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Leaf relief

Dustpan makes pickup easier

The EZ Leaf Hauler is a tarpaulin with extras.

The device, billed as “a giant dustpan for leaves,” is a polyethylene tarp with a back and sides for better containment. Its handles make hauling and dumping easier, and its attached stakes allow it to be anchored to the ground on windy days.

The tarp can hold as much as five wheelbarrows, but it requires little storage space.

The EZ Leaf Hauler comes in two sizes, with 35 and 24 square feet of hauling surface. Their suggested retail prices are $29.99 and $25.99, respectively.

The product is available online at Home Products ‘N’ More (www.homeproducts

nmore.com), Urban Garden Center (www.urbangarden

center.com) and Yard Lover ( www.yardlover.com).

Simple, homespun living

Who knew communing with nature could be so enchanting?

MaryJane Butters manages to add dashes of whimsy and femininity to the great outdoors in MaryJane’s Outpost: Unleashing Your Inner Wild. It’s a book aimed at enticing women outside with such projects as backyard bathtubs, outdoor smorgasbords and “glamping,” glamour camping with a vintage trailer.

Butters is sort of an agrarian Martha Stewart, producing books, a magazine and charmingly homey products that run the gamut from bath mats to biscuit mixes. She brings an outdoorswoman’s pedigree to the pursuit: She was raised by parents committed to self-sufficiency, she’s worked as a wilderness ranger and she runs an organic farm in northern Idaho.

The book is published by Clarkson Potter and is priced at $30 in hardcover.