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Tips for a Successful Fall Garden

You have come to the right place if you are looking for tips for a successful fall garden. Every gardener wants their home garden to thrive in all seasons of the year.

A myth or concept prevails among many people that fall is the season when plants begin to wither. Many think that summer is the only time that vegetable gardening thrives. However, with mindful planning, your garden will look beautiful as ever. A fall garden can be just as fruitful (forgive the pun) as your summer garden.

This Autumn, plan for a bountiful garden, while also gearing up for essential prepping to rev up the spring season. It is a reasonable time to manage soils, clear planting beds, sow some bright winter annuals like honey suckles and pansies, and prepare turf for high-yielding and awesome-looking winter gardens.

Now is the time to start grooming your autumn garden to ensure exquisite and prolific fall gardens. This buys you more leisure time in spring to grow some spring annuals, colorful blossoms, and vegetables.

Implementing Tips for a Successful Fall Garden

Follow our gardening tips for this fall to enjoy hassle-free winters. So, let’s get the ball rolling! We’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you that we use and love the convenience of our natural cedar-raised garden beds by EarthEasy. They make access easier and are aesthetically pleasing.

Wayfair also has a compact alternative for gardening in small spaces.

Our peppers are the last summer veggie to hang on in our raised garden bed.

Groom your garden for winter

As the temperature drops off, your summer garden will start wilting – signals for fall maintenance and winter preparations. One needs to be proactive after witnessing these signals and make sure to carry out these steps timely.

Start by clearing up excessive fallen leaves, plant debris, and weeds. If you have sod grass and have fewer fallen leaves, you can skip raking and use a mower to chop them into small pieces. This method adds more nutrients to the soil. We mention using chopped leaves in our compost as well.

If you have a large land garden, plowing is the best option. The process improves soil health by making it aerated for new plantations. After tilling, wait 4-5 days before adding any compost or fertilizers, as it will allow complete decay of dead roots and weeds.

Do mulching after plowing because low temperatures support the growth of many weeds like clover, dandelions, and chickweed.

Enhance soil fertility by adding fertilizers or compost high in nitrogen and carbon. We, of course, heavily promote the use of your compost since this is a more sustainable process for your home garden and lifestyle.

Add a layer of soil to the garden surface to elevate the ground level. This tip will promote healthy root growth and helps the grass to survive the fall season.

Perennials are your fall friends

Perennials not only add beauty to the gardens but are real workhorses for the soil. If diseases/pests are not a concern, do not over-prune the perennials, as their fallen leaves will give your garden a layer of natural mulch and provide shelter and food for wildlife. Pro gardeners will tell you that using perennials and other flowers are some of the best tips for a successful fall garden. Plus, they are aesthetically pleasing!

Tips for a successful fall garden — Starting with a clean slate feels good at the beginning of a new season.

Lower temperatures are the most favorable for perennial plants like begonia, coneflower, coralbells, etc. Also, you can add some fall cover crops to gardens, such as red clover, winter rye, Austrian winter peas, and ryegrass. Don’t forget your gourds, pumpkins, and other winter squash.

Best tips to design a beautiful fall garden

-Use the raking tool to de-weed the soil.
-Add mulch to the open soil surfaces.
-After temperatures drop to freezing, add a 4-5 inch thick layer of bark mulch or bark over the crown of perennials.
-September and October is the perfect time to plant daffodils, tulips, or other spring blooming.
-Prune all the parts of diseased plants or remove plants with pests.
-Depending on the requirement of plants, restrict watering the damp soil to once a week only.
-Most perennials show dormancy during winters, but their roots are growing actively underground, so keep the soil moist and well-hydrated.

Managing your garden gear and tools

As the spring season ends, we often overlook prepping gardening tools and gear. These tools are your great gardening helpers, and it is essential to manage them in a respectful manner. These aren’t just tips for a successful fall garden, but gardening all year long depends on clean tools.

Before winter, take the following steps:
-Clean all hand tools and put them in a protective bag or drawer.
-Place metal edges of weeders, trowels, and other gear in a bucket with sand laced with oil to avoid corrosion. We don’t mean motor oil. You don’t want to transfer that to your garden.

Linseed oil is a great product to use. Linseed oil is, in fact, flax seed oil. It is non-toxic.

