Leaf composting dilemma

Well, last weekend I had to address the abundance of leaves in my backyard lest I have no grass next year.  Leaves are an essential item in my composting endeavor so I had to get them collected for next year.  As seen in the picture below, our tree blessed us with a much greater yield than last year.

I was faced with quite the dilemma for sure.  So, I gathered them altogether to see just what I was dealing with exactly.  Using a rake and my blower, this is the abundance I had.  

It stood about 3 feet high and 4-5 feet round.  As you might be able to see, I stuck my rake in the middle of it just for perspective.  I have read about composting leaves in bags so I decided to give it a try.  The first thing to know is that you have to use heavy duty garbage bags.  I prefer construction grade bags that I can get at Home Depot.  Normal bags will rip over winter.  

The key to this is that you have to wet down the leaves in the bags and then close them.  I decided that the best way to do this was to fill the bags a third at a time and then water each third as I go.  The water helps bacteria grow and break the leaves down.  What I should have, if this works, is leaf mold in the Spring.  This can be used as a direct amendment to the soil or as an additive to my compost. So, for about 2-3 hours, I bagged and wet down the leaves and tied them up.  One more step has to be followed.  Once the bag is full and tied, you need to poke 4-6 holes in the bottom so excess moisture can escape.  Then you can set them out in your yard and let the leaves decompose.  

After everything was finished, I ended up with 7 very full bags of leaves.  I decided that I was going to use them as wind breaks in my garden as seen in the picture below.  This will help minimize the drifting of snow over my one bed.  In real bad snowstorms, the drifts can get pretty big.

My goal is to minimize the damage that snow can cause to soil.  It's an experiment and if you've read any of my other posts, I do favor a little experimentation in my gardening.  It keeps the juices rolling and the gardening fresh.  I will have to report back in the spring so we can see what all this labor has wrought.  All I have to do at this point, is sit back and wait.  If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to leave a question and I will respond as soon as I can.  Happy gardening everyone.