Putting the Beds to Bed

Good night, raised beds. 

A good chunk of this afternoon was spent out in the howling winds - gusts reaching a 7 on the Beaufort Scale - prepping the raised beds for winter & spring. Fortunately, it was a pretty mild day, by November standards. 53 degrees.

This involves:

1) Removing the detritus of last summer's crops. 

2) Loosening the soil. Note that this is NOT turning it as some poor gardening advice columns suggest. When you stick a fork in it and shake it, the soil gets loosened, but it doesn't upset the balance of the bacteria and microorganisms down there.

3) Add about 20 lbs. of our home-made compost.

Food scraps, leaves & grass clippings from two years ago

4) Add a sack of commercial raised bed soil.

Sack of commercial raised bed soil

5) Rake it smooth.

6) Dump leaves that have been chopped up in the lawnmower on top. Nutrients will leach down into the soil over the winter, and the leaves will act as mulch next spring when we scrape them away from the seeds and seedlings we plant. 

This process results in the image at the top. Ready for winter.