-Sharpen the blunt-edged tools like pruners, loopers, or mower blades. After sharpening, coat the edges with any lubricant to prevent them from rusting.
-Clear irrigation lines and hoses to avoid any blockage. Disconnect any hoses that may freeze, rupture, and cause damage to your home where they are connected.
-Clean sprays and empty them.
-Drain gas lines of weed whackers, mowers, and tillers. Also, change the oil of these gears before storing them in covered, dry spaces for winter.

Best tips for growing winter crops in your fall garden

An interesting fact is that the winter and fall seasons transform regular gardens into gigantic cold storage. A cool climate stops the withering of vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and kale for months after reaching maturity.

Quick ripening vegetables, such as cilantro, spinach, and lettuce, remain fresh for extended periods. Many think that as soon as the frost date has arrived, nothing will grow. On the contrary. Thoughtfully organized planning will allow you to reap through the garden during fall, winter, and into the early spring.

It is time to decide on fall garden crops you can consider the following to plant vegetables that grow in fall gardens.

Beets
In September, temperatures will start cooling off, it is the bright time for beets to germinate. Beets are root crops. They will start you off with some momentum for feeling great about your fall garden. Plant beet seeds 8-10 weeks prior to the first frost, and enjoy the crunchy, juicy harvest in the holidays. Fall reaping beets have darker skin colors than spring-planted ones. Keep an inch distance while sowing seeds, as beets do not like crowded spaces.

Carrots
You can sow 8-9 carrot seeds keeping a distance of an inch or two in a row. Carrot seeds are smaller, so for successful germination, sow more than eight seeds in one hole.

Onions
Depending upon the intensity of coldness, onions usually take two to four weeks to harvest. You can sow onion sets in a shallow trench 4-6 inches apart and coat them with enough soil leaving their pointed tips at the surface.

Salad Greens
Leafy greens for your salad love low temperatures and thrive in the cool season. Many greens require a reasonably short time to mature so that you can grow them from the beginning of August till the end of September. Suggestions to plant are arugula, swiss chard, cabbage, and mustard greens.

Other fall season crops that you may plant are varieties of asparagus, scallions, and garlic. If you are looking for a resource for seeds, there are several online routes, or you can check with your local farmers to see if they offer them.

Verishop offers several bundles of seeds,

Advantages of fall gardening

Often gardeners think fall gardening is a hassle, but it is also a growing season, just like spring and summer. Growing vegetables in the fall is an easy activity and brings more enlightening experiences to gardeners.

You will enjoy fewer bugs, longer harvesting crop time, cool weather, and colorful perennials. These colors provide aesthetically pleasing sights. The cherry on top? Less work!

Extended harvest time is beneficial as you might have more food in your garden to save money on your grocery budget. Winter gardening can be a great motivation for beginners to step into a pleasing planting hobby and surely a much-needed distraction from daily life chores for adept green thumbs.

Should I cover my garden to prevent frost damage?

If you are in an area where heavy frost is expected, you may use a row cover for your garden bed to protect the crops in the evening and morning.

What coverings can I use that will let the sunlight in?

Cold frames are also a great option. A cold frame is a transparent outdoor frame that protects plants from cold weather while still letting sunlight in. Wayfair carries a cold frame, and there are several versions available at Home Depot.

Should I bring in my houseplants, or cover them the same way I am covering my fall garden?

Bring your houseplants indoors. Be sure to keep them away from drafts and vents. Water sparingly because most houseplants do not actively grow in the winter.

In Gardening Minimalist Lifestyle ·

How to Use Compost in Your Vegetable Garden

Compost is like a superfood supplement for any soil; augment it with the required nutrients and yield healthy vegetables in your garden. Ready-to-use composts are available in markets, but you can make it at home too with peels, food waste, or leftovers. We have discussed before how much we love composting. We’ve even shown you how to compost. Homemade compost is chemical-free and organically boosts the harvest of landscapes and gardens. We are going to give you tips on how to use your compost in your vegetable garden.

Golden Composting Ratios

Golden composting ratios will enable gardeners to create a healthy pile of homemade compost. The essential components of composting are brown matter, green matter, and water. It is simple and easy.

Brown Matter: Any dead twigs, leaves, or rotten waste is brown matter.
Green Matter: Grass clippings and kitchen scraps are green matter.
Water: It is the most important part of composting.

