More Garden Gold?

We have few deciduous trees in our yard and either the trees are such that we can let the leaves lie and decompose, or we have to rake them up and dispose of them, because of disease (mostly leaves from fruit trees).  I have been eyeing these lovely bags of leaves during my regular neighborhood walk.  Once I established that there were no walnut trees in or near this particular yard (walnuts contain juglone, a plant growth inhibitor), I asked the homeowner if I could have the leaves, not that I expected him to say no, but I did not want to trespass.

What am I going to do with them?  I am going to compost some (the Brits call composted leaves "leaf mould" and boy is it great for the garden) and I am going to dump the rest right on my garden beds to inhibit weed growth over winter and to begin the process of no-till gardening (more on this in the spring).  I want to stop tilling (and most of the weeding it causes one to do) and plant directly into mulched leaves, straw and compost.

Those tree leaves will become garden gold!  Happy gardening!