Getting Ready for Bed

Getting Ready for Bed

As this years less than perfect garden starts to wither and even the weeds are going to seed and dying, next years perfect garden is coming to life in my mind. The plans are not on paper yet, only some rough ideas. I know next years garden will be perfect though. I can see it. One of the most important steps in next years perfect garden will take place over the next week or two. The parts of the garden that won’t be used for winter crops need to be put to bed.

The earthworms have had a stressful summer with heat and tillers and drought and heavy rains. Now is their turn to rest. One more time they have to dodge the tiller as everything gets turned under. That will give them their winter food. Then the rows will be laid out and the soil will be tested for ph. This is necessary to plan the locations for the things that will grow next year. I prefer to alter the ph as little as possible by planting the crops where the soil ph is closest to what they like. More about ph in another blog.

Once the new rows are laid out they will be covered with leaves to a depth of about 4 to 6 inches. This will keep all but maybe the top inch of soil from freezing in our climate. The earthworms will have warm soft soil with lots of organic matter to munch on. They will aerate the soil and leave their castings to make that perfect rich bed for next years perfect garden.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.