Preparing the garden bed

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In the fall, I like to make sure my garden is as ready as possible for the spring. In the process of preparing the garden bed, I layer up many things I find in the yard that will compost over the winter. Things include leaves, twigs, chicken manure, vegetable scraps and dirt. I find that it is easier to accomplish the layering when the items are readily available and not frozen.

The first step is cutting back all dead plants in your garden bed. If there are weeds, I will bag those up and dispose of them but if it’s just dead vegetable plants, I cut them up into small pieces and put them all over the garden bed. My kids and I gather small twigs and branches and place them in the garden bed with the vegetable cuttings.

Next I collect dead leaves and shred them up. I have a bagger on the lawn mower that helps get a ton of shredded leaves. Dump the dry shredded leaves onto the garden bed.

The next step is using chicken droppings, straw and composted vegetables. I have a compost bin I throw many good things into. Any time I clean the chicken coop, I put it in the compost. Place composted material on garden bed on top of the leaves. I have also used black cow manure in place of the compost. This step is adding nutrients and good bacteria to the garden.

Lastly I add fill dirt to the top to cover the materials so they do not blow away in the following months. I will also add mulch if it is available. In some cases where weeds have taken over, I start by placing down a thick layer of cardboard to try and suffocate the weed seedlings under all the layers. Sometimes I will also place cardboard on top of the layers with a wooden pallet over the cardboard. This helps with soil erosion during super wet seasons.

When I prepare the garden bed in the fall, it saves time in the spring. In my area, spring time is very wet and the ground can be frozen later than I would prefer.

Preparing the garden bed while the materials are available, also saves me money and time. Leaves left out all winter will get soggy and will not have time to disintegrate before planting begins in the first planting season. I try to get my first outdoor plantings done in the middle of March which is 2 months before the average last frost date in my zone. That means I need that extra head start in the fall.