Temperatures are falling and so will the leaves soon. The City of Mishawaka and St. Joseph County is ready, though.

Leaf pickup begins Monday, Oct. 17. That means you can rake leaves to the curb starting next weekend. Leaves will be picked up the day before each resident’s weekly trash pickup day. If your pickup date is Monday, leaves will be picked up the preceding Friday.

The City of Mishawaka is reminding you of a couple of guidelines:

• Leaves should be raked to the edge of the curb and should be free of branches, twigs, stones or similar foreign objects which can damage equipment and delay leaf pick-up.
• Do not to rake leaves into the street immediately after a vacuum unit has passed through an area since the vacuum unit will not return until the next scheduled pick-up time and leaves may clog sewer inlets or blow back into yards or streets.
• As always, leaves may be bagged and put out with your weekly trash pick-up.
• Mishawaka residents may take brush to the Mishawaka Recycling Center, 1105 East Fifth Street, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

Any questions about the program can be answered by calling Street Commissioner Tim Ryan at the Mishawaka Street Dept. at (574) 258-1660.

As for St. Joseph County, the requirements are similar. You can get more information at their website.