What Comes After the Harvest?

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” - L.M. Montgomery

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The weather is beginning to change and with it our gardens. The warm season crops are ending, and our days of harvesting will soon be past. We will pick the remaining fruits, and vegetables for one more meal and hopefully one more pie. The herbs are brought in for dying to enhance our favorite soups and stews during the upcoming winter.
As we reflect on this past growing season and begin our fall preparations it is important to take time to reflect and take notes of what were your favorite varieties and were they successful where you planted them. What areas of the garden had ample shade and were overwhelmed by pests. These notes will help you plan and succeed even more next year.
Once this growing season has been recorded it is time to begin the end of season garden care. ​ 

This will provide your gardens with the support needed to create healthy and productive gardens with each passing year.

• Start by removing all summer annuals that will not last through the winter and old plants from the garden area. Once the remaining fruits and seeds are removed from the plants you can add them to your compost pile. Any plants that show disease or mold place in the garbage.
• Remove all support stakes and cages from the garden area and clean with alcohol to disinfect and prevent diseases during storage. Once the garden area is clear you will be able to see if any weeds were hiding under your plants and can easily remove them.
• Perennial plants need proper nutrients to survive the winter and flourish the next spring. The basic rule for perennial vines is to cut them back leaving six of the healthiest, strongest canes on each plant and trimming the others to the ground. Perennials and ornamental grasses should be cut back to the ground. Cut back any thin or weak stalks and deadhead the wilted buds. It is important to fertilize your perennials for the winter add a layer of slow-release fertilizer like Wild Valley Farms Wool Pellets to the soil around the plants. This will hold the nutrients close and help support the root system during the winter months.

Once the garden plants are trimmed and the old is removed, it is the perfect time to replenish your soil. The herbs and garden plants that just finished their season relied on the nutrients that were in the soil leaving it depleted at the end of the season.

• Creating and maintaining proper soil nutrient levels is vital in next year's growth and ability to produce. Compost and mulches are ways to replenish nutrient levels, retain moisture content and reduce weeds taking root in your garden

Compost is decomposed organic material derived from two main components: "Greens” & “Browns.” It is made up from the layering, mixing- to provide oxygen for microorganisms to breath and break down the materials, and heating over time to kill seeds and pathogens of these two component categories. Studies show that using compost improves color, helps tomatoes and other plants stand up to common diseases. While considered a soil conditioner rather than a fertilizer, compost helps feed soil with a slow release of beneficial nutrients over time. It is best to add compost to soil each year to improve the overall soil structure increasing fertility and nutrients for growing.

Healthy Gardening How To's and Tips for your garden: Are there differences in compost and what are they?

Mulch can be any matter, organic or inorganic, that you put down on top of your soil. Materials used for mulch include everything from crushed rock and plastic sheeting to wood chips, discarded newspapers, pine straw, grass clippings, leaves, and straw. Mulch can be laid down on top of compost or topsoil 1 to 2 inches deep, usually in late fall & early spring. Mulch can help to cut down on your gardening chores by helping suppress weeds and hold moisture in your soil. This sheltering layer also protects tender plants from frost and cold in winter, and from evaporation and heat stress in summer. In addition, mulch helps moderate soil temperature, keeping a porous surface to allow water to get to roots and prevent soil erosion.

Healthy gardening how to's and tips for your garden: What is the difference between compost and mulch?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Also adding cover crops for the winter will decrease nutrient runoff due to winter rains, help restore your soil and will feed pollinators. Borage, Canola, buckwheat, white lupine, alfalfa, and sweet clover all serve the dual purpose of enriching the soil while providing nutrients for pollinators during the lean winter months. For more information on dual purpose cover crops check out the chart at USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service 
​Once the gardens have been replenished and prepared to rest for the winter. It is necessary to make sure all your empty pots, watering cans, and tools are washed out and stored in a dry place. Extra seeds and bulbs that are not ready to plant are stored away from the elements, soil and fertilizer is properly sealed. ​

It is now the season to flip through seed magazines and start dreaming! 

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