Putting Your Garden to Bed
A fall view of our vacant lot garden.
I’ve been seeing this phrase all over social media, and hearing it among my own gardener friends. I’ve never really thought of the onset of frost as putting my garden to bed, but I know a lot of gardeners look forward to having a break from the constant weeding, watering, fertilizing and harvesting of summer. I look forward to the slowness that winter brings, too, so today I wanted to talk about some things to consider as you put your garden to bed this week.
Take Pictures
Take it from me, you’ll be so glad you did. Take your phone or your good camera if you have one and spend time in the garden this week just snapping pictures of what you’ve been working with. I love to look at pictures from each season to see what changed and what did well where, especially when I start planning for spring. I forget to take pictures when I’m in the middle of a harvest day or planting, so it’s an always welcome reminder to stop and make a record.
These four zinnia plants are the first I grew from seed. They’re a constant source of joy for me, and make me so excited for more seed success.
Write it down
Speaking of a record, get out that notebook you might have started when you began planting for spring. I know I have one with exactly one page of notes. Once the season takes off, I forget all about it, but as things so down, I encourage you to take as many notes as possible. Write down what grew well where, what didn’t, what seemed to make a big difference in production (pruning, fertilizing) and what took off when the weather cooled. This practice isn’t just good for record keeping, it’s good for your gardening mind to think about all that you’ve accomplished, how much you’ve grown as a gardener this year. Thank your garden and thank yourself for putting in the time you did, it’s such an accomplishment.
Mind your Soil for Spring
After you’ve removed all your tender annual plants (yes, even the tomatoes that still have fruit on them), gleaning all the fruit you can from them, snipping them at the soil level and tossing the greenery into your compost bin, you’re going to want to prep that soil for spring. For those of you gardening in raised beds, I highly recommend the Soil Building Conditioner sold at North End Organic Nursery. Made by G&B Organics, this stuff feels silky as you apply it and it makes your soil immediately ready for planting in the spring. Our fall and winter precipitation helps break down its ingredients, and the drainage it provides has proven itself to me over and over again. I highly recommend it as a topdressing for your raised garden beds.
I plant in ground as well as in raised beds. For my in-ground garden, I’m planting NEON’s Idaho Soil Builder cover crop. The seeds in this mix are excellent for fixing all the elemental nutrients in the soil and will provide an awesome green manure come springtime. I’m sowing this seed this week and topping it with a layer of mulch so the birds don’t steal it all. That’s it, no watering or weeding. Just mow it down with a weed whacker 2-3 weeks before planting in spring. This is also an excellent way to keep weeds at bay. The more you disturb the soil, the more weed seeds can find new places to take root, whereas cover crops crowd it out and just keep doing great things for your soil.
Plant Some More
If you haven’t tried planting in the winter in Boise, I highly recommend sectioning off a small part of your garden for a simple row cover and planting some winter hardy greens (kale), herbs (rosemary) and root veggies (carrots, radishes). I’d love to help you with a fall and winter garden plan if you want to give it a try.
I planted this bed full of cabbages and kale for winter greens. I’ll be adding some hoops this week - follow along on social @goldfeathergardens
We’re going to get a freeze this Wednesday in Boise, so if you’ve been putting these things off, it’s time to get to work. I’d love to help out. Book a coaching session, maintenance consult or send me an email.