That is so awesome! That must be such a gratifying task. Love to see that the little guys are beginning to thrive!
I do like hearing about the free leaves, too. The city I live in will collect grass clippings and autumn leaves and load them into a mulch pile (a huge one) which is free for taking as well. Personally, I leave the clippings and leaves where they lay, but I take advantage of the free mulch, too!
Free mulch from the city, so nice and so obvious. In Greece they fill plastic bags with it and dump them with the rest of the city's garbage!
Ideally when we finish with all the steps we have in mind, there will not be the need to move a single leaf into the plot :)