You might want to check with the city to be sure that taking something from the curb is allowed in your area. I wouldn't hesitate to do it myself but if you are hiring a minor you should make sure there is no chance of him (and you for hiring him) getting into trouble.

I know most cities have rules about the recycle tubs but dunno about leaves and junk.

An alternative might be to buy them. Put a listing on craigslist and offer maybe a quarter / bag delivered to your home. That may or may not work but there may be some folks who could use a little extra cash (economy is still tight) and have a bunch of trees.

I too think it couldn't hurt to put a listing on Craigslist and as maryrecord stated...they might even deliver for a nominal fee.

As far as grabbing stuff from the curb: most folks around here have no problem with that sort of stuff. Just be discreet and polite.

I'd suggest talking to the guys who drive the city/county truck that picks up yard waste. Bet they'd be happy to bring them by.

Rosie

Discreet and polite is the answer. I tend to not ask the authorities, you're liable to get the wrong answer. I will always say hello to anyone who is around outside, and ask them if it's OK to take their leaves, grass, or whatever else I see on their curb that is usable. I don't think I've ever had anyone say no, but if they did I'd just say thanks and move on. It's not like I'm digging through their trash looking for bank statements.

Right. I have several neighbors who say go ahead and take the bags. So that part is not the problem, it's just that they are too heavy for me, I just cannot heave them into the bed of the truck, and my husband does it for me, but I know it just wears him out. I think the leaves won't be as heavy, unless wet.

I think I remember a court ruling years ago that said if someone puts something out at the curb it is no longer private property. It referred to the cops going thru trash to catch some crooks, but I don't know why getting leaves and/or grass would be any different.

If one had a understanding with a homeowner who put out bags of leaves just for them, then a leaf thief might get into trouble. I treasured the neighbor four houses over who finely shredded his leaves then put them out at the curb! He must have moved or passed on. I collected his shredded leaves and gave him tomatoes several times a year.

Grass is not as valuable a resource but I liked the guy who cut his grass once a week and watered often. He even had trenches between his lawn and his enemies (neighbors with zoysia).

We have a friend who runs a landscaping business. I give him a call or send a text when I am ready for grass clippings or leaves. He drops them off by the trailer load.

About 2 yrs ago someone stole my leaves! They were sitting outside my fence for about 2 days. Wasn't a big deal I just asked him to bring more. I couldn't believe someone took a whole trailer load of leaves in the middle of the night!

Haven't had to resort to thievery for a while.

They bring 'em to me!

;-)

Lloyd

If I was getting leaves from a certain person who wanted me to have them, I'd ask them to put them at the top of the driveway or somewhere other than the curb, because to me the curb is fair game.

jcat, I too am amazed someone would take a pile of loose leaves!

But they must have needed them bad. I can't figure people out. Last night I put a junk coffee/espresso maker at the curb. I had rescued it from the trash as it was my same model but missing some parts so already unusable. I harvested several more parts as spares for mine, and threw it out again. This morning it was gone. Who could possibly have used what was left of that?

toxcrusadr, just be glad they didn't hang out at your curb long enough to try the coffee maker out n make sure it was working (sounds like a quick, grab-n-go).

Regarding the leaf issue. Something tells me that in a couple months, finding folks to deliver leaves won't be an issue. It'll be everywhere. That's why I don't bother trying to find free firewood on CL in the winter (simply wait until spring and you will have the pick of the litter).

Here's an idea: locate a boy scout troop and see if any of them is looking for an Eagle Scout project. You might even be able to get them to build a nice compost bin and/or raised bed for you :-)

Could you...
-roll the bags up a plank into the truck?
-pull them up by dragging a tarp up a plank?
-roll onto a kids' plastic sled, saucer, or even a garbage can lid with a rope attached to pull up the plank into the truck?

How about asking your neighbor to use some smaller bags that you provide for them? Then they won't be too heavy for you to load up. Possibly even ask if you can collect the leaves yourself & load into smaller containers like buckets.

Whats the worst thing that could happen?

He or she who takes compost ingredients... might someday become one. There are worse ways to go.

I have never had anyone tell me no & one guy ask what I was doing. I said " I am an organic gardener & I will use these leaves to mulch my tomatoes in the Spring.
He replied, Come back in two weeks & get some more.
Nice pic, Lloyd, as always.
I use horse manure, grass clipping & yard waste the curb & never had a problem with deformed fruit.

Get strong enough to lift the bags yourself. It may take a few weeks but barring any medical conditions you should be able to.

magz, I'm sure you were well intentioned when you said "Get strong enough to lift the bags yourself. It may take a few weeks but barring any medical conditions you should be able to."

In my experience, a really strong man would have trouble lifting bags, especially grass clippings of zoysia or bermuda if they were mown when damp. Plastic bags were banned where I lived before (Roswell,GA) and the tall brown paper bags required. They're expensive and folks loaded and tamped and added more until the bags were awfully heavy. I'm a small female, work hard but sometimes have the sense not to risk injury.

I've gardened and composted for many years. Over that time, extended family members, neighbors, close friends and church friends have become aware of my gardening passion. They go out of their way to make lawn clippings, leaves, egg shells, horse manure, coffee grounds, fresh tree branches for chipping, etc. available. Quite frankly, even though I appreciate their generosity, I'm close to that point where I must tell them, "no more". As an avid composter, it's particularly hard for me to even consider that response. And yes, even though I'm a reasonably fit 67 year old man, those large bags of wet lawn clippings are darn heavy.

My in-laws bring a pickup truck load of leaves every fall all nicely packed in the paper bags. Interestingly no matter how often they get rained on they shed water really well and are easy to handle even in the depths of winter, just shake the snow off (oh the snow we had last winter!) and scoop out some leaves. We get enough in the fall to last all year.

Well mostly all year. This year my wife has been bringing home all the compostables from work, one of her coworkers is in on it now and bought some totes to help out. We were rightly worried about running out of leaves so if she hit a particularly big week she'd bring home a bag of shredded paper too. We have as much compost in our working pile as the finished resting pile right now, next year should be a stellar compost year.

They stopped bagging leaves in my community a few yrs ago. They sweep them to the curb and then a huge vacuum truck picks them up.
I started shredding newspapers and working them into my soil. They break down almost identical to leaves- within 1% difference in nutrient analysis. It's making a world of difference in my pure clay soil in my garden:)