October 21, 2024

Putting the Vegetable Garden to Bed

How to close up the garden in the fall

At some point every October, it’s time to put the garden to bed. At this time, it’s always a good idea to do a good job of cleaning up the vegetable garden in the fall. Why? Because taking certain steps now will go a long way toward reducing your workload in the spring. And, it will help to prevent pests, disease, and weeds while replenishing nutrients. If you’re looking to plant your best-ever victory garden or vegetable garden next spring, work on soil health in the fall and follow these steps for putting the vegetable garden to bed.

harvest one last time

Harvest one more time by picking any remaining vegetables and cutting herbs. To hasten the ripening of green tomatoes, uproot or cut the tomato plant vines and hang upside-down in the garage, or pluck the fruit to store in the kitchen. At this point, temperatures of 55⁰ F or warmer is what they need to turn red, not sunlight.

Clear the bed

Clean up the garden by removing spent plants, eliminating existing weeds, and clearing general debris so pests won’t have a place to winter over and fungal disease won’t be encouraged to develop or persist. Pull weeds by hand or spray them with BurnOut®.

test the soil

Test the soil using a pH meter to determine the pH value. For vegetable gardens in Northeast Ohio, the goal is to have neutral soil, indicated by a pH value of 7, or even slightly acidic soil with a pH value of 6.5. If the soil number is 6 or lower, deemed acidic, add Garden Lime or Sweet Peet® now to help raise the pH and neutralize the soil by next spring. If the soil number is 7.5 or higher, deemed alkaline, add Soil Acidifier or Sphagnum Peat Moss now to bring the value down by next spring.

Replenish Nutrients

Vegetable plants take a lot of nutrients out of the soil, so it’s important to replenish nutrients at the end of the growing season. Adding nutrients back into the soil in the fall allows them to break down, blend together, and incorporate nicely by next spring, so they’re ready to support the root systems and needs of next year’s new plants. Good options include natural, organic matter like Sweet Peet®, Compost & Manure, and fresh, high-quality planting mix.

apply weed control

Sprinkle Preen® across the top of the soil. It’s a pre-emergent weed control that serves as a barrier, preventing any seeds from germinating, including cool-weather weed seeds present in the soil. Weeds will be far less likely to sprout and take hold during the late fall and early winter months, making less work in the garden next spring!

Sow Winter Wheat

As an alternative to Preen®, sow Winter Wheat seeds over top of the soil. It’s a cool-weather cover crop that germinates quickly to prevent and crowd out weeds while also adding nutrients back into to the soil and keeping soil loose for next spring, preventing compaction.

bringing it all together

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