Autumn Leaf Alert 1 – fertiliser factories in the burbs

First a poem

And then the trees. How many different things does a tree do?

Maybe its not so poetic to see a tree as a carbon capture and storage device. They capture carbon dioxide from the air and make leaf and stem and trunk and root and sugars. 

The green life of the leaf comes to fruition. It’s done its summer job. Nutrients from the deep earth are ready in the leaf. 

The spectacular brown rusty orange life of the leaf is next. The fertilising job begins. Down they come. 

Humus they will make. Some for the tree, some for the vegetables. The worms and fungus and microbes are standing by, ever ready to play their role in the symbioment getting on with humus creation. 

What is my autumn leaf role in the symbioment? 

Ling and I were driving around Blacktown in Sydney. One of our neighbours was busy under the Liquid Amber; raking bagging, raking bagging. Those ole autumn leaves were going into the bin. Alert Alert Alert. We went and had a friendly chat. Our neighbour was more than happy to give the leaves to us. So we found a quiet out of the way spot in the garden, wet the leaves, piled them up. I made a bit of a bin to hold them and let them be nurtured over winter. I made the sides from flat bits and pieces; an old shearers wire bed, an old Greens Party election poster… They received plenty of water as they were laid down. Maybe next time I’ll run them through the mower. 

Six months later we’ve got leaf mould. And spreading this around our block we have built up the organic matter in the soil. Following our policy of keeping the organic matter on site as much as possible. Our indicator to measure this carbon capture policy result is to see the increase in the number of worms all around the garden. No wonder the place looks so healthy and vibrant.

A parting thought. 

The symbioment: its all about mutual benefit living, right?

The tree is giving us the leaves. How can we give back to the tree?