With a good 1 to 2 inch layer of organic compost over your garden bed, and a cover crop of green manure planted from seed in the fall, you will be on your way to improving your garden soil for next year's planting. Sown from seed, cover crops germinate very quickly and will grow all winter long. Then simply till the cover crop in once it flowers in spring. The cover crop's foliage will help protect the soil from getting compacted, which can happen in constant winter rain or from blanketing of snow. And when you till it in, the foliage adds organic material that will improve soil structure, increase nutrients and help your soil retain moisture.
Plants in the the legume family, commonly known as the pea family, bean family or pulse family, include soybean, alfalfa, vetch or fava beans. These are some of the best cover crops available (check online seed companies and nurseries). Legume plants are special in that they will retain nutrients that will then be returned to the soil when tilled in, thereby providing nutrients for your spring and summer crops next year. These crops have assertive root systems, which are helpful in breaking up hard soils. They are also very hardy and frost tolerant.
Cover crop seeds can be broadcast in mid-October right over that one to two inch layer of compost and all around the fall crops that are currently growing in your garden. Fall cover crops will grow quickly and reduce weed problems, but won't grow tall enough to overwhelm existing plantings.
Making organic compost for your fall cover crop is easy with tumbling composters. Look for models with more than one section inside: one for new compostable materials and one section for completed compost. If you live where there are temperature extremes, consider one of the Jora tumbling composting machines. They are manufactured in Sweden, and insulated to withstand temperature extremes.
Happy Composting!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Preparing for Winter - Reviewing Your Garden Journal
I wrote in June about keeping a Garden Journal, which might include a map of your garden, what was planted and where, how often it was watered, even details about amounts of sunlight it received and the temperatures it experienced. Written down should also be information on the yields you've experienced from your vegetables, what you liked and what you weren't so crazy about. These bits of information can help you prepare your garden for winter.
Preparing your garden for the winter should include planning for next year. It doesn't have to be exact, but a general idea can help you decide where to put the bulk of your compost. Plants should be grown in different areas of the garden every year, most especially tomatoes, as they absorb different nutrients from the soil. But most will benefit from a fresh place in the garden. Plants that need more fertilizer and water should be grouped together for most effective use of both; an example would be peppers and tomatoes; squash and beans.
After pulling up annuals and weeding, the next step is a good layer of compost to condition the soil for next spring's planting. Our tumbling composters have been busily making nutrient rich organic compost all spring and summer, so we have plenty of compost to spread around. We'll put down a two inch deep layer of compost to enrich the soil and act as a mulch, conserving moisture and reducing the odd winter weed. We use our Fold-A-Cart to get the compost where it's needed. It's pretty easy to park our Fold-A-Cart under the compost machine, dump the compost in and wheel it to wherever in the garden we need it. This cart is especially nice because it is so easy to clean up afterwards, and it has two ten-inch pneumatic rubber tires that give it a great center of gravity and prevent tipping like our old wheelbarrow used to want to do. When we're done spreading the compost layer, we'll give everything a good soaking to provide the moisture that our garden worms need in order to do their jobs. Another spray with the hose and the Fold-A-Cart is ready to be folded down to 20% of its usable size and hung in the garage.
Even though I still have lots of vegetables in my garden (the warm weather still hangs on!): tomatoes, beets, beans, chard and spinach, I'll be updating my garden journal this weekend on what worked in the garden and where I need to move things next year. When we finally do get cold weather, all the refuse from the garden will go back into the tumbling composters to help make more compost for the spring planting.
Happy Composting!
Preparing your garden for the winter should include planning for next year. It doesn't have to be exact, but a general idea can help you decide where to put the bulk of your compost. Plants should be grown in different areas of the garden every year, most especially tomatoes, as they absorb different nutrients from the soil. But most will benefit from a fresh place in the garden. Plants that need more fertilizer and water should be grouped together for most effective use of both; an example would be peppers and tomatoes; squash and beans.
