taking hours from our much earned leisure time at our home away from home. Then the problem of disposing of them is next.

  Lucky for us in Tiny Township, we now have leaf & yard waste pick-up. Our first pick-up, in October of 2007 by Simcoe County was helpful, but not sufficient. In 2008, the Township of Tiny took over the job & provided us with three pick-ups during the month of November. Simcoe County will compost the yard waste & sell it back to us at a minimal cost to use in our gardens. We are hoping that the success of this program will lead the Township to agree for one or more Spring pick-ups as well & possibly lead to the Township’s ability to do the leaf composting, instead of the County.

  Fallen leaves provide nutrients for the ground & plants. In fact, rich loam is created by decades of fallen leaves, left to compost into rich soil on the forest floor. Raking leaves into the woods is an excellent choice if you have a spare lot available. There are lots of nutrients in those leaves that can do the most good at the bases of the trees they came from. You can also throw them onto flower beds if you have any, and tuck them away into shrubby areas. Any one who chooses to let their leaves remain on the ground is helping Mother Nature.

  Burning them, besides releasing particulate matter into the air that adds to pollution, is a sad waste of those nutrients, and of the leaves' insulation value. On the ground, they're a winter blanket that protects soil, young plants, seeds, insects, and small animals (who also hide from predators there). If you are unfortunate enough to have a beautiful green lawn then sadly, the leaves must be removed by spring or the lawn will be damaged. But who wants a city-type lawn in cottage country? Aren’t we here to enjoy the “natural” life?

  If you are in a wooded area, with little sand, them earthworms are likely present & will decompose those leaves by the following August. If you are on sand, smaller organisms will break the leaves down eventually, but removing them & composting them elsewhere or leaving them out for pick-up is probably the better choice.

   

Fact Sheet re open burning

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Other sites to visit:

    http://www.tiny.ca

    www.tinycottager.org

    www.bluewaterdunes.org

    www.georgianbay.ca

    www.wasagabeachpark.com/  for information about what Wasaga is doing about Phragmities.