Getting the Garden Ready for Winter

First, clean up any spoiled vegetables/fruit that may be sitting on the top of the soil. This is especially true for Tomato’s since the rotting fruit may have been caused by a fungus that is now dormant and waiting for next year. If you put the Tomato’s and other fruit in a hot compost pile you are almost guaranteed to kill it. Also, make sure to note where you planted the Tomato’s that year, Tomato’s, Potato’s, Eggplants or Peppers need to be rotated each year because they are solanacae (Nightshades). This is because they are all susceptible to the same pests.

The following chart which we found on “Timber Press” dated July 2012, suggested the following:

Suggested three-year crop rotation:

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4
Group 1: Nightshades		tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant, tomatillo
Group 2: Cabbage Crops		broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale
Group 3: Onion Crops		garlic, leeks, onions, scallions, shallots

Bed A	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Repeat Year 1
Bed B	Group 3	Group 1	Group 2	Repeat Year 1
Bed C	Group 2	Group 3	Group 1	Repeat Year 1

Composting:

Take the remaining plant stalks, rotten fruit, and fallen leaves and collect them for a compost pile. Composting is a great way to get nutrient rich soil ready for future years for your garden. A cold composting pile can take anywhere from six months to two years to get compost that is ready for use. We personally use a windrow compost pile which is a pile along our property line that stretches about ten feet and is four feet tall. Every two weeks we rotate the pile moving the unfinished compost down and collecting any compost that is ready for the Garden. The next two weeks we rotate the pile back in the other direction. This helps the compost breathe and accelerates the process.

Things you can compost!

Compost piles can take the majority of household waste and recycle it into fertile compost. Items to consider include vegetable and fruit waste, paper clippings, grass clippings, fallen leaves, weeds, wood ashes, twigs and wood chips, pet and human hair, garden residue, and coffee grounds. Avoid animal wastes from Dog’s and Cat’s, yes they can be used but there are associated diseases (risks during pregnancy) and other complications from using those materials.

A great book to review that covers the various methods of composting and the different implementations is “The Rodale Book of Composting – Easy Methods For Every Gardener.” Martin, Deborah L. and Grace Gershuny, Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. 1992.

Don’t let all of those fall leaves go to waste! Be sure to compost them with your grass clippings and they will pay you back ten fold in the spring. If you are worried about the Wind carrying the leaves away from your pile, apply a few shovels of soil on top as well as water. This will weight down the compost pile and actually accelerate the process of decomposition.