I've been doing in situ composting for three years now. It sure saves the time and trouble of hauling compost to the site, especially when you have a large garden. I mix grass and leaves and try to pile them at least 12" high. I have about 1,000 square feet, and that takes as you say, "a lot of leaves." I also tuck in other compostables as they're available. Oak leaves, at least live oaks, have a tough outer layer that makes them hard to wet and break down. When I first tried this method, I had beds full of leaves do nothing for months. Then I mowed them over a couple of times, mixed in fresh grass for a kick of nitrogen, moistened and had a bed ready for seeding in about 6 weeks. For my melon bed this year, I added 6 inches of mowed leaves and grass, then covered it with cardboard (I was smothering a grassy area.) and topped it off with six more inches of whole leaves. Even with only 1 inch of rain, I only had to water twice in four months and had the most beautiful watermelons I'd ever grown. The only fertilizer I used was a handful of alfalfa pellets per hill. Good luck.

In zone 8, I would put it in the ground and mulch it heavily. If it was growing in your area I'll assume that its hardy there. Let the cold kill the leaves back and then use them as natural insulation around the trunk (bend them after they freeze back) then wrap frost cloth or a blanket around the trunk if there is going to be a freeze. If the trunk gets hit by a freeze (turns to mush) cut the mushy part off and continue wrapping. Your main goal is to protect the trunk as much as possible, if you don't cut the mushy part of the trunk off it will spread down and rot more of the trunk. I have photos I could email you of mine and what I'm doing with them (I have about 50 in the ground) I am in the same zone as you.

Ok unconventional solution. Try it or not.. Continue to remove the affected leaves and make sure there is plenty of air circulation around the base of your plants by removing lower leaves and limbs and weeds. I thought the rain was great till, my zucchini and tomatoes started an early mold/ blight..... yellowing of leaves and dying.. But I found a dirty little secret no one wants us to find out about.. Someone in South America discovered spraying milk on your zucchini, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes prevented, mold, milky spore and tomato blight. The study I read suggested a 10-30% mixture of milk to water was optimal... 1 part milk to 9 parts water in a spray bottle works fine. With all the rain we have been having you may have to reapply but is sure is alot safer and cheaper than fungicides. It seems the natural bacteria in milk somehow combats the mold and blight in addition to building the plants immunity by absorption through the leaves. According to the study I read, this milk solution was 90% effective and a whole lot cheaper than traditional copper, fungicide etc. According to a New Zealand study on the same solution they found that skim milk was just as effective as whole milk and as a result of the lower fat content also reduced the possibility of an odor problem. It seems to be working well so far for me... let me know if anyone else has any luck with this...

A "recovery" (I'd use the word restore) is exactly that - erasing EVERYTHING and starting over. In other words, restoring the computer to the way it was when you opened the box. The tech should have made that clear to you and had you back-up important files. There IS a reason the printer driver download is hanging at the last % but for the life of me I can't remember what it is.