Dealing with clay soil like ours has convinced me of the value of compost. Not that I hadn’t composted before. But over the years here, I’m watching the ground become more supple and workable and productive, thanks to the effort.
The first autumn, I collected more than 200 bags of leaves from the neighborhood. (Each year, I try to reduce the figure, only to find some of neighbors now expect me to come over for the haul.) To that, we’ve added our garbage (thus reducing our expenditure on the city’s green trash bags). Once we acquired rabbits, their droppings and the hay from their bedding started going into the pile as well.
The process is incredible, watching the volume decrease to a fraction of what it had been. Consider the amount of heat the decomposition produces, and then the arrival of the red wigglers (or wrigglers, I’ve heard both), the friendly worms that do the big work of transformation. Forget his insights about evolution, it’s Darwin’s observations of worms I treasure. What’s left in the end is a gardener’s pure gold.
On a spiritual level, this humus and humility have a lot in common. So much can flourish from their nourishment and grounding.
Jnana's Red Barn 
I could use some of your clay. Our soil is so sandy and full of rocks but none big enough to build a decent wall.
Humus, humility both from the same root word “of the ground”.
One of the first questions gardeners around here ask of each other is, “Clay or sand?” We’d love to swap and mix, if it were practically possible. Lighten up the heavy soil or give some substance to the sieve-like sand. Oh, well …
The soil description for my land is “fine sandy loam”. The loam part makes people think the soil is like the potting soil they can buy at the garden center.
Well, you work with what you have, treat it right and it sustains you.
Your final sentence could be a gardener’s mantra. Well, a manager’s, too.
I’m considering leaving the leaves down in the flower beds this year. Last year we paid our lawn company to blow them all out of the beds and collect them for city composting. Question….So in Fall (like right now) do you do nothing with the leaves, just let them sit? And then in the Spring you rake them off?
We let some of them sit in the more woodland-like beds but rake the rest of them off for the compost bins.
Thank you!