Lulling Your Garden Beds to Sleep

Cathy, Evelyn and Mary prepping
beds for fall/winter crops

We love William Horvath’s information about permaculture and growing food.  His website, Permaculture Apprentice, can be accessed from the Permaculture Resources list on the right sidebar.  You can sign up on his site to receive his periodic emails   They always furnish tons of great information to inspire your gardening.  If you’re interested in learning more about permaculture, he offers excellent online courses.   

His latest offering is detailed information about improving your garden soil during fallow periods.  While it refers to gardens in cooler climates with no winter crop, this method can be used any time your garden beds are not in use for even short periods, or if some of your garden space is unused for a season, or any time you want to rejuvenate or boost your garden fertility.  It’s also good for annual ornamental beds in the off season.  

This method is a good idea to prepare for each new growing season, and doing it several weeks or months ahead gives soil organisms time to multiply and begin their work   

We share William’s information on putting your garden to sleep here:

“Imagine a lush and mature forest in the fall. Tall trees tower above, while diverse plants carpet the ground, and mushrooms sprout among them. As autumn progresses, trees shed their leaves, blanketing the forest floor, which is already full of plant debris. This rich organic matter layer made of dead plants and fallen leaves then creates a natural mulch atop the soil. Over the coming months, microorganisms slowly break down this mulch, recycling nutrients and delivering them to plant roots in spring. This is the process that creates that black, earth-smelling soil that's buzzing with life and full of nutrients! I want to help you mimic this process in your garden and prepare your garden beds for spring. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, now is the best time to do this fall/winter soil building and improve the soil fertility of your overworked garden beds. I call this gardening project Putting Garden Beds to Sleep. So, let’s gently lull them to sleep, shall we? There are five simple steps to put your garden beds to sleep. STEP 1: Clean up the garden bed First, remove all weeds and plant debris from the garden bed. Pick up the dead and rotting vegetable parts and plants to eliminate the possibility of pests and diseases overwintering, and then restart in spring. Pull all weeds from the bed and dig their roots out; this will prevent them from taking over the bed in spring. STEP 2: Loosen up the soil Next, loosen up the soil a bit. This will add oxygen to the soil and help improve drainage before winter weather. Use a broad fork or pitchfork to do this. Here’s how this step looks like: Broadfork in Action STEP 3: Add soil helpers Now, inoculate your soil with helpers that will aid in decomposition and nutrient uptake. Unless the soil is already rich in soil life, add worms, mycorrhizal fungi, and beneficial bacteria. You can do this in a number of ways, from compost to compost tea and various inoculates you can make yourself (more on that some other time) STEP 4: Add organic materials and amendments Next, add soil amendments and compost to the beds. [Based on the results of a soil test] Depending on the nature of the deficiencies of your soil, you could use: Sulfur to lower the pH Lime to raise the pH Bonemeal or Phosphate Rock to increase phosphorus levels Alfalfa meal to improve the soil condition and nutrient composition. Kelp to supply a range of trace nutrients, as well as a dose of plant hormones. Wood Ash – to increase potassium levels and raise pH. Composted animal manure – to supply a variety of nutrients. Once you are done, spread generous amounts of compost, preferably from your compost pile or worm castings. Apply it in a 2 – 4 inch (5 – 10 cm) thick layer. Finally, work in the soil amendments and compost into the top 6 – 8 inches (15 – 20 cm) of the soil with a spade or digging fork. In my case, I’ve spread my not-fully-yet-decomposed compost, which will break down over the next 4-5 months. STEP 5. Add organic mulch for protection Lastly, add a layer of organic matter in the form of mulch. Mulch is like a warm blanket you spread over your garden to keep it safe and protected through the winter. A good mulch insulates the soil, keeping it from freezing or at least from freezing as deeply as it otherwise would. This allows soil organisms to remain active for much longer. It also prevents weeds from invading the dormant bed during winter, and as an icing on the cake, as it breaks down, it releases new nutrients into the ground. Leaves and leaf mold, grass clippings, straw, and hay are good choices for winter mulch. Spread the mulch evenly with your hands or rake. And that’s it. That’s how you lull your garden beds to sleep. You’ve added all these organic materials, and now it will start breaking down, enriching your soil, and becoming biologically active for your plants in the spring. Happy growing, -William”

Rain Garden

Purple-eyed Grass

The plants in the new VegHeadz rain garden have begun to awaken from their winter sleep. The spring rains and warmth will encourage them to anchor the soil and fill up the space. All are natives and all suitable for your rain garden or landscape.  A few of these have been rescued while clearing the woodsy space behind the grape arbor and rain garden.  

