Rake the leaf and compress it

Every year, my backyard got a lot of falling leaves. To put those leave into a container or trash can is always a challenge.

The trick to compress these leaves into the container is to compress it by the wall of the container. The basic idea is that since the leaves is adjecent to the wall, the friction will keep the compressed leaves in place instead of poping right back. If you compress the leaves in the middle, it usually pop right back. If you think about fluid dynamic, this is why the flows adjecnt to the wall are flowing slower.

Recycling the leaves - compost it

This blog is all about self-sufficient backyard/garden practice - things that make uses every single things to its extend and be environment friendly as much as possible.

It is a very common practice for American household to purchase various chemicals from home improvement/garden centers. A lot of these chemicals come in big bags - like the crabgrass preventer, weed & feed chemicals, or even the top soil for the garden. Often times, these bags are throw into garbage cans. 


It is also a very common practice for American household to send yard waste through refuse collectors. By buying furtiliser for your lawn, grow the lawn and, at a later day, mow the lawn and send the product to refuse just doesn't seem to be a green practice to me. By recycling the refuse in place probably is a much greener practice.

 Through the years, I have been saving plastic bags that comes with my garden chemical purchases. In the fall, after leaves fell, I would collect leaves and packed them into my saved chemical bags. By packing leaves in bags and allowed them to decay through the years, these leaves turn into nutritious compost and is ready for backyard garden uses.

The following picture show the black compost that produced through this process.