Putting the Garden to Bed
Summer has come full circle. The last of the fall cold crops are finishing up. Fall has taken ahold and winter is around the corner. Believe it or not now is the time to start preparing for the coming spring season by putting the garden to bed.
In most of the U.S. gardens have a spell of rest, some more lengthy than others depending on your location. A few things you can do to help insure an easier start next spring when homesteading gets busy are. Garden clean up, remove dead plants and throw them to a new composting site. Put away cages, trellises, hoses, pull stakes from the garden. Make notes of what did well and what needs changed. I always burn tomato plants, helps eliminate blight next season. Blight can over winter in a compost pit and devastate an heirloom crop next year.
See all those leaves in the yard? Don't mulch them collect them and add them to the garden. The fauna in the soil never really rest and will start breaking them down even over the winter.
After cleaning up the garden add the leaf litter you have collected from the yard to the garden. Now its time to add any other amendments you may need or have. A local county extension office can do a soil test for you and is often free. Peat moss, can wait till spring if you have soil that is heavy and compacted like clay. ( also a topic up coming)
Okay we have all the stuff added now lets give it a pass over with the rototiller, by hand if raised beds, or disc it in with the tractor. After tilling spread a layer of manure over the garden if you have it. Let it sit on top over the winter to age. Reserve chicken shit for areas that you plan on growing leafy greens in. The higher nitrogen content will produce leafy growth better than vegetables. (We will get into that later.) For now you're done. Sit back enjoy the holidays, enjoy the can upon can of produce that was put away over the summer.
-Mad Potter
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