Snow is on its way…time to put the farm to bed!

It’s November 11th and we are yet to have a hard frost, but it’s definitely on its way. Got the garlic planted a couple weeks ago, mulched and tucked in for the cold winter. After attending an awesome workshop by Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Food Association, we also applied chopped up leaves and grass to many beds that had nothing covering them. This will help keep the living biological system going and feed the microorganisms in the soil so it will be super ready for growing delicious and nutritious crops in the spring! We also managed to get our soil samples done before the ground is covered in snow, which sure makes for easier sampling. The quality of the soil at the plot is amazing. It’s night and day from our first soil sample. The soil is now black, crumbly and really easy to sample. During our first few attempts four years ago, we could barely get the soil probe to go down 6″ without hitting rocks and clay. So excited to see the results.

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The leaves all change color and slowly fall to the ground and the air turns crisp and cold. It’s sad to think it will be at least 4 months before we are getting our hands back in the soil, though we have a beautiful bed of parsnips that we hope to continue to harvest and butternut squash, onions, garlic and potatoes saved for fall/winter soups. Plus all the yummies that we canned, dehydrated, and froze for winter eating to remind us of the bounty of the season.

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Garlic beds mulched with straw and covered with row cover to keep the wind from blowing away the mulch.
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Empty beds mulched. Others still have yummy stuff for eating!
Parsnips and arugula. Trellis of pole beans ready for seed saving.
Parsnips and arugula. Trellis of pole beans ready for seed saving.