Winterizing My (Vegetable) Garden

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I haven't posted for a while - we have been harvesting and canning like crazy people! This week is supposed to be another mild week and probably my last week in the garden. So I am getting everything ready to go to bed for the winter.

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My plans for the week which will make for a better garden next spring:

1 - I am cleaning out all our raised beds.

That means  pulling up all the old plants.  I am adding them to the compost boxes.  I am also adding a scoop of manure to each box to brew all winter.
2 - Gathering Seeds

I have all heirloom plants so there are still a few seeds that need to be gathered.  I put them all in large boxes to make sure they are dry. Then I bring them in one box at a time during a movie and extract all the seeds - store in marked containers and ready for next season planting.  Also some carrot  and beet plants covered with a bale of straw  for seeds next year (biennial seed throwers)
3 - Overwintering plants
I am planting pea seeds in one of my boxes....next spring when the snow melts there are little pea plants all over and we get a nice early harvest of veggies!  (I am in zone 4). I also leave the onions in the ground and by May they are 3 feet high!
4 -  Weeds
Getting rid of all the weed plants in the garden
5 -  Records
Making sure my gardening journal is up todate with what we planted - how much we harvested etc so I know better what we need next year.   I find if I do this in the fall - I have a much better record, rather than waiting till next spring to make sure it is up todate.
6 - Plowing
Half of our garden gets plowed and half is in boxes.  I will cut the corn stalks and that half will get plowed this week.
7 - Flower Beds
All of the flower beds are cut back - I need to put all the plants into the compost bins.
8 - Compost bins
When everything is added - I need to add some coffee grounds, some dirt and some water and they are ready for winter too.

A little sad that the season is ending outdoors.  I have loved this fall and being out everyday.  This year I have a greenhouse that will significantly add time to gardening for me and our family.  Next post will be about greenhouse progress.

Thanks for stopping by!