Golden Ratio of Compost for Your Vegetable Garden

Layer brown and green matter in equal parts and add sufficient water to wet the layers. Layering will allow nitrogen and carbon to decompose the organic matter, and water will rev the process – making it nutrient-rich compost.

Pro-Tip

For moist climatic conditions, open piles get enough water from the air, rainwater, or snow, so there is no need to add extra water. However, if making compost in dry weather conditions or in the compost bin, it is essential to water the compost layers after one day.

A starter compost bin can be as simple as a bucket.

What Can You Use For Your Vegetable Garden Compost?

Here are a few essentials for a great compost:

Peels of vegetables and fruits
Rotten food
Eggshells
Tea bags
Coffee grounds
Leaves
Paper
Yard trimmings
Fireplace ashes
Dryer and vacuum lint

Things that are sure to be garden killers and to avoid adding to your compost:

Fish or meat bones
Dairy products
Butter, fats, or grease
Pet waste (dogs, cats)
Pesticide-treated yard clippings and trimmings

Pesticide-treated wastes and yard clippings will contaminate the compost and kill the good bacteria required for decomposing. So, avoid using such things while making your own compost. Think- do I want to eat these things? No? Then don’t allow them to enter into the growth of your vegetables in your garden.

When Should You Compost the Soil?

After making compost, the next crucial step is to evaluate composting timing in the garden, raised beds, or pots. Organic compost is harmless for plantations, and you can use them frequently throughout the year. For first-time gardeners, it is essential to add compost layers at different intervals of sowing seeds or baby plants and multiple times for the wholesome reaping of crops. We started our EarthEasy Natural Cedar Raised Garden Beds with our Compost and feel great about the harvest it has reaped this season.

Also, composting time depends upon the type of plantations for vegetable gardens, the perfect composting time is flowering time. During the florescent phase, plants require a lot of energy, nutrients, and resources to develop their fruits, and a good dose of nutrients can support them keep up and cultivating nutritious crops.

https://eartheasy.com/natural-cedar-raised-garden-beds/

How to Compost in Your Garden

At the start of the growing season, adding compost to the soil is known as amending. In this method, gardeners plow and mix compost in the topsoil layer to augment it with essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon dioxide for potent plant growth. Amendation also boosts the aeration of the soil, preventing it from erosion and hardening. Adding layers of compost at this phase is convenient and can be done with the rake, shovel, or even with hands.

Composting in the middle of the growing phase is called side dressing. It is a tricky process that needs caution, and gardeners need to place compost around the top layer of soil without shoveling as plants are already in a growing phase. Adding compost two-three inches away from the plant stems and assembling a ring will augment soil sufficiently without harming the stems and roots. This is the first year we have done this as our compost bin was overflowing. We have been very careful with this process and so far, have had success with the side dressing.

Dos & Don’ts of Composting

Some of this is repetitive, but here is an easy list of the Dos and Don’ts of composting. If you follow these steps as a guide, you are sure to be successful in your compost endeavors and using your compost in your garden.

Dos

Mix a jumble of vegetable wastes and kitchen leftovers with yard clippings, grass clippings, and leaves. The mix will prevent creating a hard solid layer as long straws can evolve into a compact structure that may hinder the airflow through the compost pile.
Water the compost fluff moderately and keep it damp, but never overwater it.
If making compost with large amounts of food wastes, bury them deep as it will attract rodents.
Cut every waste material into small pieces before adding it to the compost pile so all things will decompose equally.
Be patient while making homemade compost. The waste material will take a few months to decompose completely.
Assemble the compost piles in six-eight inches layers and keep an inch soil layer in between these layers.
After every two weeks, turn the compost with a shovel or pitchfork. The process will add more oxygen and keep the pile aerated.

Don’ts

Never use dairy products, meat, fish bones, oil, butter, fats, or baked items in the compost pile. Such food wastes do not decompose readily and attract wild animals.
Do not use pesticide-treated plant twigs and leaves as they will cause contamination.
Avoid using weed wastes, as weeds grow on the compost pile and suck up all the nutrients.
Don’t use pet wastes or kitty litter. Although these scraps will ultimately decompose into compost, but also carry germs, viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
Don’t use coated or glossy papers. Also, sidestep any non-biodegradable products as these will only delay the decomposition time.
Don’t mix the concept of fertilizers with compost. Compost is a soil supplement. However, fertilizers are essential for soil consistency, health, and chemical and biological properties. Also, nutrients from compost release very slowly as compared to fertilizers.

