seasons about over. raised bed - what do you do?

[TightenUp]

after removing all plant debris i'm debating what to do with my new raised bed.

maybe cover with mulch or plastic, maybe do nothing?

turn over bed now or wait till spring or both? add compost now or wait till spring?

what does everyone do to there bed to get ready for winter and next spring?

[gixxerific]

Instead of telling you what to do I will tell you what i do.

I would add compost/manure/leaves/grass/anything orgainc now and either let sit or till in. In the spring it will be lovely, that is how it goes here. I would not do plastic but use mulch. The only good I see from plastic is for solarazation which I will never do on my small plot.

But that is me.

[Blk_Vegan]

I have six raised beds in my back yard garden of which I cover three and utilize the others for fall crops like kale, collards, broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, beets etc. First frost doesn't occur down here till November so i usually get a decent fall harvest ..

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by Blk_Vegan

I have six raised beds in my back yard garden of which I cover three and utilize the others for fall crops like kale, collards, broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, beets etc. First frost doesn't occur down here till November so i usually get a decent fall harvest ..

what do you cover the 3 with?

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Blk_Vegan

I have six raised beds in my back yard garden of which I cover three and utilize the others for fall crops like kale, collards, broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, beets etc. First frost doesn't occur down here till November so i usually get a decent fall harvest ..

Doh! I don't care if it turns out to be too late for New Hampshire. I'm throwing lettuce seeds in one of my beds tomorrow.

[b54red]

Luckily for us the weather allows for growing something nearly all year so my raised beds never get a rest. I add what I can between plantings but they are so full now that there is little room to add anything. This past year all I added was cottonseed meal and alfalfa pellets along with a very small amount of compost.

[Father'sDaughter]

I flip-flop my beds each year to get the most out if them.

When the tomatoes. peppers, eggplant and zucchini are cleared out of their bed, I mix in a bit of compost, plant hard neck garlic, mulch with straw, and call it done! Since I don't fill the whole bed with garlic, this is also where my spring crops will go.

The second bed, where the garlic was grown this year, is currently home to the fall crops. When they're done, that bed will just stay as is until spring when I prep it for the tomatoes, pepper, eggplant and zucchini.

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by b54red

Luckily for us the weather allows for growing something nearly all year so my raised beds never get a rest. I add what I can between plantings but they are so full now that there is little room to add anything. This past year all I added was cottonseed meal and alfalfa pellets along with a very small amount of compost.

dr earth alfalfa meal has the n-p-k(2-1-2) ratio suggested by rutgers university soil lab who did my test for my large garden, not my raised bed. since i will have it on hand i will be adding to my raised bed as well.

are there any positives/negatives to adding in the fall as opposed to the spring before plant out?

[Blk_Vegan]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

what do you cover the 3 with?

Weed cloth/fabric....

[lakelady]

I'm going to chop the leaves that will soon be falling, water well, turn them over and let them sit until Spring. I did that last year and had awesome beds for tomatoes this year. Nice leaf mold !

[amideutch]

I've been growing in the same bed at work for the last 5 years. After I clean my bed I get some horse manure from one of the stables and cover the bed. Come spring I cover the manure with organic soil/compost and add some organic fertilizer. I don't till, and let mother nature do her thing. Ami

[TightenUp]

thanks all

i cleaned my bed out today and turned it over to work in the mulch(straw). i have composted rabbit manure which i will be adding along with any other manure i can get my hands on(not easy around my neck of the woods). anyone in jersey have a source please let me know

i will then cover the bed with some partially composted grass mixed up with straw and allow to sit thru winter

come spring i will be adding alfalfa meal and and my other organic ferts.

Ami, how long before planting do you start adding organic ferts?

[amideutch]

Ami, how long before planting do you start adding organic ferts?

Normally 4-6 weeks.

[Fat Charlie]

Sigh. I ended up missing out on this fall. Thursday was the second frost this week and today was the third, so I didn't bother to plant.

Still, multiple crops are now something I'm looking for.

[lakelady]

Jeff, there are lots of little egg farms around here, if you find one you can usually get chicken manure from them (cheap if not free). Good for adding in Fall, but not for Spring as it's pretty hot stuff (lol, literally). There's stables around the corner from my house and I've thought about approaching them for some manure I'm just not sure how I'd get it to my house since my car is a Jeep and I don't really want the manure sitting in the back, no trunk.