Tom,
Get as many leaves as possible and dump them and shred them up with your lawn mower. The only thing you may want to do, is add a little extra nitrogen, as leaves are high in carbon. I just put about some alfalfa pellets. I also don't till, just let them lay. Soil gets better every year.
I posted a question at gw a while back about mulches keeping the soil cooler in the spring. Consensus was that they did not. Gimmie is right about the nutrient value of leaves. I get all kinds here, oak, maple, pecan, mesquite, mulberry, ash. Haven't seen anything but good.
The poster who was worried about looking crazy, I just go knock on the door. I also bought a gasoline powered shredder vac (Echo brand) and go and rake yards and shred them up.
Leaves are great stuff, don't let them go to waste.
I remember my grandfather always put all the fall leaves in his garden area. He always had great gardens.
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