Putting the garden to sleep

Every year about this time it after the harvest is done and all the various garden tools like sprinklers, hoses and cultivators have been put away there is one last thing to do.  Soil believe it or not is a living thing just like us and like us it needs time to take a break and rest from all the heavy work it has been doing for you all summer.  All the delicious food you have eaten from the garden come at price to the soil in tern if fertility, tilth and overall health.

So if you want to continue to have good harvests you should take a few key steps that will greatly improve your gardens health every year and theoretically should completely remove the need for artificial fertilizers and wee controls.


Step 1

Completely remove any weedy things that may yet be lingering in your garden and either compost them or leave them where you pull them.  

Step 2

Mulch the whole garden area in leaves, straw, pine needles whatever you can get your hands on for free or cheap.  

The mulch is by far the most important thing you can have in your garden over winter as it provides a food source for all the microorganisms that live in your soil.  These organisms use the material you put there as food and then of course what goes in must comes out as beautiful nutrients and lets face it lots of "poop"

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This is my garden after I spent a few hours moving leaves that my trees have dropped onto my lawn into the garden.  

Step 3  

Once you have all the leave in your garden and you have the soil and all the surrounding areas covered up you are good to go for the winter.  Now just sit back relax and dream about you want to grow next summer.