Keeping your leaves either as a garden mulch or in a pile will offer you many benefits over the year. Here are a few:
--feed microrganisms which feed your plants (there are complicated relationships under ground) :)
--decomposed leaves will enrich your soil, and eventually turn it loamy
--healthier soil with soil biodiversity cleans the water and air
--healthier soil keeps water levels stable--absorbs more water, drains better, and keeps mositure available to your plants through drough (lots of seeming contradictions but it's true)
--mulch your garden through the winter (bare soil is unhealthy)
--provides cover for overwintering bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects
--providing for those above creatures provides food for birds
--provides cover for other wildlife (would love to see toads return to the area)
--you won't need to buy bags of mulch or compost (and then associated pollution and costs connected to those--plastic bags, transportation)
--reduced pressure on finances and resources of the village; money saved there could go to more positive uses
--keeping leaves is an easy way to be sustainable
