Did your garden last longer than you had ever imagined? Ours did as we had an extended summer here in the Willamette Valley. I am not complaining! We were able to extend the grow life for many of our edible and medicinal plants. To us, the extended season meant more provisions for us and others. Can’t argue with that!
Now that we have harvested the final crops of tomatoes and peppers, it was time to prep their growing areas so the ecosystems created underground could remain active throughout the fall and winter months. Keeping these systems active will only enhance the growing and fruiting capabilities of the new seeds or plants in the spring and summer. So how do Mike and I do that and, on a deeper level, why?
I try always to find out when the first frost will come and try to get our winter crops in the ground so the roots can be established before winter hits. We have Italian Garlic and Elephant Garlic in two troughs this year. We added a trough knowing that we can grow many other crops in the same ground once the garlic is ready and harvested. To prepare the garlic troughs, we did nothing but stick the garlic in the ground. We will put a layer of compost on top before the first frost. We do not fertilize with anything but our chicken’s waste which is mixed into the compost.
Yesterday was a huge garden day. We decided that it was time to get all the tomatoes, red or green, off the vines as we are expecting a lot of rain in the next few days plus cooler temps. Neither one of these are bad for the tomatoes but we wanted to get as much prep work done in the garden as possible. Since tomatoes don’t have a problem ripening on their own, we harvested them all. 42 pounds worth! Such a great haul to add to the 58 pounds we already have in the freezer. On a side note: Sometimes you have to add a green banana to the tomato boxes to encourage the green tomatoes to turn red.
How did we do this? Very methodically is my answer and why my arms ache today. I started by finding the tomatoes that were easy to see and pick on the outer vines of the plants. Easy peasy, no trimming necessary. Could easily do this without Mike’s pair of hands. Moving inside each plant was a little more complicated as the branches and vines were all intertwined and tightly snug like a bunch of tangled ribbons. Because the vines were so entangled and because said vines were thick, Mike was there to help spot tomatoes I was missing and I gingerly snipped the vines back and pulled them toward me. We clipped the tomatoes from the vines and Mike placed them in our containers, take the full containers to the house and eventually weighing them all.
We repeated this process for every tomato plant in our six foot trough and our four foot trough. The six trough was done first as the vine growth was less complicated that the four foot trough in between the white trellis. Still crazy tight, I clipped the plants down to where they were still two inches above dirt level. Once we got all the tomatoes out of the tree at the four foot trough, we cut the plants to the same height. Why?
We leave the plants from our old garden in the ground to help feed the microbes which in the long term, create fertile soil. It also preps that ground to receive the new plants into it’s already knowledgeable soil. It knows how to grow the same plant next season! It creates its own ecosystem for not only soil, but bugs and worms and even birds or animals. Good soil, good eats for everyone! Not only do we leave the plants in to decompose, all the clippings go on top of the now shortened plants to help protect overwintering beneficial insects.
So leave plants in the ground, stalks a couple inches above said ground so they can feed the microbes in the soil. Microbes live around the roots of the old plants, again keeping the ground fertile and those microbes help the future plants. Composting the exact material from the plants that grew in that spot, keeps the ground ready to accept the new (same) plants and get them started on their growing journey in the spring. Honestly I am no scientist, so technical terms are not my thing. Knowing what is right for our garden is and sometimes that means listening to the needs of the soil and plants.
We were taught to pull the old plants, till the garden soil and fertilize as a way of having a garden. We don’t do any of that like they used to do. We have chosen to grow most of our foods in containers of all sizes. Our grapes, cherries and apples are the only things in our ground, so the container soil needs a lot of love and care. Leaving the root of old plants in the ground helps tremendously. Side Note: Trees will love you if you sprinkle around their base with used coffee grounds. Don’t drink coffee? Ask coffee shops if you can have their spent grounds. Our trees love them!
We also harvested the last of our pepper garden and cut those plants down within a couple of inches above their soil leaving the roots in ground. The cutting s went directly on top of the old plants. It’s easy compost and makes for happy soil, insects and new plants of the same kind in the Spring.
Right now in ground growing are our garlic, carrots and lettuce, potatoes, celery, a few squash and several medicinal herbs that grow well all year long in any type of weather we’ve faced here in the Willamette Valley. Is that normal for everyone? I haven’t a clue. Most even made it through the ice storm we had a couple years ago. Not going to press my luck on the ice if we have any this year. I am going to process as much as I can prior to that!
However you choose to treat your garden, I hope it’s a choice where your plants flourish. It helps that we walk around all year long infusing our garden with love and encouragement as we are grateful that it feeds us, shades us and calms us everyday. We are getting closer and closer to being self sustaining which is a big goal for us. We are open to learning new things while keeping our garden chemical free by naturally organic means.
Well that’s our big secret to growing a thriving garden. Making our own soil, composting, leaving roots in the ground and covering the growing areas with the debris from it’s old plants. Those growing areas that don’t have debris because the whole plant is edible will get a layer of mulch over the newly planted seeds and bulbs for protection.
Robin’s Tip: We do not harvest all the carrots when they are ready. Nor do we pull up all the potatoes, onions, beets, turnips or celery. You can cover them with a good amount of straw and dig them up as needed until the ground freezes. I have actually dug them up after the ground freezes and used them. It was no problem but recommend you follow the rule “until the ground freezes” to be safe.
**The pictures below are of the tomato trough and the pepper troughs. The tomato picture is the last harvest. The pepper picture is the second to last harvest we picked a few days prior. We only picked 22 more bell peppers and a hand full of Sriracha, jalapeños and Jimmy Nardellos.
As Always, happy gardening with Love, Light and Peace!