Troubleshooting for Compost Pile Problems

Problem 1: The compost pile is soggy and warm from the center.

-Possible Reasons: Maybe the compost pile is small in size, or the weather is cold.

-Solution: Use a compost bin and build a pile of 3 ft. in height and width. Always cover the compost pile with a tarp.

Problem 2: The compost smells like rancid fats, oil, vinegar, or rotten eggs.

-Possible Reasons: The compost pile is very damp or too compacted. Also, there is not enough supply of oxygen.

-Solution: Turn the compost pile to aerate it. Add granulated dry materials, such as leaves to soak up extra dampness.

Problem 3: The compost piles attract various slugs, insects, centipedes, etc.

-Possible Reasons: composting and decomposition

-Solution: Insects are essential for the decomposition process and this isn’t really a problem. They help in the composting process. But if their numbers are increasing and annoying, you can use traps or barriers around the compost bin.

how to use compost in garden — Our Raised Garden Bed from Eartheasy is benefiting from our compost efforts all year long.

Take Away

We know everyone, every climate, and every garden is different and so their composting choices and methods will vary. Fortunately, no matter which route you choose, composting at home is extremely easy and eco-friendly. Plus, it is a nutritious treat for your plants. With some patience and kitchen scraps, you will have a wholesome, happy, and greener vegetable garden. We wish you the best of luck in your vegetable garden. Happy composting, and happy gardening!

We’d like to thank our friends over at Eartheasy for our Natural Cedar Raised Garden Beds this year. Eartheasy is a family business committed to bringing you practical products and information for sustainable living. Eartheasy shares what they have learned from nearly 40 years of living close to the land. We love Eartheasy and are genuinely proud to be a partner with them.

Disclosure: We only recommend products we would use ourselves and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you. We may earn a small commission from them. All efforts are made to ensure that affiliate links are disclosed in accordance with the FTC.

In Gardening Minimalist Lifestyle ·

Top 10 Tips For a Successful Raised Garden Bed

Gardening is not only a fulfilling activity for leisure time but the inner satisfaction when a gardener (because we are definitely calling ourselves that these days) experiences their efforts yielding successful organic harvest, it’s is a priceless moment. Raised garden beds are becoming popular for many reasons these days. With the exponential surge in urbanization, agri-lands and fertile grounds are shrinking. For gardeners with less space, raised bed gardening is an outstanding option to start cultivating organic herbs, vegetables, and fruits at home. We’re going to help you along the way as we share our top tips for a successful raised garden bed.

Today the most-liked option amongst professional gardeners and horticulturists is raised bed gardening, as enclosed boxes enable plants to grow in a more nurtured environment and produce a generous yield in small areas. Also, these beds offer the freedom of soil modifications and enable gardeners to alter the soil nutrients precisely as per their crop needs.

Beginners and landscape gardeners should contemplate a few factors before starting their raised bed gardens. We’ve learned a lot along the way. Remember, last year was our first successful planting season with our raised bed garden. So, let’s get started with our beginner’s guide to set up your organic raised beds garden.

1. Select a Place in The Sun

Selection of a site for raised bed garden seems a trivial task, but it is a significant step in setting up a beautiful and healthy garden. Although beds’ settings may vary depending on the regional temperatures and plant type.

Ideally, a place that receives sunlight for a good seven or more hours would be the perfect location in regions with optimal climatic temperatures.
In colder regions, the success formula is the more the sunlight, the better the in-bed crops.
Shaded locations are preferred for hot and tropical climatic zones to protect plants against flaming temperatures.

Tips for Raised Garden Bed — Placement is very important for your garden.

2. Clean the Selected Space

After choosing the perfect place, the next step is to clean it. It is crucial to remove all the unwanted grass and weeds as later they will grow in the beds’ soil and suck all nutrients. This will ultimately affect the growth of plants.

You can either pull all the weeds and grass with a rake tool or dig the soil with a shovel and thoroughly clean weeds and dead roots from it.

If the selected place has mice, rodents, or pests, pick non-harmful methods, such as soil solarization – a non-chemical technique that employs solar energy to raise the underneath soil temperature to slay the vermin, pests, and weeds from it.

