The Deep Mulch Midwinter Garden

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

[2] Prepare raised beds. A winter garden must be well drained, since any water in the soil could freeze and damage delicate roots. The best way we know to insure good drainage is to plant winter crops in raised beds. Our regular garden consists of 16 elevated plots, each of which measures 3' X 24'. We normally use only three or four of these beds for cold-weather vegetables.

To prepare a deep bed, we first dig down a foot or more and fill the cavity with a mixture of leaves, grass, old hay, kitchen garbage, and pony or chicken manure. Once we've produced a compost pile that rounds up about two feet above the surrounding surface, we cover the mound with a thin layer of topsoil and plant our seeds without waiting for the decomposing material to "cook down". When a good amount of organic matter is used, the soil will hold enough moisture for the plants . . . and any excess water will drain off.

Every year thereafter we turn more organic matter into the beds and add compost from our main pile. This soil preparation is—we think—best done by hand: We first dig a three-foot trench across each bed .. . then fill the space with compost and organic matter ... and dig another trough right next to it. The topsoil that's removed from the second furrow is piled on top of the compost in the previous trench. After two years of such treatment, the beds become light and spongy and are loaded with nutrients and earthworms. To finish the preparation of our garden plots, we outline each mound with recycled railroad ties.

[3] Pay attention to the average first frost (AFF) date for your climate. We set the sowing times of our winter crops so that they'll be two-thirds to three-quarters mature by the first frost. Doing so requires careful calculation, because the plants will face a growing season of gradually shortening—rather than lengthening—days. For that reason, we always al low winter plants a little longer than normal to mature (the harvest should begin about one month after the AFF date).

It also helps to interplant winter vegetables with quick-to-mature early crops. That way, the young seedlings receive some shade from the late summer sun... and then, just when they grow big enough to demand more space, the protecting warm-weather plants will be harvested.

[4] Use mulch to provide insulation against cold. As plants grow closer to maturity—and as the AFF date nears—we cover the beds with dry hay and/or leaves. (We obtain our hay from neighboring farmers who need to make room in their barns for new bales . . . and we can usually pick up free bags of leaves from lawn-raking suburbanites.)

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print