Get Your Raised Organic Garden Beds Ready For Winter
If you are not overwintering or growing a cool season crop, then it’s time to get your raised organic garden beds ready for winter.
The most important thing is to leave no section of your garden beds or walkways uncovered. The cold winter winds will erode your soil and the sun will bake it dry. Covering it all with mulch will protect the soil from freezing and thawing, and against compaction.
With your hoe, till the soil in your raised beds, work lots of compost into it and leave it loose (no raking). Just till it about 6-8 inches, not as deep as you will in spring. Then cover it with mulch (straw, pine bark, etc). The compost won’t break down much over the winter, but when those warm days come in early spring, it will go to work. You might also consider planting a cover crop.
Clean up any diseased vegetables or plants and toss them in the garbage – don’t compost them.
Also, don’t forget to mulch the roots of newly planted or sensitive trees – mulching will help them retain moisture during the winter and will protect sensitive feeder roots from freezing and thawing.
And lastly, save the leaves that fall from your trees in a separate compost pile – work them into the soil in the spring and they’ll provide a host of micronutrients your plants will love!
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