As winter approaches, it's tempting just to sit back and put your feet up and
not have to think about the garden until springtime. However, just a bit of extra
work at this time of the year can save you a whole lot of hassle come planting time.
Garden clean-up, the last big chore for gardeners, is often overlooked,
especially if it's been a strenuous gardening year. But by cleaning-up garden
debris, composting the healthy material and throwing away the rest, gardeners
will benefit in numerous ways:
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Removing garden debris will keep pests under control. Many insects, like the
asparagus beetle, will overwinter in debris and come out even earlier the
following year.
-
Slugs & snails love to hide under leaves and will often lay their eggs in these comfy
areas. Older cabbage leaves, for example, should be removed so that slugs don't have
easy access to the heart of the cabbage.
-
Diseased plant material laying around in the garden can be sources of infection
the following year. The Late Blight fungus that infects tomatoes and potatoes
has been shown to infect gardens especially where volunteer plants sprout early
in the spring.
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Your compost pile will benefit from the healthy material you add into it. If
much of the garden material is still green, make sure to mix-in some "brown"
material such as tree leaves (which are plentiful right now), dried grass,
straw, or shredded newspaper.
WELCOME THE WINTER FROSTS
While frosts usually signal the end of tender plant growth, for over wintering
plants like kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, parsnips and radicchio, a good frost
actually sweetens the taste!
How does this occur? These overwintering plants actually use sugar as an
antifreeze! By pumping more sugar into their cells, and reducing the water
content, the plants are able to withstand colder temperatures.
For home gardeners, this mechanism is an added bonus. Not only do they survive
for longer periods, the taste of these vegetables improves after a good frost.
So, when the garden shows signs of that silvery hue, rejoice!
Arzeena Hamir is an agronomist and garden writer based in Vancouver, BC. She has a Master's Degree in
Agriculture and specializes in organic vegetable gardening. She frequently writes articles for websites: Suite101,
GardenGuides and ICanGarden. When not tending her own veggie
patch, she runs Terra Viva Organics.
go to Terra Viva Organics now !
