Preparing Garden Beds for Over-wintering

[Durgan]

Preparing Garden Beds for Over-wintering
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?OMLUB 28 September 2008. Preparing Garden Beds for Over-wintering

I cleared most of my own compost bins, and spread on various beds throughout the yard. Sometimes I have cleared the compost bins in the Spring, but it is often frozen when the time comes, and spreading must be delayed, hence doing it in the Fall. Also, fall season spreading gives the compost some time to filter into the bed.

[Ali Lee]

I have taken out 7 heaping wheelbarrows of dead flowers, (some weeds too!) out of my garden. But, guess what...they're growing back already. My rhubarb is over a foot high. Enuff is enuff-I'm tired of cleaning! I planted 2 lavenders today. Oh...they smelled so good. Enjoy these wonderful fall days...life is good!

[Ceashels]

This seems like a great thread to attach my questions to, thank you Durgan.

My garden was left fallow this year and I am would like to prep it as much as possible for next years growing season. I don't have much composte and won't be able to turn the ground over for awhile due to lack of time and an injury.

I am thinking of covering it with newspaper that I can just till in next spring. Has anyone done this and how well does it work?

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?GAHCL 29 September 2008 Fall Garden Preparations
Various yard work was completed today preparing the garden area for the Winter sleep. The ground cherry vines were pull, and shredded, time one hour. A load of wood chips were picked up at a city park and stored for Spring use, time two hours. The last of the tomato vines were pulled and shredded, time one hour.

[Durgan]

This seems like a great thread to attach my questions to, thank you Durgan.

My garden was left fallow this year and I am would like to prep it as much as possible for next years growing season. I don't have much composte and won't be able to turn the ground over for awhile due to lack of time and an injury.

I am thinking of covering it with newspaper that I can just till in next spring. Has anyone done this and how well does it work?

Newspapers are a misery in the garden. They don't stay in place and often do not even decay.
What is the soil like?
How large is the area?
Do you plan on a vegetable garden?

[Ceashels]

My area is 4ft x 25 ft. and is a raised bed. The soil is decent but a little heavy/dense. It has been amended with compost and top soils in the past years, albeit a little at a time. I have never had the soil tested.

I will be planning for it to be a vegetable garden and in the past I have had broccoli zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, carrots, onions, bush beans. tomatoes and peas growing in the bed and the only thing that did not do well was the zuchini and squash as I kept having end blossom rot. Oh, and not everything I listed was planted in the same season. LOL. I'll be planting things from that list next year.

I would much prefer to keep the weeds down to a minimum until I can do my spring prep work. We usually rent a tiller and I figure I would be adding more nutrients into the soil then.

I'm thinking by your statement that paper doesn't always decompose that too few layers would not be enough and more than that would leave me with strips of paper throughout the bed when I till. I was hoping not to purchase any water permeable fabric to cover the area but the weed s that I had this summer were atrocious and I don't want to have to deal with it again.

I wonder if I put ample layers of paper down I could just roll them up like a carpet in the spring. We have plenty of rocks to weight it all down . I just wonder if the seasonal rain/snows would still be able to seep thru to the soil.

Thank you for your input, I greatly appreciate it.
Ceashels

[Durgan]

My area is 4ft x 25 ft. and is a raised bed. The soil is decent but a little heavy/dense. It has been amended with compost and top soils in the past years, albeit a little at a time. I have never had the soil tested.
Ceashels

That size should produce a lot of vegetables, and would be easy to clear of weeds. At first the task appears formidable, but really it it nothing once tackled. A load of good compost of about six yards (48 wheelbarrows) should improve the soil. I am assumijg ghe bed is in full sun. This is essential for vegetable growing.

I would spade the soil, then use a high speed little tiller (Honda FG110) or even a Mantis to break the clumps, then add the compost and work in. With a small area it is even possible to strain the earth through a half inch mesh screen on a frame over the wheelbarrow to remove the weed roots and vegetation. This is easy work, it only takes a bit of time, and the results will be spectacular.

Testing of soil on a small area serves little purpose. One should be able to determine soil condition by the composition, being well drained of surface water, and rather loose. In a small area conditioning can be achieved with little effort.

Certainly a small tiller Honda FG110 would make life easy, if one can afford such.

[Ceashels]

The garden gets about 8 hrs of full sun year round so it is in a great spot. I'll be putting a mini tiller on my wish list as there are other parts of the yard I wish to subjugate to future vegetable gardening.

Thank you for all your input Durgan, you are very helpful and I appreciate your time and experience.

[Durgan]

The garden gets about 8 hrs of full sun year round so it is in a great spot. I'll be putting a mini tiller on my wish list as there are other parts of the yard I wish to subjugate to future vegetable gardening.

Thank you for all your input Durgan, you are very helpful and I appreciate your time and experience.

I'm just a monkey, reporting on what I see the plants performing. If something doesn't work I try again next year, and after one or two tries am usually successful-weather permitting. I am working to remove the nonsense printed in a lot of the plagiarized articles in garden books.