r/composting • u/MacDougalTheLazy Tumbler Savant • Aug 24 '26
Humor Would it be weird?
Don't really get leaves in our yard. Would it be weird to come back and get the leaves off of this? Not my house or neighborhood lol. Serious consideration. Actual question but flaring as humor because I'm probably being weird.
29
23
u/Themightysavage Aug 24 '26
It's no weirder than when I sho up with a chainsaw and start cutting firewood.
22
14
u/Sour_Sal Aug 24 '26
I am soooo curious, what do you want the leaves?
Nevermind, just saw where I was - lol
Yes grab them!
11
u/cypeo Aug 24 '26
I just asked the landscaper around my building if I could have the grass clippings and he was super cool about it, I say go for it
8
u/phineartz Aug 24 '26
I just wait for autumn and grab the big leaf bags off the curb- they’ve done all the hard work for you at that point
6
6
u/UnderwaterCleaner Aug 24 '26
I had a neighbor start laughing at me and ask me if I was serious about taking his leaves...he let me, but said he had never been asked that before!
I needed some browns, its the middle of summer, he had a tree fall on his property, why not take those leaves, my pile was happy.
4
u/Hari___Seldon Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
Depending on where you are, somewhere in the next 8-10 weeks people will be gathering up all the fallen leaves as fall sets in. They often bag them in yeah bags and put them down at the curb. You can pick up far more leaves in just a few minutes driving around and grabbing those. Don't waste your time on this road debris which is almost certainly dry enough to be impractical because many of not most of the leaves will crumble when handled.
Edit: On the of chance that you live in an area where they require a paid tag or sticker on every bag of leaves, then buy a bunch to offer people as replacements for the ones they used on the bags you're taking. People can get weird about that sometimes so getting on their good side can pay off nicely. You'll likely end up meeting a few who are willing to message you when they've gathered more leaves. You can no-hassle materials and they don't have to deal with the tagging nonsense.
4
u/MaximumCapacity143 Aug 24 '26
Its on the curb. So that's public domain. Weird? Not if you come back with a pickup. Probably if you're shoving it into the back seat of a sedan. 😅
3
u/Only-Tough-1212 Aug 24 '26
i will grab those bags of coconut husks when i see them. some i keep as is to fill in beds others i crush up a bit more. i’m honestly going to start taking leaves this fall
3
u/Mrbigdaddy72 always add more pee Aug 24 '26
I do it all the time for fire wood. Any time a see a good down tree I pull over start cutting it up till my truck bed is full.
2
3
u/LongIslandThorn Aug 24 '26
Taking the leaves? Weird! Take the whole branch? Kindling! Not weird at all. Come for the leaves. Stay for the firewood 🔥🙂
3
3
u/the_other_paul Aug 24 '26
It’d be a giant hassle to strip the leaves, and wood chips are a great brown. You’d be much better off dropping off a bunch of yard bags and leaving a sign asking the tree trimming crew to chip those branches into the bags, or maybe asking them to drop the chips off at your address.
2
u/Rude_Ad_3915 Aug 24 '26
I have taken the leaves for mulch and then cut up the logs for firewood REPEATEDLY. But, yeah, I’m considered weird by some and a genius/wizard by others.
2
u/6aZoner Aug 24 '26
The people across the street from me are doing a bunch of tree trimming and leaving piles of brush that I've been very tempted to drag into my yard, but the situation between us is complex. I pile my own brush up on top of fallow garden beds to smother weeds and so they can drop their leaves to mulch the bed. Sometime in late fall, I pull the big branches off to burn into bio char.
2
u/Rewild-Miami Aug 25 '26
Look up Waacking videos, that is weird. Grabbing Leaves is pretty innocuous. I started guerilla gardening thinking I would get arrested. After a week I realized nobody cares.
2
u/man_frmthe_wild Aug 25 '26
I’ve asked and they’re happy to give you the leaves, branches, whatever.
3
2
u/barnabyjackson Aug 24 '26
Recognize that this is not your neighborhood, but you can still ring their doorbell and ask.
2
u/spaetzlechick Aug 24 '26
Wait, is that your tree or is it on some random driveway?
2
u/MacDougalTheLazy Tumbler Savant Aug 24 '26
It's a random street on the route to take my dog to the park
1
1
u/BobisBadAtReddit Aug 24 '26
It’s like… if you don’t care about being weird, and your law enforcement and skin tone are safe enough, take it. But you could just knock at the door and ask if they want it and they will probably tell you to take it.
2
1
u/c-lem Aug 24 '26
Yes. It would be weird and a waste of your time. It would be reasonable to take all of it and use it as firewood/hugelkultur/burn it into biochar for your compost. But there are so few leaves there that it's not worth all the work it would take to remove them.
I'd find out where there are big piles of leaves or wood chips in your area and ask if you can have some. Look for composting facilities or ask local governments where leaves are dumped in the fall. They'll probably let you take some. There might be a small charge for the wood chips (if you're near Newaygo, MI, come get some for free!). Or just wait until the fall when people bag them up for you and leave them on the curb.
112
u/rooseisloose42069 Aug 24 '26
So funny because this is the sort of thing i think about as im dragging away those bags of leaves people leave out. Yes, its weird - but who cares!