I love when I get to spend the whole weekend outdoors, kids running around the yard and my husband beside me on one of my crazy projects.
Last weekend, we cleaned out our summer chicken coop (the little one that the young ones live in only for the summer months), put up the snow fence on the west and northwest sides of our yard, insulated the wellhouse with straw bales, covered the septic with sewer blankets, and got the garden all tucked in for the winter. The weeds were not quite as big this year, so I didn’t have to mow them down before my husband could till, but we did pull out as many plants as we could.
As we pulled plants from the garden, I was careful to collect any seed that might be useful for planting next year. I was completely overrun with green beans and after freezing as much as I could and eating it fresh for many meals, I just let it go, leaving me with overgrown, dry pods now this fall. If I can save some money on seeds next year (and learn how to successfully collect and store seeds), I can have an heirloom garden, reseeding itself yearly.
After tilling up the garden, I again picked the corner of the garden I will dedicate to garlic for the winter and the first – of the growing season next year. Last year I planted 30 cloves in the ground and came out with 30 heads of garlic to use for pickles and salsa and cooking (which I can already tell you will not last me long). This year, I purchased garlic from a new farm to try and received one pound, or about 50 cloves, which I plan to plant this weekend and cover with straw. Then they’ll all be tucked in for the winter and ready to wait it out underground until spring.
My strawberry patch is still a struggle, with the back garden being totally overrun by clover and plantain, so I’m back to the drawing board with my strawberry patch dreams. Perhaps a raised bed would be best for us next year, with all new plants and soil. But my raspberry patch has almost doubled since I planted donor baby plants last spring. I feel like there is more to do to prep the fruit patches for winter, but they tend to do better with less fuss in my experience.
It’s sad to put my gardening hobby away for the winter, but I also know what I can grow and produce in the wintertime too. I’m always experimenting with something, so I’m hoping to try growing ginger in a pot over the winter, as well as start sweet potato slips very early next spring again.
Putting my garden to bed in the fall is like saying goodbye to a friend – it’s only for a while, and then you will see them again. After all, “to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
Andrea Borsvold is a busy homesteading mama of three who loves God, coffee, sewing and the beauty of nature living in northwestern Minnesota. She writes regular columns for the Grand Forks Herald.
Andrea Borsvold is a busy homesteading mama of three who loves God, coffee, sewing and the beauty of nature living in northwestern Minnesota. She writes regular columns for the Grand Forks Herald.
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