Fall Gardening WrapUp
Fall is a special season to gardeners… Its a busy and rewarding time for those of us who “do dirt”. Time to enjoy the last of the fresh tomatoes, dig the potatoes and horseradish, put up or can whatever the family likes or uses the most of during winter. Pick and store some winter squash, harvest the apples and carve a pumpkin or two. The “fruits” of their labor are usually abundant at harvest, so pick up a fresh apple and enjoy!
My To Do list for Fall:
- Complete Harvest – pull out annuals
Amend the soil – add compost, organic material
Wrap up the compost pile for winter – add leaves, last of garden clipping
Take in your hoses, wrap and/or prep water system for freeze
Feed your lawn (if you only do it once a year – fall is best according to Jerry)
Plant any spring bulbs and do any transplanting needed
Clean, maintenance and store gardening tools
FUNTIME – Pull out the gardening wishbooks and start thinking about 2010 (if you haven’t preplanted anything so far).
If the master gardening class taught me anything, it was to keep a gardening journal. Let it record your plans, success and failures, best practices, pests and timing of harvest(s). This all helps you plan for the next year. I usually start with my layout, using this years plot to determine where I will plant my garlic this fall for next summers harvest. So, if you have planted garlic this fall then there is your starting point. Reflecting on this years beds and harvest went lets me know how well this past years plotting worked. Reviewing this always helps me plan for crop rotation for next year. Checking with my companion planting chart aids this process, using plants to produce low pests and good harvests. If you have perirennials such as horseradish in a garden bed as you know by now, just plan around it. The garlic will be out early enough to plant a second crop in its place. I usually plant green beans for a second crop where the garlic has come out – there seem to be two bonus’s, first it seems to be a good soil/pest deterrent as they have no common predators and secondly the green beans are sprouting during the hot month and will bear well into late september – you just have to watch the pillbugs (also known as rolly polly, potato or armadillo bugs) at first – they just LOVE baby green bean shoots (a spray of capsicum will usually do). Check my article on organic sprays for more ideas!
Below is one the “essentials” in the garden tool box!
thanks for keeping me up to date on this issue.