Fix Issues For Next Years Garden, Before You Close Your Garden This Season.
If you live in a place that has 300 growing days a year, you aren’t closing your garden for a long period of time. If you live in an area like we do, we close all growing areas without hoops by the end of October. Hooped areas can grow longer depending on what we are growing, but most of the garden gets a rest or cover crop.
Either way, doing the following hack will make the next time you grow easier.
Correct Design Or Growing Space Issues
Evaluate where you were growing plants in your garden. Are there areas that didn’t work, because of infrastructure? What areas of the garden would perform better if they were a different type of growing space? Are there permanent or temporary structures you’d like to move around? If you’re moving perennials around or adding some, do you have enough time for them to establish before a freeze or it’s too hot?
We can generally move or plant perennials through the middle of November, depending on the type of perennial.
Each year I am looking for ways to make gardening easier, less time consuming, while creating more food for the family.
Major changes we made this year.
As we decide what we wanted to move, we also opened up spaces for more raised beds. This year we wanted the blueberries and strawberries moved to Hugels. We are moving most of our growing areas into raised beds without sides, built around Hugelkulture design and philosophy.
The new design will make it easier on our bodies, easier for watering, and much more organized to boot. Organization in the garden hasn’t been my first priority, but as we grow more, it only makes sense. Plus, as we moved the strawberries and blueberries, other opportunities opened up for more growing space.
How we made our garden changes.
The first thing we did was build mid size Hugel raised beds for the blueberries in two sections. Once most of the blueberries were consolidated into these two areas, we realized the sides of the Hugels were the perfect spot to plant garlic and herbs. We will plant the herbs in the Spring, while we planted the garlic bulbs this fall.
By moving the garlic and blueberries, we had two empty beds that once grew garlic and an area to create three Hugels for strawberries. We chose to only move everbearing or day-neutral strawberries and their runners into the new beds. We planted the strawberries on the top and sides of the Hugel, giving us more growing space in a smaller area of the garden.
The flat growing area that was once a strawberry bed, we created two large Hugel raised beds. This is now a perfect area for planting vine like tomatoes, cucumbers, or beans in the spring.
By making changes now, it makes the next planting season less chaotic. Soil in new beds has time to settle before the new year. Plus, it gives you a jump on new or moved perennials. If your perennials need some extra coverage, cover them with a sheet or garden covering.
You’ll be amazed how spending a little extra time in the garden now will save you time and headaches next spring.