Lorraine Hughes
Time to find those flower beds and put them to rest for the Winter. Photo: Supplied.
The last few weeks I have been preparing my vegetable garden for the winter season. This is my third season and I still feel I am learning a great deal; this year especially after my time of learning in the Millbrook Community garden I think my garden is a little better prepared for winter and I’ll have less clean up to do next spring.
This year I turned over all the soil in my beds (when I created my garden I double-dug all my raised beds, there are 9 beds in all) to get rid of any weeds by the roots. All plants get pulled up and if they are healthy (non-diseased) can be put in the compost. I had a problem with mildew on my squash this year so I disposed of these plants separately; you can also burn diseased plants.
I just read in the old Farmers’ Almanac that you can leave your root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, beets, rutabagas, turnips, leeks, parsnips) in the soil and harvest into early winter. Just make sure you mark where they are so you can find them.
After all this is done, I put peat moss on my beds and gently till into the soil. If you have compost you can till this in as well. Lime can be put on your garden at this time or an over-wintering crop like winter rye; both are used to improve the soil and reduce weeds (if needed). After the soil has been cleaned up and gently worked I cover my garden with about six inches of leaves (I noticed at the community garden they used straw) to help reduce weed growth in the spring…
