If you live in the areas of the United States blessed with four seasons, by now you are thinking about the end of the gardening season.There are several things you can do to take advantage of the late season.
● Take in one last harvest. Those green tomatoes will ripen quite nicely on a windowsill.
● They will ripen even more quickly in a paper bag.
● Be certain to sort out any blemished fruit.
● Collect and store your tomato cages and stakes.
● Decide where to grow next year’s garlic, work some compost in and plant away, each clove 3-4 inches deep. Stick to seed either from your garden or locally grown.
● If you use a roto tiller, run it dry or drip a couple drops of Stabl in the tank.
● Hose off your tools, maybe even use a file or benchgrinder to put a new edge on your favorite shovel. Take care of your tools and they will take care of you. For that matter, you get what you pay for.
If you live somewhere with deciduous trees, don’t take the gold to the road. You have a few choices:
Compost leaves on your property – creating “Brown Gold” is a topic for another day, but layer leaves, grass clippings and other organic matter in a compost pile is a great way to begin letting nature rot your way to prosperity.
Build a “lasagna garden”. The idea is to make layers over your soil - newspaper followed by leave followed by clippings followed by leaves followed by paper. You may even find the newspaper in your town sells roll ends for $1. You can roll back and forth, ending up six layers thick.
Take a trip to the Town Compost pile: Work in one more load before the winter.
Begin to think about next year’s garden. If you are planning to add some space, it is a good time to pull up sod and begin breaking in soil.
About the Author
Joe Genco is a contributing writer for Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC the exclusive home for the Seeds of the Month Club.
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