Some people think that work in the garden or in the garden ends with the harvest. And only real summer residents and gardeners know that at the end of summer it is not yet time to rest. After all, the next year's harvest directly depends on the autumn work on the land. Autumn is the time to prepare the beds for the winter and spring sowing season. Farmers who grow organic berries, vegetables and fruits are especially diligent in this work.
Preparing the beds for winter
Fertilizing the soil
Fertilization of the soil is of great importance. Experts in natural agriculture recommend and even insist that it is not necessary and senseless to dig up a vegetable garden in the fall, and even add manure or other fertilizers in the process. The soil does not need digging, but fertilizers need to be scattered over the surface of the entire site.
It is best to use only organic fertilizers. This concept includes a lot of what is considered ordinary waste - dry branches of bushes and trees, rotten boards, any waste paper. After burning all this, ash remains - an excellent organic fertilizer. It must be scattered throughout the garden or summer cottage.
Manure is another excellent fertilizer. It is not advisable to acquire it from strangers - you can bring a large number of various diseases into the soil. But the natural waste from your pets can be mixed with sawdust or any herbaceous residues and spread directly on the beds.
Organic fertilizers can be stored throughout the year.
Mulching
Soil mulching is an integral part of natural farming. It saturates the soil with the necessary amount of organic matter, makes it fertile and prevents depletion. Autumn season is the best time for mulching. The harvest is collected, and a large amount of organic waste remains on the site.
Everything that is left in the beds (tops of vegetable plants, waste of vegetables and fruits) does not need to be removed. Fill everything on top with fallen leaves or needles, sawdust or any herbaceous plants, and cover the top with thick cardboard or waste from cardboard boxes. This mulch layer will provide the soil with protection from winter frosts and will also enrich the soil.
The roots of fruit trees can also be insulated with mulch. Straw and dry grass cannot be used - mice grow in it, which then cause harm no less than the cold. But all other organic materials can be used by laying them out in the tree trunk circles.
Sowing siderates
With a lack of materials for mulch, you can sow green manure. Correct greening is the key to a normal crop rotation in any area. Siderata will provide normal growth and yield to vegetable crops, even growing them every year in the same garden.
Take note!
Before planting green manure, you need to carefully read the table of their compatibility with other plants and crops. It is imperative to take into account what grew on this site last year and what is planned to be planted here next year. Vegetable crops can ruin each other's harvest, if you do not take into account their compatibility with green manure.
Siderata do not need to be buried in the soil. This is a waste of time. Substances useful for the soil are found in the green mass of grown green manure. It will be processed by earthworms and bacteria. All that is required from the owner of the site is sowing green manure and ensuring their normal growth.
Composting
First you need to prepare the compost pit. It is best to fill it in the fall, when there is a lot of organic waste on the site. At the bottom of the pit, it is necessary to decompose the organic matter of long decay - these are large tree branches and other wooden waste. This first layer can be covered with food waste and cut grass, faeces and herbaceous vegetable residues. The top is covered with a layer of fallen leaves, then with earth and watered with a solution of drugs with effective microorganisms (EM - drugs).
After that, you can expand a layer of any paper waste - newspapers, magazines, cardboard. Then again food waste, grass and tops of vegetable crops, leaves and a small layer of earth, and on top a little EM-preparation.
When the compost pit is completely filled with such layers, then it should be covered with plastic wrap on top and left until the compost matures (until spring). He is not afraid of winter frosts and cold weather. Until spring, the bacteria will do their job.
Arrangement of warm beds and trenches
If the compost pit is full and organic waste still remains, then consider building organic trenches or warm beds. For their improvement, all the organic materials and waste that can be in the garden or in the summer cottage are just needed. And such trenches and beds are useful for growing various vegetables. They will provide favorable conditions for growth and large yields.
Details about the device of a warm bed
Fruit tree trunks protection
Mice and hares can do great harm to fruit trees. They love to feast on the bark of young and mature fruit trees. To protect these plants, you can use the strapping method. Each trunk must be tied with wormwood or spruce branches. These plants scare away rodents with their specific smell. The strapping should be carried out only with the onset of severe cold weather.
Cleaning tools and equipment
This is another important stage of the autumn work. At the end of work in the garden, you need to free all containers from water and turn them upside down. All gardening equipment must be carefully inspected and, if necessary, washed, dried, cleaned, sharpened, lubricated. During the spring sowing period, there will not be enough time for this.
In the fall, you need to take care of harvesting seeds and replenishing the supplies of drugs necessary for the garden (for example, a remedy for diseases and pests, laundry soap, soda, salt, tar).
Having worked well in the fall, you can make your work much easier in the spring.
