This grape vine parcel out back is more red/orange than yellow/orange. If only I could remember what variety of grapes is planted there. I took these photos on Halloween, a week ago already. Most of these leaves have fallen since then.
These could be one of the three red grape varieties grown here: cabernet, côt, or gamay.
On today's agenda: a trip to the pharmacy for prescription renewals and an appointment for another covid booster. Also, a stop at the hardware store. I mentioned a leaf blower. I was serious.
Walt, would you like our leaf blower for a bargain price...
ReplyDeleteI no longer use it because of the environmental damage it causes.....
I now rake and brush the paths only. It is corded, because it only ever was intended for around the buildings.
What kind of environmental damage does the leaf blower cause?
ReplyDeleteNoise pollution. Noise complaints from neighbors. Not really true damage. I have a corded one for my roof and carport, stairs, and decks but a gas trimmer for my lot because I do not have access to electricity.
DeleteIt destroys the microorganisms that break the leaves down.... most petrol leaf blowers have a wind speed at the blower end of more than 190mph... in a very concentrated blast. Sadly the micro beasts that are the important base for all life get blown to smithereens by that and die. Commercial leafblowers are up in the mid 200mph range because they have to blow further and quicker... the worst apparently is the Stihl backpack one.
DeleteAll methods of removing leaves destroy or starve the life that is in the top 1/2" of grass and 3" of soil.
The best move environmentally is to leave the leaves where they are..... but unless you have a grand estate, that is often not possible.... even so, you need to keep walkways clean for safety reasons for starters... but you can brush or rake these clear.... you can get corded leafblowers that also vaccuum and use those to keep the ways clear.... corded or battery leafblowers have a more manageable windspeed of around 70mph and the organisms can, in the main, stand that. The reason our leafblower has been used so little is that after reading an article in the New Scientist, I decided to switch to raking the leaves off the pathways.
All the home-use vaccuum'n'blow machines break the leaves up on suck mode, because otherwise you'd be emptying the bag every two minutes... and when I do my final mow of the year, I will mince the leaves that have fallen so far.
The "hoovers" that the councils and big estates like Villandry use do the least damage of all as the leaves are sucked off the ground and into a big cage on the back of the truck... no great wind, no chopping up of leaves, no compression of the leaves either... even raking and brushing causes damage to the foundations of the pyramid of life.
We can't preserve every thing and keep our way of life, but we can mitigate against that destruction.
We don't have any neighbors close by, so nobody to bother. Besides, when the occasional neighbor does show up here, we are treated to a concert of lawn mower, chainsaw, weed eater, and leaf blower noise. There are hours when we are allowed to make such noise, and most of us respect them.
DeleteTim, most of the leaves around here fall on grass, and they just get mulched by the mower and absorbed into the soil. Only the path through the back yard and the driveway on the east side of the house get leaves on their gravel, and those are the ones we want to blow onto the grass so they can be mulched too. Raking them all up is too painful for my pour back at my age.
DeleteAh! Another colorful photo for our eyes to feast upon. Woo hoo for the Covid booster!
ReplyDeleteWe use two good sized leaf blowers for cleaning the thick dust from the Combine after harvest, de dusting the barn floor, leaves from all sorts of odd corners round the farm buildings. Lots of useful applications. Pats🚜.
ReplyDeleteHad our Covid & ‘flu jabs a couple of weeks ago, very satisfactory!
Still so sad. And angry.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
Beautiful colors. Is that Ripple, too?
ReplyDelete