It is time to seriously begin preparing the soil in the veggie plots for next growing season. In this thread I will show how we work the ground and then cover it before the winter sets in. Why bother doing all this work? Well, you guys know that I am a big believer in soil conservation and improvement, so while I do not spend nearly so much time on the flower beds, the veggie plots require much more thought and work because these plant's demands are much greater. So much is taken out by the various crops and different crops have different needs and requirements. Rotating crops is only part of the custodial duties of an allotment gardener...he must also refresh and replenish the soil. So, my three veggie gardening R's are replenish, refresh and rotate. The fourth important "rule" is protection...it really doesn't fit into the row of R's, but it is none-the-less equally important. Right then, the first step is to remove the crop that has occupied the plot which you are going to work on. Today it was the plot where the beans grew. Potatos will come there next season. The bean roots I left in the soil ---Step 2 is to clean the surface of all weeds and then min-till the bed. ---Step3 Once the bed has been loosened with a border fork, it is ready for the first layer of manure. It was 2 year old horse manure. A simple layer is forked onto the bed and raked. ---Step 4 Then another, thinner layer of 2 year old cow manure was spread. ---Step 5 Next a layer of compost added to cover the manure completely. ---Step 6 The whole thing is then covered with green refuse. Here the tough and durable leaves of Crocosmia 'Lucifer' were used. ---Step 7 this is finally covered with the bean vines and held down with a plank until they have settled. This prevents the wind from blowing the leaves off the bed. That's it. The bed for next year is ready for an undisturbed hibernation until next spring. The adjacent bed was next in line for the same sort of bedecking. Other beds up front I had sown with borage and now the plants are ready to be pulled and then lain on their respective beds in a sort of "fish-scale" manner.The plants on the foreground are parsnips. The bed across from the one in the pic above also had borage sown on it and it too was lifted and arranged on the bed's surface. The strawberry plants are looking particularly good, I think. Back in august we cleaned the beds and clipped off all the older living and dead leaves except for 2-3 new ones, fed the plants and began a watering regimen. They look healthy and strong as they are ready to enter the winter. Beans will come in these plots next season. The leeks in the background we harvest from time to time, as we need them. The one small bed there with brown leaves on it will need some follow-up covering soon, as the courgette leaves have all but melted-away from the left side of the bed. Well, we will repeat this procedure bed-by-bed as the crops disappear and by the end of the year most if not all the beds will be nicely tucked-in for the winter.
It is so nice to have four seasons to plan your planting. If we were to do that here the whole plot will be taken over by weeds.
I watch you do this every year Sjoerd, and I have no doubts that it is good for the soil - especially since I see the wonderful veggies your garden produces.I have such battles with insects and mice etc in my gardens that I have learned to clean up everything and leave the soil bare for the season. All my healthy cut offs etc are composted and re-applied to the gardens in the already composted state. It is a lot more work, but nothing I hate worse than sharing my produce with bugs and mice etc later in the year! Do you have problems with pests over wintering under that foliage?
I know what you mean, KK--The only thing that I don't like about the tropics is that there is no four seasons. I missed that quite a lot when I was in your part of the world. NETTY--Most of the folks here do exactly as you do there. The only thing that I can say that I notice are slugs. They are pretty easy to see and pick-up when I rake back a bit of the mulch to plant a couple of rows in the spring. I am pretty fortunate that there are no army of rodents or pesky insects on my plot. It is good that you can get your old plant refuse back onto your plots in the spring. That is pretty important. Also I can imagine that it gives you quite a bit of satisfaction making and using your own compost. You know exactly what's in it.
@Sjoerd what if your squash plants have had squash catarpillars/beetles? Do you still put the pulled plants back on top of the soil as a covering layer?
Squash bugs are easy to control if you start spraying the stems and leaves early. I start when mine are are about 6 to 8 inches tall ! Squash bugs enter the plant through the stem close to the soil line and kill the root system by laying eggs there ! Remember the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" ! Same goes for potato bugs !
Cayuga--we don't have that type of beetles over here, thankfully. If we did, I do not know if I would use the plants in the mulch. Probably not, just for safety sake. Mart--Meid, you are too right about prevention. Good saying.
Thanks @Sjoerd. @mart, I must be using the wrong name for this bug. It eats the leaves, doesn't become a caterpillar that enters the stem. I have discovered that if I take duct tape to the rows of eggs on the underneath of the leaves, I can bag them ALL! Even the little hatchlings.
What a great solution, Cayu. I am going to try this if I see any egg deposits on my plants. Yeah...that's a good one.
@Sjoerd Yes, it has been very effective! The guy who has the plot next to mine in the community garden showed me that one. I think he was eager to have me join him in keeping the population down! He even tried to give me half his roll of duct tape!
Chortle....What a smooth talker that bloke was. It is a good idea though--as many folks as possible doing that will help decrease the pest population for the whole complex.
No,, Squash bugs do not eat the leaves ! Can you post a pic of your bug ? Is it a striped bug,, 1/4 to half inch long and hard shelled ?
