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Fall Garden Tips and Care

Fall is here (for most of us) and it's time to pick those last peppers that are dangling from what's left of your plants. For some of us the trees are all turning and the hard frost is knocking at the door. Others have already had a frost that put an end to their season. Sure the gold and red foliar that shimmers in the sun is a beautiful time of year and a heartwarming sight to see. On the other hand, our gardens are the opposite, shriveled up leaves hanging from bare branches or maybe they are turning yellow from the bottom up and you know the end is near. Now sure you say the same thing is happening to the trees but the trees do not produce such beautiful fruit (the ones I'm talking about guys, don't get all technical about it and start talking about your apple, orange and pear trees lol, roll with it, I'm going for imagery here) the hot fire that spices up everything we eat....the music has stopped for which the Douglah danced.

Now to come to the point and topic at hand. There are ways to extend the life of your garden! I know a lot of people that started late, some their plants had issues and didn't set fruit in time and are left with plants filled with useless pods and others that are almost there, they can feel it but know the frost will be there tomorrow! This article is for you.

Another big portion of this post that I would like to fill, will be with information on how to protect your garden through the winter and other ways we can prepare it for next spring. Many people can benefit from this kind of information that didn't already know. This article is for you too.



What I would like to do is have everyone with any tips, tricks or knowledge to post what you know. Let all of us know how you extend the life of your garden and what you do once it is finally time to shut things down.

There are many things that you can do in the fall that will make your garden a rich environment for the next growing season that you can't do once it is already spring.

I'm going to start things off. Now I don't have much to add myself, I have been searching and found a few thoughts on the matter. (and yes people this article is as much for me as I intend it to be for you)

I ask all of the Master green thumbs to share the wealth of knowledge you have on these subjects and please be descriptive as to what you do and in what way it will help. (If you feel like going for the "extra credit" you can even go into detail as to why it will help.)




TIP#1

Don't bag up and throw out your leaves! (I know to a lot it's a no brainer) These leaves can be used in so many ways it's ridiculous. Here are a few of the ways.

Mulch- Once the leaves have fallen, you can go over them with your lawn mower. wet them down a little and then put them in a garbage bag. After a while it turns into leaf mold. This is great to use for mulch around your plants. Leaves are filled with micro nutrients and carbon and are a great source of organic material. Use them like you would any other mulch avoiding letting them contact the base of your plants. They also don't carry that fungi that hard wood mulches do. You know the black spots all over your siding that you can't wash all the way off. Those spores can be thrown as far as 30ft.

Compost- Once your garden is done for the year, you can cut all of those pepper plants down and throw them in your compost pile. Take the leaves that you've mowed over and cover those plants with a 2 to 3 inch layer, then water it down. You can go as far as to cover that with a thin layer of soil as well. Turn the pile when you remember, which allows oxygen in and helps break down the pile. Once spring has arrived you will have some compost ready to go. (green matter will not compost by itself)

Garden Cover- After you have cleared out the garden and added it to your pile. Take some of the leaves you chopped up with the lawnmower and blanket your garden with about a 2 to 3 in layer. This will protect your soil from frost heaving (frost heaving damages soil by compaction, breaking soil bonds, creating poor aeration and poor drainage) it will also promote worm activity, breaking down the mulched leaves into valuable nutrients for the following spring. Anything that does not get broken down will get tilled into the garden in early spring. (Tilling your garden in the fall is a good way to push weed seeds deep as to avoid them germinating in the spring)
as a side note to that, you can also plant a cover crop to provide protection and beneficial nutrients for the following year.

I also suggest getting your soil tested if you are having problems in your garden. If you have poor drainage, small harvests, stunted plants, etc. You can send a sample of your soil out and have them test it. It cost around 12-30 dollars depending on what you want them to test for. They can tell you the available NPK, micro nutrients and anything else you want to know about your soil. They can also tell you the total NPK etc. that is in your soil, yet to have been broken down. Soil PH and what percentage of sand, silt and clay make up your soil are also options. I'm sending mine away in a few weeks.

So this is what I have so far. If anyone sees any conflicts to what I've added or have more to add to it, please feel free. Otherwise add anything and everything that you do to extend your garden life and do to your soil in the fall to prepare it for the spring.

Thanks everyone, I know this will become a great thread to help people prepare their garden for next years pepper madness!
 
