putting the garden to bed

it's that time of year again. we have tons of leaves to rake in our yard, so i tackle them a little at a time. i am very fond of my small i-push-it-myself mulching lawn mower. it does a great job, and i get in about 2.5 miles of walking each time i mow the lawn. most of the leaves are cleaned up not by me, but by my hard-working mower. i mow over the leaves and then rake up any little piles the lawn mower spits out. it is much easier raking small bits of mulched leaves than it is raking big piles of regular leaves.

i also mow over some of the trimmed (any big stalks removed) flower beds - the mower is small enough so i can get into little nooks and crannies - and i toss in some extra well-mulched leaves on top of the beds. it is a good way to start putting the garden to bed for the winter. in this picture, i like how the leaves on the lawn look like pieces of fall colored confetti. did you know that the first confetti was not colored paper confetti? confetti (same root word as confectionery) was originally sweets and nuts coated in sugar, or candy wrapped in colorful paper. the sweet nuts and candy bits were then tossed at celebrations and carnivals.