Spreading fall leaves in spring???

Hey all!

I may have scored 100 yards of fall leaves for free. I know some farmers will spread these over their field and incorporate them into the soil in fall. ...but it’s spring.

Any idea if I should let these sit until fall or try to spread and incorporate this spring?

I’m a little worried about the fields being too wet in spring. Would late spring or summer work?

Thanks!

I'm not sure what would work best on a field.  For a garden I'd wait until the soil warms up and then use them as mulch in the planting beds.  Or use them anytime as mulch in a perennial system.

Mike Haasl wrote:For a garden I'd wait until the soil warms up and then use them as mulch in the planting beds.  Or use them anytime as mulch in a perennial system.

This. I do this every year on my garden. My neighbors see leaf removal as an unnecessary expense. A couple of outstanding households don't care for the look and are happy to part with them.

I have been collecting leaves every fall with a leaf vac that chops them up some (helps break them down and all keep them from blowing) and then putting a solid layer of them on the in-ground annual beds (for bugs and microbes) and all around the perennial plant roots or in the perennial plant pots to help insure they survive the winter.  But just recently I tried to leave the leaves on the in-ground beds, all around some of my earlier spring veggies like cabbages and kales, and lost every single seedling to slugs (I've figured out its the baby slugs) which are living in the leaves. Any one else have this issue before? I was intending to use the leaves as a mulch the entire season (i.e. retain water, slowly breakdown, suppress weeds, etc.) but now I'm rethinking that as I don't want to keep losing seedlings. Lesson learned though!