WOTDNR. But your just getting frost? All my plants been frost dead for 2 weeks now :(

WOTDNR?

We've had two or three nights dip to 32 or below but I covered my plants with tarps and they are still kickin'. Sorry yours didn't make it bro, that's the exact reason I started this thread.
 
Here's a tip. All you container gardeners out there can start dumping your soil back into the compost pile as well! Spent soil becomes live again after many months of composting. Honestly, most of the soils they are selling out there get better after you introduce them to the pile. Remember to turn in often and keep it steaming!
 
Still going strong here in East Tn but the cold is knocking hard. Good info up there. Leaf mold is also a great addition to container mixes if you have BIG containers. Roots can shoot through that stuff so fast their growth seems supernatural.
 
If, like here in Wisconsin, everything freezes, won't the compost pile just freeze solid and not break down? I grew in containers this year and have multiple pots that I would love to recycle.
 
If, like here in Wisconsin, everything freezes, won't the compost pile just freeze solid and not break down? I grew in containers this year and have multiple pots that I would love to recycle.

If you have a good mixture of the right materials, your compost heap will heat up and most likely melt off any snow that falls on it. I put mine right at the edge of the backwoods of my buddy's property. This helps shield it from the snow.

Here is a great site that explains what you can/should use and how to care for the pile. It should help you out. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/compost_pf.php

Here's a tip. All you container gardeners out there can start dumping your soil back into the compost pile as well! Spent soil becomes live again after many months of composting. Honestly, most of the soils they are selling out there get better after you introduce them to the pile. Remember to turn in often and keep it steaming!

Thanks for the addition PG!

Still going strong here in East Tn but the cold is knocking hard. Good info up there. Leaf mold is also a great addition to container mixes if you have BIG containers. Roots can shoot through that stuff so fast their growth seems supernatural.

I'm going to remember that for next years potted plants. I'm also going to give mesh pots as well. Should be a good year. Hope the frost holds off long enough for you to pick the last of all your pods!

I'm going to post this site again out on it's own so everyone sees it. It is a great site and has so much good information.




http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/compost_pf.php
 
Sorry it took me so long to post. My first disclaimer is that I am by no means a master gardener. The last couple of years, I have been putting up temporary hoophouse frames over my raised beds just to extend my season a bit longer. Here it is nearly Novemeber and I have a pile of pods to harvest.

I will have to agree with the leaves and compost idea. It is always good practice to add organic material to your soil especially in preparation for the upcoming season. About the only thing I do in addition to this is putting all the ash from my woodstove into the beds. I also burn up the plants once I've pulled them and till in the ashes in Spring.
 
I also place several inches of leaves over my garden. But I usually also bury rabbit manure and a good pound or two of worms under the leaves. By the time spring comes around there's a thin layer of leaf mold covering some awesome worm castings.
 
Thanks for posting RTF and HF. I also add the ash from the fire pit to the compost pile. This year I am also taking everyone's pumpkins, chopping them up and throwing them in the compost. Everyone throws their kins' away...such a waste! They are so big and everyone's got them, they add up to a lot of compost quick!

My plan is to get as many leaves and pumpkins as I can, mulch them all up, compost it all (along with other compost material) and add it to the garden in the spring.

There's also a lot of talk about planting a cover crop to protect the garden and add nutrients for the spring but I still have to do some more research before I can add anything about it to this thread.

C'mon people! The thread "How MUST you have your water" has 4 pages lol. Let's band together and pack a lot of great ideas/stories in here!
 
just last week i pulled all my inground plants and covered my 20x50 garden with 8" of mushroom compost, will be piling a couple inches of leaves also for more carbon. a few of my pots have been pruned back for overwintering and the rest of the pots will be toughing it as long as they can.

i like the punkin compost idea, almost better than smashing them. wait...........we could do both!!!!
 
A month ago I started workin on one of next years bed pullin grass out and lined the bottom with newspaper and then filled the bed with 10 bags of composted steer manure and 4 bags of compost... This past weekend I worked on another bed pullin out weeds and grass that grewout of hand... So far all of the weed pullin is done and ive only tossed in a dozen egg shells into the ground and covered em up... Still have to get more newspaper to lay down on the bed. If its works then this will be a yearly thing to add to the beds....
 
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