Below is a list of those we have planted so far,

Blazing Star or Gayfeather (Liatris spp.) https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/liatris.html

Blue-eyed grass and Purple-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ag401

Virginia Sweetspire or Virginia Willow (Itea virginica) https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/butterflies/browse/Details/202

Blue flag Iris (Iris virginica) https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP288

White and Paprika Yarrow (Achillea milifolium) https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/santa-rosa/docs/pdfs/demo-garden-3/Yarrow.pdf

Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=aspl

Elliott’s Lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottii) https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/lovegrass.html

Woodland Poppymallow (Callirhoe papaver) This is an endangered species. https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-callirhoe-papaver/#:~:text=Woodland%20poppymallow%20is%20endangered%20in,lobed%20calyx%20and%20three%20bracts.

Lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata). https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP058

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum cistifolium ) https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP261

Oxeye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HEHE5

Rabbiteye Blueberries (Vaccinium virgatun) https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG359

Wednesday in the Garden

The easiest and best way to tackle small weeds is with a stirrup hoe.  Raised beds seem to be easier to maintain, but weeds still grow in pathways and vacant beds.  

The first line of defense is to keep the soil covered with closely spaced vegetable crops or with a cover crop.  The shade and competition discourage weeds and furnish resources to essential soil microbes.  The soil is continually improved by crops chopped and dropped in place to return nutrients for the next season. 

The next best thing is to make a quick weed touch up with your stirrup hoe each week to nip small weeds in the bud and to keep them from setting seeds.  This is the real secret to discouraging annual weeds.  Perennial weeds and persistent pests like nut sedge can only be contained by consistent chopping.  It only takes a few minutes if done each week.  

The VegHeadz have formed a Hoe Brigade, and we plan to spend the first 15 minutes of each work day touching up pathways and attacking any areas where weeds are proliferating.  We’ll see how it works.  

Many VegHeadz are growing seedlings at home and propagating plants for the annual Master Gardener plant sale scheduled for May 11, 2024.  Save the date. 

The VegHeadz Hoe Brigade—Woe to Weeds!

  

Still more Trellises

Trellises constructed from 
galvanized pipe and strung
with strong cord.  Beans and 
peas climb readily and tomatoes
and other tall vegetables
can be secured with clips.
  

Our recent posts about arbors and trellises in the VegHeadz garden did not include some which are currently not supporting plants, but they are often in use and their sturdy construction ensures that they will survive from year to year throughout many seasons. 

 

Made from found materials, this 
wood and wire pair have supported
a wide variety of crops.
 

A PVC arch which is portable
is useful to move from bed to bed. 
Not as visible is the coated 
wire cover which is secured to
the PVC with zip ties

And a bonus photo. This a bitter 
melon which was left on the 
Vine to mature where it
opened like a flower to reveal
it’s beautiful red seeds. 

Garden Arbors and Trellises

Simple bamboo tripod trellis

In recent posts we have featured some of our bamboo trellises built to support tomatoes and other kinds of vines.   We have permanent trellises made from galvanized pipes, and others made from pvc tubing with coated wire covers.  They all serve to support roaming plants and keep them off the ground away from disease organisms and crawling pests   

We have quite a few other arbors and trellises in the garden which support a variety of plants and provide interest when walking through the garden. There are three spanning our largest raised beds. Constructed from welded wire cattle panels, they are affixed to the ends of adjoining beds to create three arched entrances to the garden.

Tomatoes span this welded wire arch
between beds

One of these arched arbors is an ideal support this season for the voluminous tomato vines in the adjoining bed and another supports beans of various types. Cucumbers climbed one of the arches earlier in the season.  In small beds such structures provide additional growing space for plants that would otherwise wander into pathways. 

Elsewhere in the garden we have a large wooden arbor which in the past has supported a kiwi vine, now deceased. It holds loofah plants and chayote vines as well as scarlet runner beans this season. 

