Garden Plans, fall 2014

Here is my plan for the rest of the year for my garden:

1.) I am ditching the basics of the Back to Eden gardening method.  While I loved the idea in theory, in practice it didn't work for me.  I had a very hard time finding compost and mulch at acceptable times in the quantities I needed.  My soil never drained under the areas that were heavily mulched from last year (they were still sopping wet after a month of no rain)...and when I pulled up the plants last fall, none of them had deep roots.  I want my plants to grow roots as deeply as possible to get to the minerals deeper in the soil.  I want my soil to dry so my seedlings don't drown, either.  Heavy mulching is not my friend.

To add to my problems, my lack of compost has upset the nitrogen-carbon balance in my garden.  It's going to take me some time and effort to repair that.

As a side note, the mulch method didn't even eliminate weeds.  The mulch I laid down last year did much, much better at preventing weeds than the mulch I laid down this year, despite being the same layers of cardboard and straw.  The morning-glory like weed that has taken over my gardens this year (including my flowerbeds), did not penetrate last year's mulch.  Those areas are still bare.

2.)  As soon as it frosts, I am pulling out all of the tomatoes in my garden, removing all of the hard-scaping (pea fence, tomato stakes, etc), and tilling the whole mess under.  Then I'm going to add all of the leaves I can lay my hands on, a bunch of grass clippings from my yard, and hopefully some horse manure and tilling it in again.  Maybe a few times.  If I can find it and plant it in time, I might sow some rye or winter wheat as a green compost to be tilled in before planting in the spring.  I have six to twelve inches of straw to offset with nitrogen.

3.)  Over the course of winter, I will add the contents of my ash bucket for calcium and potash.  I don't add much, but I do try to spread a thin layer over the garden every winter.  If I had another way to safely store my ashes until spring, I would...

4.)  Invest in a few good quality tarps to lay over the surface of the garden.  The horse manure will produce heat as it decomposes, allowing the garden to "work" at composting into the depth of winter.  Covering with a tarp will help trap the heat produced by the manure and the winter sun, while at the same time prevent the topsoil from being carried away by wind or water, or destroyed by UV.

5.)  Fencing.  I need some.  I learned this year I have a chipmunk infestation, and several times caught deer grazing just a few feet away from my garden.  What kind of fence keeps out both chipmunks and deer?  I need to research this, clearly.  As much as I love the company of my two barn cats, they need to be kept from the garden as well.  They like to use it as a litterbox, and I'm pretty sure they are the source of the invasive weed taking over everything.

6.)  Planning and Research.  I want to keep better records of everything.  Weather conditions, precipitation, costs and harvests, etc.  I have a lot of books on companion gardening, permaculture, and organic gardening methods on my waiting list to read this winter. I have recently discovered www.smartgardener.com, which I like much better than growveg.com.  It helps me make the best use of my space, succession planting, and tells me which seeds will or will not grow in my climate's growing season.

I already have conquered the biggest obstacle for next year's garden...money.  This year things were tight enough I had to choose between buying seeds or the soil to start them in.  Next year I won't have that limitation; I have already set aside money to make a large seed order the first week of January 2015.  Now I just have to finalize my garden plans so I know what to order!

Having a plan for 2015 has taken some of the sting out of this year's failures and given me hope for next year.   How has your garden grown?