After pulling up annuals and weeding, the next step is a good layer of compost to condition the soil for next spring's planting. Our tumbling composters have been busily making nutrient rich organic compost all spring and summer, so we have plenty of compost to spread around. We'll put down a two inch deep layer of compost to enrich the soil and act as a mulch, conserving moisture and reducing the odd winter weed. We use our Fold-A-Cart to get the compost where it's needed. It's pretty easy to park our Fold-A-Cart under the compost machine, dump the compost in and wheel it to wherever in the garden we need it. This cart is especially nice because it is so easy to clean up afterwards, and it has two ten-inch pneumatic rubber tires that give it a great center of gravity and prevent tipping like our old wheelbarrow used to want to do. When we're done spreading the compost layer, we'll give everything a good soaking to provide the moisture that our garden worms need in order to do their jobs. Another spray with the hose and the Fold-A-Cart is ready to be folded down to 20% of its usable size and hung in the garage.
Even though I still have lots of vegetables in my garden (the warm weather still hangs on!): tomatoes, beets, beans, chard and spinach, I'll be updating my garden journal this weekend on what worked in the garden and where I need to move things next year. When we finally do get cold weather, all the refuse from the garden will go back into the tumbling composters to help make more compost for the spring planting.
Happy Composting!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Thinning and Transplanting Purple Bearded Iris
Two weeks ago the tops of my Purple Bearded Iris were cut back to about 4 inches above the ground. They were ready, I was ready...they were overcrowded and not producing flowers like they used to. Also, the rhizomes were snaking out of the ground. The root systems were so bunched up that the roots were pushing the rhizomes to the surface. So today was the day for thinning and transplanting them. One large bunch had been planted in river rocks, thus all the rocks needed to be moved first (and continuously, since many seemed to have burrowed their way into the ground). Using a garden fork, I loosened the soil around the rhizomes, then removed the clumps of rhizomes in as large a bunch as I could handle. I carefully brushed the excess dirt off of the roots so they could be inspected, and placed the rhizomes in my folding cart.
It's important that you check the iris rhizomes for root borers or for softness and throw away any that are diseased or bug damaged. Luckily all my rhizomes were healthy, and I have enough to share with neighbors and co-workers.
I kept rhizomes with leaf fans that were each in pieces about 3 - 5 inches long for replanting. Four spots in my garden were selected that had the right combination of room and light. Holes deep and wide enough for groupings of 3-5 rhizomes were dug, then the rhizomes were placed just below ground level and facing away from each other with the roots spreading out. Next came a covering of organic compost over around the roots and over all in a mound that covers the leaves. Finally the mound was watered well, and will be watered with my garden drip until first frost. They'll get some moisture throughout the winter with snow melt and some BiOWiSH™ Crop to promote good absorption of the nutrients in the compost. My Purple Bearded Iris are set for roots to re-establish themselves in preparation of a glorious springtime bloom across the expanse of my back fence. Happy Composting!
It's important that you check the iris rhizomes for root borers or for softness and throw away any that are diseased or bug damaged. Luckily all my rhizomes were healthy, and I have enough to share with neighbors and co-workers.
I kept rhizomes with leaf fans that were each in pieces about 3 - 5 inches long for replanting. Four spots in my garden were selected that had the right combination of room and light. Holes deep and wide enough for groupings of 3-5 rhizomes were dug, then the rhizomes were placed just below ground level and facing away from each other with the roots spreading out. Next came a covering of organic compost over around the roots and over all in a mound that covers the leaves. Finally the mound was watered well, and will be watered with my garden drip until first frost. They'll get some moisture throughout the winter with snow melt and some BiOWiSH™ Crop to promote good absorption of the nutrients in the compost. My Purple Bearded Iris are set for roots to re-establish themselves in preparation of a glorious springtime bloom across the expanse of my back fence. Happy Composting!
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