putting the garden to bed for the winter
It’s the end of garden season here in Michigan so that means it’s time to put it all to to bed for the year. After my last harvest before the frost hit, I made a few changes and then conditioned the beds for spring.
After carful consideration and rearranging I decided to uproot all my beautiful Peony beds and gift several plants to family and friends. I then relocate what was left in other places on our property. My goal was to add more food growing space in the garden. The flowers are beautiful but you can’t eat them.
I also added 7 more raised beds to my garden plot, you can tell which ones are new because the lumber is still yellow and clean looking. I added these at the end of the season so next year will be the first time they’ll be put to use.
I also added a 20’ cattle panel to trellis the tomatoes on, and changed the cucumber trellises to arched cattle panels. Many of the choices I made will give me a larger growing area by just making a few changes with the cattle panel locations.
I love growing annual flowers amongst the veggies to bring in those pollinators but I hate to take up entire beds with them so I will have to come up with a new plan for those next year. I may end up planting my firelight cosmos and zinnias in pots that I can scatter around the garden area. I did move two of my whiskey barrels into the garden after I snapped these pictures and those would make great annual planters. My mind is already coming up with new ideas.
I also went back to making my own herbal remedies this year and spent the summer harvesting them from the wild when I could find them, so I had hubby add an additional raised bed near the chicken coop for herb growing next year. I already have seed to start my own indoors and hopefully they do well and I can transplant them come spring. Live plants are so expensive so I’ll give the seeds a go first. I did take cuttings from some in the wild and have rerooted those with success, that will give me a head start with my herbs.
Here is what I do at the end of the season to put those beds to rest. First off I let the chickens into the garden to clean up anything left, they also will give the dirt a good churning up as they scratch for bugs. Cheap labor right there, lol. Once they’ve finished I pull anything remaining and toss it into the compost bin, give the soil a top dressing of alfalfa pellets (you can find these at a grain mill or feed store) and add a good layer of straw to the top. The alfalfa pellets will expand and melt into the beds as it rains or snows and they’ll be ready for planting come spring.
The hardest part is keeping all the chickens and turkeys from scratching all the straw from the beds. As you can see they’ve done a good job of undoing what I’ve done. I’ll just continue to add the coop clean out to the top of the beds as winter progresses. It’s pretty simple and enjoyable, rewarding work to me. Nature is my sedative. It helps calm my anxiety and as long as my hands are busy my mind is relaxed.
I’ve been mulling over purchasing a greenhouse. I don’t need anything big or expensive but it does need to stand up to our weather here in Michigan. The only element that I’m worried about is the wind. The cabin seems to be in just the right spot where we have strong winds all the time. It’s lovely in the summer I hardly ever turn on our air conditioning because of the breeze and we never have mosquitoes either. I don’t think they can fly in all that wind. So my concern is the green house holding up under all the wind pressure. I guess I wont know unless I try, right?
I’ve been looking around our yard to see where would be the best placement for a greenhouse that is somewhat protected from the wind, is close to a water supply, and won’t be in an odd spot that just doesn’t make sense when it comes to aesthetics. So I’m still playing this over in my head. The best spot for one has was planted into a new fruit orchard this year.
Did you notice a couple of the photos have turkeys in them? The large turkey is Houdini, and I will be back to tell you all about her soon as well as the 4 other smaller turkeys. Let’s just say Houdini will no longer be Thanksgiving dinner.
Nice! I still haven’t moved some of my plants around. Now maybe I’ll get motivated. In New York there should be a little more time. I love your tree, it’s beautiful. I’ll be waiting to hear the story of Houdini- she’s beautiful.
Julie,
I think today was the last nice day of the season here. I pulled the last of the annual flowers that the frost got and cut the sunflowers down. I’m now ready for winter to come, even though I’m not looking forward to it yet. Houdini’s a hoot, I’ll post about here over the weekend, so stop back by.
Hi Dawn, I’m not looking forward to Winter either! I can’t wait to read about Houdini, I’ll definitely stop back by this weekend! Thank you for the reply! Julie
I’m so envious of your garden space! I live in the city and have a tiny, tiny back yard. I usually manage to have 2 or 3 tomato plants, a couple of squash plants, a cucumber plant and some scallions. I also plant herbs in a deck planter. I would love to have room for green beans and some other things. Oh well, at least we have a great farmers’ market close by. Can’t wait to hear about Houdini. I’m guessing she’s a great escape artist!
Diane, You are correct about Houdini, LOL. Wow for living in the city you sure manage to grow quite a lot in my opinion. It is quite amazing how much can be done in pots and planters. I think theres many seeds now that are meant for smaller space gardening for reasons like yours. I’m pulling the last of my onions tonight and then I can put that last bed to rest for the winter.
I live in Northern Kentucky and invested in a Palram greenhouse just this year. It is 6 x 8 I ordered it from tractor supply and it is perfect. My husband bolted it down to a wood base that is buried into the ground we have a lot of strong winds and it has never even budged. I’m happy to send you photos and information if you are interested in my set up. Margy in Ky
Margaret,
I went to the site and looked up the greenhouses. I love it! That would work perfect for my needs. I was looking at the one from Harbor Freight. I’d love to see yours. I’d also need to put one on a base to keep it in place. I think wood would be best that way if I ever needed to move it, it could be done. Concrete would make it permanent. I’m still trying to find a good spot on our property to place one.
The colors on your tree are beautiful! Our Michigan colors are just beautiful right now. Love your garden ideas. I am thinking you have changed your mind about moving as you had mentioned it last year! Can’t wait to hear about Houdini the turkey!
Jeanie,
I think the colors are so vibrant this year, they sure weren’t this beautiful last year. It’s funny how the temperatures determine how pretty our Michigan colors are. I’m so glad we had a warm fall. I sure enjoyed all the color. With all the wind lately that pretty tree is now bare. Yes we are still thinking of moving. We have bought another house and another business, we can sell them both if we find the spot we want to move to. We couldn’t pass up the deal we got so we’ll rent the house out we purchased and keep the business as our storage for our equipment and materials.
Hi Dawn, can you tell me more about the alfalfa pellets. I’ve never heard of them. Do the enrich the soil or what? Headed to the Soo this weekend, hoping there is still color! So happy you are back to blogging!
Linda,
I purchase the alfalfa at the feed mill. The ingredients are the same as the organic fertilizer you can buy in a small bag at the garden center. I broadcast them on my beds in the fall, and once again early spring before planting. It’s way cheaper than buying the stuff that’s intended for gardens. It adds nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and calcium to the garden. The only spot I dont use it is for veggies that grow under the soil like carrots, onions, and potatoes. You can also add it to your compost bin to heat it up and get it breaking down.
Hmmm. Don’t know why I’ve never heard of it, but will check it out! Always learning new things! Thanks, Dawn.
Whatever kind of greenhouse you decide to get, especially if it is one of the small ones that come as a kit, make sure that you have it well screwed/tethered into the ground. I have known a lot of people, myself included, who have had their greenhouse blow away.
Tanja,
Thanks for the tip. I figured with our wind I’d have to secure it to a base and reinforce the panels from blowing out. I sure want one, just don’t know if it will happen this year before snow flies. I’ll have to see how hubby feels about it. Im not sure our work schedule will allow time for it this year.
I’m still going to plant marigolds in the garden next year, but I’ve decided that my flower pots are going to be filled with the runners from my strawberries instead of geraniums. I tried one pot this year and not only did they have pretty foliage and flowers, but also yielded some nice berries this fall ( they’re an everbearing variety).