I am very glad to hear about the pine shavings. I really don't have any leaves here that I can use. Oak leaves from Live Oak & Water Oak but they are small leaves that are almost impossible to rake or collect & even if you did, they take years to break down and tend to prevent water from going through so they are not good. Then I have a massive sycamore tree which sheds a gazillion leaves & I was going to rake those & use them as mulch but in the nick of time I found out they are alleopathic so they are not good for me to use. The Tractor Supply Company is only a few miles down the road & I can get the pine shavings there. This is wonderful news!

Update on my jack o lantern leaf mixture. Dumped out each can and tossed back in with extra leaves since it was smelly and wet. Think it is heating up again even though temps are going down to high 20s tonight. Our first hard freeze, had some 30s last weekend. But with daytime temps in 50s and 60s I think leaf compost will continue cooking. Spread some finished compost on garden yesterday because I didn't want to wait til spring, I think it may help plants get thru the night.