3. Preparation of Soil Mix

The arcane ingredient in the success of any raised bed garden is good soil. Raised beds enable gardeners to grow varieties of crops in a single small space as they can fill these beds with a blend of superior soil mix.

The modified soil mixture has enriched nutrients and organic matter, with slackly bound soil specks that allow plant roots to spread profusely and absorb more nutrients to sustain healthy growth.

At this stage, soil proportion is an important factor as it varies with the size of raised beds. For most plants, the following approximate soil proportions produce good crops:

Topsoil 60%
Compost 30%
Potting soil 10% (it is a soilless mix consisting of perlite, moss, peat, and vermiculite)

The above proportions are for general gardens and they may vary as per specific herbs or vegetables. We are on the coast, so we used a mushroom compost addition to the above, that worked beautifully in our garden.

4. Plan the Most Suitable Irrigation System for Your Garden

An efficient irrigation system is necessary to prevent raised beds from water-borne diseases and excessive dryness due to inconsistent watering. Apt watering is the fundamental factor in a plant’s growth and a healthy yield.

Numerous irrigation choices like soaker hoses sprinkle systems, drip irrigation, and automatic watering are available. However, soaker hose systems and drip irrigation are the most economical and efficient options. Thus, plan and install one of the best-matched irrigation designs as per your raised bed garden needs.

Since we travel quite often, we don’t want to neglect our garden, so when we are away, we use a sunrise daily water timer that waters our garden as soon as the sun rises- the best time to water your garden, anyway.

5. Don’t Forget to Mulch the Beds

Mulch is the technique of spreading organic manure, decayed leaves, barks, and sawdust on the top of the soil to prevent it from dryness. After planting, it is essential to mulch the top of raised beds to produce high-quality harvests. Mulching ebbs weed growth, enhances soil fertility, controls ground temperatures, deters erosion, and furnishes an aesthetic appearance to the garden. Thus, if you want to design an aesthetic raised beds garden at a pocket-friendly cost, go ahead and mulch your beds.

6. Build In-Bed Root Barriers

When it comes to avoiding excess weed or grass growth, soil barriers are highly economical and practical options. These barriers are available in markets but mostly are of commercial grade. You can use paper grocery bags on the bottom of your garden, prior to putting your soil in. These barriers can be modified by using mesh-like cloth, flexible nets, or other materials that can be recycled and are safe for the environment.

7. Fluff the Soil

Between different seasons, plow the in-bed soil to slacken the tight particles and allow new plants’ roots to grow well. New gardeners can fluff the in-bed soil as deep as possible with simple tools like a stick or fork. Keep the eight to twelve-inch distance in each row to nicely loosen the particles.

8. Always Cover Raised Bed Soil

After reaping every harvest, always layer the soil top with the organic mulch to protect the soil from drying. When in-bed soil’s top layer gets exposed to extreme climate conditions, it becomes hard and eroded. And in later seasons, it will require lots of tedious work to grow anything in such ground. Thus, always spread a mulch or grow cover crops to avoid soil degradation.

9. Start with Annual Cover Crops

Cover crops could be a good start for newbie gardeners as they enrich the soil and protect it from erosion. Crops like alfalfa, rye, peas, legumes, crimson clover, etc. could be grown easily at the end of every seasonal harvest. To maintain soil nitrogen levels, crimson clover works really well. It also prepares in-bed grounds for the successive organic produce.

10. Build Edible Organic Raised Beds Garden

Thoughtful planning can turn simple raised beds into an appealing destination in the backyard. Beginners can design aesthetically satisfying raised bed gardens with the collection of their favorite vegetables, herbs, and floral plants. Even better, you can purchase beautiful and sustainable beds like ours from Eartheasy.

Pairing herbs or vegetables with lovely blooming plants is a helpful tip to attract pollinators to the garden. Also, such greens attract helpful predatory insects that eat pests and leave behind a healthy agri-eco environment.

Wrapping Up

Raised bed gardening is not only a space-efficient but a cost-effective approach. In the beginning, it will require more effort but after setting up it only needs maintenance. The most exciting part of all the activities is the home-grown organic vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs. It also promotes such a fulfilling delight to gather your harvest each round from your hard work.

This season, we hope you begin your green thumb journey with raised beds. Happy Gardening! If you haven’t joined our Get Outdoors Challenge, this is a great time to do so. You can start anytime, and gardening is a wonderful way to begin!