t's September and the summer garden is winding down. Perhaps you are starting to plant root crops and hardy greens.

This is a good time to examine the plant material you are removing to check for disease and insect eggs and cocoons. Bag anything suspicious and put it in the garbage.Also, don't forget to put some fresh compost on your soil before you plant fall crops.Now to your questions.Q.What can I do with my fall leaves? My township doesn't collect them, and we also have a burning ordinance.A. Wow! Fall leaves are a gold mine. Don't even think of burning them and don't give them to the township unless the township composts.Autumn leaves are free mulch.One way or another, I blow and rake my leaves onto my driveway. Then I run my inexpensive battery powered mulching mower over them to chop them up. Now I have one of the best garden mulches there is, and it's free. Chopped leaves break down over the fall and winter and become good organic matter for your soil. They don't steal nitrogen from the soil as they decompose because they stay on top. Even if they get dug in, they break down quickly and don't have any long-term effect on soil nitrogen.Mulching is my first priority. With these freezing and thawing spells we've had lately in the winter, plant roots need an insulating layer of mulch to prevent frost damage. Snow no longer does the job.Once I've mulched, I want to compost the rest of the chopped leaves, but not in winter. I'm going to need them in the spring for my compost piles. The problem is to keep them dry until I need them.I like to store my leaves over the winter in mesh composting bins made by Fiskars. They have plastic lids that keep the leaves dry and mesh sides for air circulation. However, it works just as well to buy the large paper leaf bags available at home improvement centers so long as you tarp them to keep the leaves from getting wet and matting down.Composting autumn leaves is so easy.I have several composting systems going at once - windrows or open piles, my worm farm and a closed barrel composter.I like windrows because they're easy. I can put them where they're handy. They're made up from chopped autumn leaves and nearby garden refuse. I make sure to also add those tough fibrous plant parts because they let air circulate through the pile. It's a long, slow decay process that yields a nice leaf mold.I have a compost pile in front of my compost bins (I use the bins for storage). This pile gets leaves, brush, plant debris and coffee grounds. I occasionally turn it to mix in the coffee grounds, but that's all the attention it gets.Since I live in bear country, I compost my table scraps either in my worm farm or in a rotating barrel composter with a screw-on lid. The bear tried to get it open and settled for batting it around.I used to make myself crazy measuring my browns and greens and trying to get my compost pile up to 150 degrees. Now I just let my good old autumn leaves do all the work. Those guys practically compost themselves.Master gardener basictrainingFor those who would like to become Penn State Master Gardeners, they are taking names starting now for next September. The class will run from September to December 2018. If interested, call the Penn State Extension office at 570-325-2788 and give your name to Kathy, the office manager. Master gardeners will call you back as they firm up the enrollment for next September.