As descending leaves delight the senses with the sights and smells of fall, they also provide a ready supply of “gardeners’ gold.” Before bringing out the rake and garbage bags, consider what the season’s most abundant crop can do for your garden.

Just as nature builds soil with falling leaves, gardeners can use the colorful foliage to promote soil health in a variety of ways. Fall leaves offer a rich source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. The leaves of one large tree can be worth as much as $50 worth of plant food and humus, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac offers the following tips for repurposing fall leaves:

Improve your soil

Gardeners can improve their soil by mixing shredded leaves right into the garden, which will bring an abundance of beneficial organisms in the spring. Add some slow-release nitrogen fertilizers to help the leaves decompose and ensure that soil microbes won’t use all available nitrogen.

Create a compost pile

Pile leaves in the corner of your yard, and keep them from blowing away with chicken wire or a similar structure. Layer three or four inches of carbon-rich “brown” leaves with an inch of high-nitrogen “green” material such as grass clippings, dead plant matter or kitchen scraps.

Make leaf mold

Gardeners can make leaf mold by raking leaves into a big pile. Keep the leaves moist to let the fungi take over. After one to three years, the leaves will have disintegrated into a soil conditioner that is high in calcium and magnesium and retains water.

Make mulch

Leaves make an excellent protective mulch for vegetable crops, berries and ornamental shrubs—helping to suppress weeds, retain soil moisture and discourage the spread of new weeds. Cover the beds in your vegetable garden with a layer of chopped leaves to keep the soil from washing away over the winter.

Leaves also make a good insulating cover for overwintering tender perennials. Set aside shredded leaves in bags for mulching perennials after the ground has frozen.

Mow into lawn

Research suggests lawns benefit from a thin layer of leaves. Michigan State University recommends using a mulching lawn mower with a 3-inch-high blade and mowing once a week while the leaves are falling. Leave leaf litter to feed worms, fungi and soil bacteria, but don’t leave thick layers of matted leaves.

Protect and store root vegetables

Leaves offer a good insulating layer for cold-hardy vegetables and root crops stored in the ground. Cover them, and you will be able to harvest all winter. If you have a cool, humid spot, you also can store root vegetables between layers of freshly fallen leaves. Sprinkle each leaf layer with water, but don’t let them get soggy.

Benefit wildlife

Fall leaves provide pollinators and other beneficial wildlife with winter cover. Bees, butterflies, moths, snails, spiders and dozens of arthropods and pollinators overwinter in dead plant material for protection from cold weather and predators. For example, the mated queen bumblebee relies on natural leaf litter to keep her insulated, and many butterflies overwinter as chrysalises or cocoons disguised as dry leaves. Consider creating a couple of leaf piles and allow them to break down naturally. Leave leaves whole.

Visit The Old Farmer’s Almanac website for more tips on repurposing falls leaves to improve the garden and lawn.