Congratulations to everyone who had a successful edible gardening year in 2021. I hope you enjoyed the process of gardening as well as the fruits of your hard work. Also, that you have cleaned up your beds, planted cover crops or mulched them, and maybe are still harvesting some cool weather vegetables. In any case, now is the time to take a break from the physical work and begin thinking about next year.
Be Sustainable: Reduce Chemicals, Build Soil, Add Diversity
Admittedly speaking as an advocate, I suggest using the winter to learn about how to improve gardening practices and results next year through three principles:
- Reduce chemical use through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is a process based on observing pest issues, understanding them, taking action only when the damage is significant and using chemicals as a last resort. It requires looking past the surface of possible issues, a time commitment but also a learning experience. Given the obvious environmental damage from reflexive chemical use, it is important. For information about how to implement IPM, check out the Garden Shed article Integrated Pest Management
- Build your soil. Healthy soil can reduce the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers. New insights about productive ways to do this are coming from the Regenerative Agriculture movement. It is a soil- focused approach to growing crops that advocates:
- Keeping the soil covered, with densely planted crops and employing cover crops or mulching in the off season
- Minimizing soil disturbance to preserve soil structure and keep weed seeds buried. This means minimizing tilling and depositing amendments on or near the surface, relying on soil organisms to carry them deeper,
- Keeping living roots in the soil to stabilize it while also improving structure and adding carbon-based nutrients.
- Add diversity by varying and rotating crops, interplanting, and utilizing diverse cover crops.
- Integrate livestock, or in their absence, add organic matter.
These practices have had positive results in commercial agriculture and provide guidance to home gardeners that is ecologically and horticulturally sound.
- Create a diverse home landscape, preferably of native trees, shrubs, and flowering perennials to help rebuild declining insect and bird populations. A healthy ecology helps manage garden pests naturally. Get guidance on how to create a pollinator-friendly landscape from the Garden Shed article Plant A Pollinator Paradise.
Other helpful information, including video material, is available in the references at the end of this article and on the Soil Health and Cover Crops page on the VA Cooperative Extension website.
As we realize how all levels of plant and animal life are built and dependent on each other, the need to return to more nature-based landscaping and gardening practices becomes compelling. Improving our approach in these three areas is a good start.
Other December Tasks
- As long as your soil isn’t frozen, it is still okay to plant garlic and shallots in December. Mulch them well to moderate temperature and moisture.
- Placing row covers over winter hardy vegetables adds several degrees to the temperature under the cover and protects plants in the event of extreme cold while encouraging continued growth into the winter. For tips on constructing simple hoop style row covers, consult The Garden Shed article Row Covers: A Season Extender with Benefits
- Put your leaves to good use.
Leaf-mulched herb bed. Photo: R Morini
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- Chopping or shredding leaves is a good idea to help speed decomposition, and improves water infiltration if used as a mulch for beds.
- They can be used to set up new compost batches with winter-generated kitchen plant scraps added as they become available. When spring temperatures rise into the 50’s, the batch’s carbon-to-nitrogen ratio can be fine-tuned to stimulate decomposition. With good moisture and aeration management, you should have compost ready for use prior to planting summer vegetables. Find guidance for home composting in the article Home Composting: A Guide for Home Gardeners, from the Penn State Extension.
- Leaves left in place provide cover for over-wintering beneficial insects and will help build a natural pest management system in your gardens next year.
- Be sure to drain your hoses. Disconnect them from faucets and lay them out on the ground, both ends open, to let them drain. Then roll them up for winter storage.
- Drain rain barrels and redirect downspouts to ground, rather than refilling the barrels during the cold months.
- December brings new catalogs and website updates from seed suppliers. It is fun to browse them, look for new items to grow, and to assess different varieties that may help avoid disease problems that affected last year’s garden. Pay attention to “time to harvest” and “disease resistance” data. For help interpreting seed catalog and seed pack information, check out the article Using Seed Pack Information to Help Your Garden Grow from the February 2018 issue of The Garden Shed.
- Make a first pass at laying out your crop arrangement for next year. Remember to rotate specific plants to different parts of the garden, preferably on a 3-4 year cycle. The benefits are both disease and pest reduction and soil enrichment through plant diversity.
- Care for your tools. Winter is the time to clean, disinfect, sharpen, and generally prepare them for the work ahead. Also a good time to clean pots and flats if you have a warm enough place to do the wet work. Come spring, you’ll be happy you did it.
- An enjoyable way to keep your hands in the soil during winter is to grow herbs indoors. You need a sunny window, preferably with a southern exposure. Use a premium potting soil and add nutrient as recommended. It’s best to use clean plastic or glazed containers to reduce watering requirements. Be sure the container has drainage holes and use a non-porous dish to catch excess water. Keep the soil surface moist between planting and germination. Herbs do best with temperatures above 65 degrees, the warmer the better. Basil likes temperatures above 70 degrees, so doesn’t want to be too close to the window during cold weather. Check out “Be Inspired With Indoor Herb Gardening” in the December 2020 Garden Shed for great information on growing herbs indoors this winter.
In any case, enjoy your gardening, happy holidays, and I hope to see you next month at The Garden Shed.
References:
“Cool Season Planting Chart for Companion, Interplanting and Square Foot Gardening,” Washington State University Extension: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2056/2018/10/Cool-Season-Planting-Chart-for-Companion.pdf
Podcast: “Healing the Earth through Regenerative Farming,” Gabe Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFHnVgO0xPY
Video: “Nature’s Best Hope,” Dr. Doug Tallamy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHURaRv78QY&t=9s
Virginia Native Plant Society website: Why Natives?: https://vnps.org/natives/