Loofah vines now cover this arbor

In the back of the garden we have an arbor leading into the forest garden which is a prefab construction. It has been the host this spring of bitter melon and cumelon, and now hosts more loofah. 

And finally at the back of the garden a new trellis is being constructed from found materials to hold a perennial chayote. Designed by Peggy McDonald and Mike Dugger, when completed it will provide support for the heavy crop of squash relatives produced by our vines. It also provides a focus which will draw visitors into the edible forest garden at the back of the VegHeadz area.

Peggy adds crossbars to what will be a strong support for a 
heavy chayote crop. 

VegHeadz Garden Happenings

Cathi W, Mike, Marie and Cathy A enjoying the hard work]
loading composted horse manure for our bins

Last week we replenished our compost bins with well-rotted horse manure mixed with hay and straw bedding.  We were able to get three loads thanks to VegHeadz volunteers and Nicki Francis of Happy Trails Horse Ranch.  Thanks Nicki! 

 

Based on a fall soil test, we are adding compost, greensand (for potassium and trace minerals), and peat moss and Sulphur (to lower pH), to our gardening beds.  Observing our plants and another test in the fall will let us know how well we did.

 

This week, we learned about using a broadfork.  We added the amendments above to the three A rows where Marie will be planting potatoes and green peas next week.  We left the clover cover crop in place, added the amendments and then worked down the row with the broadfork to partially incorporate the cover crop and amendments, and to aerate the soil.  Marie will be adding oak leaves as mulch after the plants come up.  It will be interesting to see how the potatoes and peas fare.  Visit our Facebook page to see Carole getting her morning workout on the broadfork.  It's heavy and requires some effort to lift the soil. 

 

Broadfork

We also moved a fence trellis into one row for the peas to grow on.  Marie is adding some cheap and creative trellises to another row.  We're thinking of all the visitors we hope to get at the Spring Open House, tentatively scheduled for May 13.  Hold a place on your calendar for this fun event and plant sale.

 

Lots of other plans are under way, including applying for a grant to re-fence the garden (a happy armadillo is making of mess of our pathways), and we can't grow lettuce without a secure cover as a creative creature (probably a rabbit), munches down the row until its gone.  Also under consideration is moving a portion of the garden into a sunnier location in Bed 5 which is just North of the garden. 

 

Welcome to new gardener Peggy McDonald who is one of the Master Gardening students in the new class just under way.  She is a real worker and a welcome addition to our crew. 

 

Regine's Post Jet with Shut Off Valve; Shut Off Valve for PVC Post Jet

 
Hey, I just bought the parts yesterday afternoon from Ed's drawing.  (See previous post)  I decided to go for metal and I bet they would be useful to dislodge invasives with big roots. . .   Regine

Head of Regine's metal Post Jet

Post Jet - Half inch metal pipe

 

Wow!!

Looks great; with brass shut off and all. Durable too.

I need to add a shutoff to my diagrams. I use plastic ones from Walmart…  Ed

 

 

Gardener Ed's Post Jet - How To

Post Driver

This post is the first in a series on Garden Tools and Structures. 

Metal posts are convenient anchors for fence trellises and other structures in the garden because they are light weight, durable, and secure if properly installed.   They also can be easily uprooted and moved to another location. 

If you have been driving metal posts with a sledge hammer or other such bludgeon or have been using a post driver--effective but heavy--Gardner Ed's Post Jet is a great alternative.  I like the Post Jet because I move my fence trellis, posts, fence and all from one spot to another, and I can't use the post driver with the fencing attached, but a Post Jet would work just fine. 

See instructions below for Ed's easy to assemble Post Jet.

Post jet

This is a cheap and easy tool to set steel posts for garden trellises. 

Schedule 40 PVC, 3/4 inch inside diameter, is sturdy enough, even in heavy soil because it has a 1/8" thick wall.

These are all slip fittings that have to be glued with 1) PVC pipe cleaner; the purple stuff. 2) the actual glue is really a solvent the "melts" the pieces together for a very strong and water proof bond. The garden hose adapter does what the name says; it adapts the tool for connection to a garden hose. Turn on the water and jet a post hole. It's easier than using a sledge hammer.