After a snowy November, it seems downright tropical in our back yard at 34 degrees and sunny. Having left the garden beds mostly in sad shape earlier this fall, I did a little late fall cleanup. The ground was frozen just enough on top to make most stems of remaining annual plants easier to break off than to pull, which was just fine with me. Most of those roots I left in place will break down quickly next spring, adding much-needed organic matter to our loamy sand soil; especially the legumes will add extra nitrogen as well.
One discouraging discovery was the proliferation of vole superhighways through the grass, leading to almost every section of my irregularly shaped garden:
And speaking of seeds, I'm glad to see those garden seed catalogs arriving in the mail about every day now. For one thing, they’re much better winter entertainment that what’s on TV these days. But for another, if you’re looking at this blog, you and I are likely to be “on the same page” with regard to recognizing the importance of fresh, organically vegetables in our daily diets. One certain way we could all improve our health and well-being over the next year would be to order something from one or more of those catalogs, plant those seeds or plants next spring, nurture them, and consume the results. Questions on methods? I'll help if I can. A look at our demonstration garden at the Historic Barns Park on the SW outskirts of Traverse City, MI, might be a good place to start. We’re hoping for a better-than-ever garden there in ‘15.
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