Home Leaves.

According to Gaylord Moore, horticulture specialist, University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, there are several options available to homeowners for dealing with leaves.

"Leaves don't have to be removed from your lawn. However, you do need to make plans to use a mower. It is best to use a mower with a mulching blade that chops up the leaves so they will filter past the grass leaf blade," said Moore.

Any heavy shading can have a negative effect on the health of the grass. Newly planted lawns are especially vulnerable to heavy shading and smothering of the grass.

Besides being easier, there are some other benefits from chopping up leaves and letting them remain on the lawn.

"Chopping up the leaves can be a natural method of returning nutrients back into the soil once the leaves have decomposed," said Moore.

However, if leaves are smothering the lawn, Moore suggests promptly removing them from the lawn and using the chopped

leaves as mulch.

"Using chopped up leaves as mulch around trees, shrubs or within perennial beds can bring tremendous benefits. Shredding leaves will also hasten the decomposition process and transform into composted organic matter," said Moore.

According to Moore, leaves can also be mixed into vegetable and flower gardens as a source of organic matter. However, he recommends adding animal manure or other nitrogen sources to hasten the decomposition process. Other options for leaves are composting or delivering them to a local yard-waste recycling center.

I’ve seen those ads for the gizmo that attaches to the water hose to blow leaves outa the rain gutters. ‘Course they don’t show the folks usin’ ‘em gettin’ soaked to the core with all that water splashin’ around.

What I want to see is a gizmo that attaches to the vacuum cleaner to clean bugs outa those chandeliers. You know the ones, they look like big bowls suspended down from chains. They always have a handful a dead bugs in the bottom of ‘em and are usually hangin’ from a twenty foot ceilin’. The bigger the bowl, the more bugs are collected.

I’ve often wondered what bugs did at night before street lights were invented. Maybe lightin’ bugs were the big attraction back then, givin’ a brief glimpse of the future social activity of bug kind. Then, ever’one knows bugs are for the birds.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Crthage Printing Services

YOUR AMERICA

By Amy Anderson

The Mall of America. If it sounds impossibly large and overwhelming, well, that’s because it is — all 4.2 million square feet of it. With the holidays coming up — meaning shopping season is already in full swing — I thought we’d take a look at a mall that is not only a worthwhile shopping establishment, but a tourist draw as well.

Located in one of the most unlikely cold-weather travel destinations — Minnesota — the Mall of America is now visited by more than 42.5 million shoppers every year. Its variety of specialty stores is unmatched, with more than 500 to choose from. They range from mall standards like the Gap and Old Navy to more intriguing niche stores. For example, you can explore the world of stamps and postage at Postmark America, a "one-of-a-kind postal retail store," or shop the world of medicine and the human body at Bare Bones. Heck, you can even see local and national acts at the comedy club (Knuckleheads), take in a few frames of bowling (Jillian’s Hi Life Lanes), catch a class on accounting (National American University and two other colleges) and get married (Chapel of Love, where 2,500 couples have said "I do").

So you aren’t impressed yet? How about activities for kids, since they have to be entertained too? OK, here you go: Camp Snoopy tops the list, being that it is the world’s largest indoor theme park. The Mighty Axe, a spiral roller coaster, and Paul Bunyan’s Log Chute are quite fun, but there are other big rides if you are looking for more. You can also visit Underwater Adventures, with its Shark Cove (come, meet real sharks!) and the Seven Seas Gallery. Or hurry over to LEGO’s Imagination Center, a four-story LEGO playhouse.