Footsteps are getting crunchier, trees are getting oranger (or redder, or yellower) and the seasonal stands at Trader Joe’s have turned into a cornucopia of products you didn’t know could include pumpkin…you know what that means!

It’s finally fall time for the D.C. Department of Public Works annual leaf collection!

Collection season runs from November 7 to January 28, and each household will have leaves collected two times during that period. In order to make the process more efficient, collection will occur during one week when leaf accumulation is lighter, and in a later week when leaf accumulation is heavier. Residents are asked to sweep their leaves into a tree box (a box around a tree or a plant) or onto the curb if they don’t have a tree box, the Sunday before their scheduled collection week. You can find updated maps of boundaries and collection dates here, or download DPW’s app to receive an alert about your scheduled leaf collection.

A few dos and don’ts: Do not place your leaves in a plastic bag — you don’t even need to put them in a paper bag. Do move any vehicles away from the curb lanes on your scheduled collection day. Do not sweep your leaves into the street.

It remains to be seen if the new “efficient process” and some 110 additional seasonal employees (a 50% increase from last year) will improve what can sometimes be a confusing system. According to the city, if you miss your collection date, you can use 311 for a service request, but you’ll have to wait at least five days after the last day of the designated collection in your neighborhood for leaf retrieval. You can also take your leaves in a paper bag to the Benning Road Transfer station, open Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Your discarded Halloween gourds and pumpkins cannot be picked up with your leaves, so you’ll have to take those to one of the city’s nine food waste collection sites at your local farmers market. You can see a full list of locations here. Pumpkins or gourds with paint, glitter, and other “inorganic matter” cannot be composted.