Putting your vegetable garden to bed for winter

Well, the calendar has officially rolled over to October. It’s sad to say, but another growing season is wrapping up here in west Michigan. It really is amazing to be a part of a millennia-old cycle of growth, death and rebirth each year in our humble garden beds. Even as we put to rest this year’s garden, know that the next few months of rest are as critical as any for your soil’s health.
 
So as our growing season comes to an end there are a few things you need to do to get ready for a successful growing season next year.

• Make note. First, pull out a pencil and paper. Make sure you have a sketch of your garden to assist with crop rotation for next season; you don’t want to repeatedly put the same crops in the same place year after year. Jotting down notes is also helpful. What worked? What failed? What pests did you encounter? What would you have done differently? These are all good things to put down on paper, so next spring you won’t make the same mistakes again—and you’ll remember what worked really well!

• Pull. When your plants are done for the season simply pull up tomato, squash, bean, and pea plants. If your plants are free of disease you can compost, but dispose of any plants with signs of disease otherwise you’ll re-introduce the disease when you apply the compost next year. Be sure to rake up fallen leaves or fruits.

• Weed. Also—it might getting chilly outside, but your work with weeds isn’t done! Pull all weeds and dispose of them. 

• Till. Some pesky insects will overwinter in your soil so in an effort to prevent this lightly till your soil to expose the pests.

• Compost. Add a layer of Living Worm Compost to your garden space and gently turn into your soil. Composting shouldn’t end in the spring—instead, you should be applying it from spring right through fall. A fall application is what keeps your soil “alive” and prevents compaction during the snowy winter months.

• Cover crop. Consider planting a cover crop like winter rye or a large variety of radish. Here at Good Sweet Earth we will be planting nitro radish which helps with soil compaction (we have very clayey soil) and also works as a nutrient scavenger. Also cover your garden with leaves so that as they break down, they’ll add nitrogen to you soil.  

• Expand. If you plan on making a garden bed, or adding a raised be, in a new area cover the ground with plastic to kill the grass or weeds. This also works on areas that have become taken over by weeds. Fall is also a good time to install raised beds as the ground is a little more stable and won’t be so water-logged from spring rain and snowmelt.

• Harvest. Did you know you can leave carrots, leeks, radishes, garlic, and turnips in the ground to harvest after the snow falls? Try it!

 
Finally, take a deep breath and marvel at all you experienced this year. Successes? Wonderful! Frustrations? Consider them learning experiences. Failures? Consider those painful learning experiences, but learning experiences nonetheless. Gardening, farming, growing—no one goes an entire season without hitting a few rocks or pitfalls. The important thing is to keep trying, keep growing and savor each new season.

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