Each autumn I snatch bags of leaves from along residential streets. I used to plunder a farm dump for cow manure, but now I get old horse manure, in an honest fashion, from a nearby stable. I spread layers of leaves, then manure, over flower borders, and I till them into the vegetable bed. Compost, a valuable but little-understood substance, improves the soil in ways that fertilizer doesn't. Other gardeners also haunt back roads gathering materials for backyard compost piles.
Leaves are easy enough to handle.
Equine manure, in my opinion, is not as good as bovine. The stable owner fills my truck while I wait. To take home and spread on my garden. That kid probably hasn't touched a vegetable since. Most other people, even otherwise-sensible gardeners, look at composting the same way.