At the end of July, I put in five new raised beds before leaving on vacation. I figured we could pretty up the garden when I got back. Well, by the time August hit, it got so bloody hot for so bloody long, it was all I could do to stay outside long enough to keep the plants alive and harvest the crops. So, now that the weather has started tacking towards autumn, it was time to pretty up the garden while further transitioning it for this new growing season.
First, I bought bags and bags of mulch and some landscape fabric.
Mulch pile in fallow bed
Because I’m just a weakling when it comes to the heavy gardening chores, my beau, a.k.a. my Garden Wilson, pulled up the weeds and shoveled the trough for the brick edging before laying the fabric and mulch.
My Garden Wilson preparing to trim my raised beds
Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch….to see it all coming together.
Raised bed trim in process
We also pulled all my tomato plants because they were full of Septoria Leaf Spot and bugs eating the new tomatoes.
Tomato stakes ~ all that’s left of my tomatoes
I pulled the tomatillos, too. The insects got ALL the harvest from that crop all season, leaving me with just the husks.
Tomatillo husks
I’m going to plant the two tomato beds with Red Clover as a cover crop this week. The other fallow beds will be planted next month with spinach, onions, and garlic.
The fall garden coming along
The project is almost done. A little more weed pulling and mulch laying on the far end, then the final fall plantings and all will be done.
Beautiful trim and beds ready for seed
Stay tuned to my weekly Sanctuary Gardener updates for pictures of all my beds full of life.
~~~~~
How are you transitioning your garden for the fall?
I hope you can plant garlic cloves to grow bulbs. I had about 7 cloves with green sprouting out of them, so…I put the last of my humus & manure on part of my growing beds and flower pots that stay out all winter. I’m thinking about finding some tree trimming places to see if I can get them to dump a load of mulch on my property.
Yes, you can plant garlic. In fact, October is the time garlic should be planted around here. Be careful with the pots; they’ll freeze long before the soil will. Otherwise, watch your garlic grow all winter long. Harvest time should be end of May/beginning of June. I have a couple articles on growing garlic. Just do a search in the search bar to the right to find them.