Getting the Garden Ready for A Long Winter Nap!

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I started prepping the garden for winter last week and ran out of time – looking at the extended weather forecast I figured I could finish this past weekend since it said Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the high 50’s.  I went about my week, then on Friday morning I was checking my emails and read one from Stella’s soccer coach saying that practice may be cancelled on Saturday because rain and snow was expected.  SNOW – was he joking!?  I  checked the weather and YES we were under a winter storm warning for Saturday, with the possibility of 3-5″ of snow.  It was a mad rush to change my plans for Friday so that I could finished putting the garden to bed.  I was a mad woman, running errands, going to a scheduled meeting and then home.

I needed to harvest the sweet potatoes, which I had attempted to do 2 weeks earlier, but felt the potatoes were too small and needed some more time.  The yield was a little disappointing and will not get us through the winter.  Last year we had soooo many that I add some leftover come spring to sprout for plants and gave some away – not this year.  I will put a couple aside to start plants with for next year, but none will be shared.  Sweet potatoes are a tropical plant and I think because our summer was not that hot, compared to last summer, that the crop did not do as well – could also have to do with the fact that I put them in the ground later this year than last.  I was able to cure them in the sun for a couple of hours and am hoping to put them back out in the sun before I put them up.

Then it was off to the carrots – I had harvested one bed during the week, but still had another bed to go.  I love the smell of fresh picked carrots!  Hard to explain, but if you have never grown carrots and buy from the farmers market or store – trying growing some – you will not go back – the smell, color and flavor – wonderful!

Earlier in the week I cut the heads off the sunflowers and put them to dry.  I will use the seeds again next year and give some away.  I am also going into Stella’s classroom since they are doing the plant cycle in science and will bring the heads in to show the kids about the seeds and saving them for the following year.  I do not dry and roast the seeds, but if I keep getting the size of the heads I have been getting – may be something that I need to start doing.

Now to prep the beds – to the composter I went, filling bucket after bucket of compost to add to the beds.  That done – I turned the soil, which also aerates it, pulled out any old plants and weeds, took out the markers and put all that away for next year.  I cut back my perennials, brought the geraniums down to the basement – going to try and winter them and the other plants into the house – where to put them -that is another issue, but things will get moved around and they will find their winter home delightful.  Looking at the yard now – a little depressing.

I remembered to plant the garlic this year – finally after 3 years, I will have garlic come next year!  Very exciting.

The forecast said that the snow was to start in the evening on Saturday, but about 11am the snow started and it kept coming – big, wet flakes.  Within in an hour it was covering the ground.  I went to bed at 11pm and it was still snowing!  When it was all said and done we had about 10″ of snow!  Glad I did everything I did not Friday.

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