Final Harvest of the Year

The time has come to pull the almost everything out of the garden.  With impending hard frosts and cold nights to come you have to take in even the hardy pumpkins and squash and protect them from the cold.

When pulling in the last of the fall produce you are confronted with the sudden problem of what to do with the sudden bounty at your disposal.  Most fall produce is of a very hearty variety like winter squashes, pumpkins, carrots and other cold season crops that can be stored without canning or freezing.

Each type of produce has its own special type of storage you can use.

Pumpkins and winter squash should be stored in a root cellar type structure and maintained at 50-55 degrees and with a humidity of 50-70 %.  This is only after curing the pumpkins for 10 days in 80 degree heat and 80%+ humidity.  The curing process toughing the rind of the pumpkins and heals small cuts or nicks that could let air and bacteria into the pumpkin.

Carrots can be left in the garden soil if they are properly insulated with leaves, straw or sometimes a cold frame.  If you don't want to leave them in the garden instead place them in the root cellar in a bucket or container filled with sawdust or sand.  By keeping the sand moist the carrots with retain moisture and flavor well into the winter season.

After I removed the last of the produce most of the tops of the plants went into my compost bins to reclaim the organic matter with the exception of my pumpkins and zucchini as they were suffering from a powdery mildew infection.  After I pulled all the tops I spread out the wood chip mulch I used in some spots over the whole garden.  Since this picture was taken I have also added a layer of straw on top of the wood chips as additional mulch to protect and enhance my garden soil.

To read more about what I do to prepare my garden for fall check out 3 Ways To Improve Your Garden This Fall    

Fall Cover Crop Update

With the appearance of flowers on the pea half of the cover crop the time has come to destroy the cover crops.  This is part of the life cycle of a cover crop as they are intended to improve garden soil but not to take over the garden.  Many cover crops can become invasive if not properly managed and killed when the time comes.  With proper timing and frost susceptible species you can let mother nature do the killing for you but sometimes mother nature doesn't cooperate and give you the frost when you need it.

Field Pea Flower Head

The best time to manual cultivate or spray with herbicide a cover drop is right before they go to seed.  Watching for flowers is a good indication that the time is coming that you need to do away with the cover crop.  To the left you can see a picture of my cover crop combo of oats and field peas with the peas starting to go to flower.  Now I most likely could have let the cover crop go another week maybe two after the peas started to flower but I didn't want to risk getting a infestation of oats and peas next year.




I chose to try two different methods of killing the oats and peas, you can either dig up and cultivate them into the soil which is a effective method.  It has its plus and minuses however, on the positive side it is simple and you only need a shovel and a little muscle to accomplish it.  On the negative it is work that requires a good shovel and a strong back so is not for everyone.      

There is also the roller crimping method which is a cover crop killing method that is all the rage with organic farmers.  It basically involves dragging a large cylinder covered with rows of dull teeth on it that presses the stalks of your cover crop into the ground.  At the same time it is rolling them flat the teeth are pinching the stalks all the way up the plant.  This basically closes up the plants stem preventing it from moving water and nutrients up and down the stem.

Using a brick for roller crimping.

By doing it this way you reduce the cultivation in the soil which improves soil structure and it lays a blanket of organic matter on top of the soil. This blanket reduces and prevents weeds from sprouting  and creates a nice planting bed by next spring.  In the garden scale of cover cropping I found that using a old brick works for roller crimping the cover crop.

For more info about roller crimping check out this article
               

 So as things decay and season swings back into spring again I will give one last update on the effectiveness of the cover crop as a weed preventative and soil quality enhancer

Extending the Growing Season Using Hoop Houses and Cold Frames

I will just say right from the start that using plastic sheeting and PVC tubing to create hoop houses and cold frames does fly in the face of my environmentalist stance.  But as much as I would love to use glass, wood frames and other long lasting and recyclable materials the money isn't available for those materials.  PVC pipe and plastic sheeting is cheaper in the short term and as I am not yet building my own modern homestead I do have to keep a few considerations in mind.

• My lack of space in the yard
• The fact that I live in a rental
• That I am low income

These factors constrict me from doing exactly what I want to so instead I find little cheaters to help me along the way.

I have always been interested in using season extension techniques and my garden this year has finally given me the opportunity to try a couple methods out.

I built both a low tunnel or hoop house and a large cold frame to protect some very late planted tomatoes and Moon and Stars Watermelon.  I am hoping that the extra time under the protection of the hoop house and cold frame with give these plants the time they need to actually produce something.

Since I had wooden garden beds already in place making the hoop house was a easy thing to do.

Materials

• 10 foot 1/2 inch PVC pipe
• 3/4- 2 hole straps 
• Plastic sheeting
• Zip Ties

Tools Needed

• Screwdriver
• Duct tape
• Hacksaw
• Marker
• Tape Measure

Getting Started

My hoops are designed with a 3 foot garden bed in mind so the length of the PVC pipe will be variable depending on your situation.  

1. To get started first take four the the 3/4 inch 2 hole straps and screw them into the walls on the interior of the the garden bed at 4 foot intervals.
2. Take your 10 foot PVC pipes and measure, mark and cut them at 90 inches in length
3. Insert pipes into the 2 hole straps and  bend them till you have both ends secured inside a strap. Repeat steps 3 and four until all hoops are cut and placed. 
4. Attach the plastic sheeting*

* Step four is more challenging thank it may seem at first glance.  First if all you have a large sheet of plastic and if there is any wind you can forget about placing it on that day.  Second how does one attach plastic sheeting to to smooth PVC pipes.  I used a conglomeration of duct tape and zip ties to attach my side flaps of plastic to the hoop frames.  Then using four squeeze clamps, duct tape and more zip ties I attach the top layer of plastic while leaving a front flap removable for ventilation. 

I will be adding a more detailed step by step guide on building a hoop house in my Sustainable Living How to Guide section of my blog.