What to do in the Veggie Garden At The End of the Season

A map of your garden will be a handy tool to plan next year's garden.

You don't need fancy software to make a map of the veggie garden.

1. Make a Map: Before deconstructing the veggie garden, do a quick sketch or at least take photos of where everything is so you don’t plant the same crop in the same space next year. Rotating crops reduces diseases and insects on next year’s veggies, plus it reduces nutrient deficiencies. To learn more about vegetable gardening click on Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting

A November harvest.

Huge leaves from Swiss Chard are ready to eat.

2. Harvest:  Gather any remaining crops and discard any unhealthy ones including those lying on the ground. If you are unsure on when to harvest specific crops click on Harvesting.

Broccoli is hardy, so don't pull it out of the garden until it peters out.

Carrots taste sweeter if they are left in the ground when the weather gets downright cold.

​3. ​Crops to Keep: Brussel sprouts, chard, cabbage, turnips, kale & carrots become tastier with a slight frost so keep on harvesting as long as the plants are producing and tasting good. For more on veggie gardening click here.

A messy garden still has lots to offer, once it is tidied up.

The same veggie patch is all cleaned up including the cool season crops: kale, chard and broccoli.

4. Clean & Tidy: Unlike garden beds, veggie gardens need to be cleaned of all debris. This reduces overwintering diseases and insects. The only exceptions are crops that are still viable and don’t mind the cold: Brussel sprouts, chard, cabbage, turnips, kale & carrots. Be vigilant cleaning up debris from tomato plants, including any fruit that are on the ground.
5. Weed: Make sure you get all their roots, any runners, flowers and seed heads. For seedy areas, sprinkle corn gluten on top of the soil to prevent remaining weed seeds from germinating. Corn gluten is available where garden products are sold. 

Don't pull beans out by the roots!

Nodules on bean roots contain nitrogen.

6. Peas, beans and other legumes: ​Instead of pulling up your peas and beans at the end of the season, leave the roots in the soil. As members of the legume family, these miracles of nature possess the ability to absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in their roots in tiny nodules. This is referred to as nitrogen fixation. To keep the nitrogen nodules in the soil, just cut off the above ground portion of the plant instead of pulling them up.

Hay is very weedy, so use straw instead.

Protect the soil and remaining plants with a thick layer of fall leaves.

Cardboard is another option to prevent fallow soil over the winter.

7. Protect the Soil: Once veggie beds have been cleaned up, cover the soil with 3 inches of straw, fall leaves or shredded newspaper. The thicker the better. I like to stomp it down then water it thoroughly to help keep it in place. This prevents heavy rains from leaching away nutrients, eroding soil and weeds from taking hold. 

Crimson clover adds nitrogen to the soil.

Buckwheat is a short term crop that decomposes quickly, benefiting the soil.

8. Plant cover crops such as crimson clover in September at the latest. A good source for cover crops is West Coast Seeds. ​

Separate individual cloves from garlic heads before planting.

Plant garlic now to harvest in summer.

9. Plant garlic! Select a well-drained, sunny site and add some compost, as they are heavy feeders. Break apart the cloves from the bulb and plant them 2 to 3 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches apart. Don’t forget to label! Harvest next summer.

A plastic covered cloche keeps rain off plants, but it offers little insulation.

Veggies are warmer topped with a spun-bonded polyester (Reemay cloth) and mulched with straw.

10: Protect Crops: Protect kale and other overwintering crops with row covers (cloches) made of hoops covered with spun-bonded polyesters or plastic. The fabric is a better choice as it allows water and to penetrate and helps insulate against the cold. 

It's important to remove all tomato debris from the garden.

Save those tomato seeds.

11. Tomato Clean-up: To prevent overwintering insects, diseases and any volunteer seedlings that may pop up next year clean up ALL tomato debris including any left on the ground. If you want to save the seeds of tasty tomatoes for next year click here to learn how. 
12: Remove supports: Take away the supports from plants that no longer need them such as tomato cages and trellises for cucumbers and other climbing veggies. Wash or spray with 50/50 Lysol and water solution, dry and store. 

Cut up plant pieces and don't add seedy, buggy and infested plant parts.

After turning the compost, cover it with fallen leaves or torn up newspaper.

​13. Composting Crop Debris: Break and cut up non-buggy and disease-free plants into smaller pieces before putting them in the compost bin. Avoid adding ripe tomatoes and potato skins if the compost isn’t hot enough (43°C to 60°C (110°F to 140°F)) to kill them.  For more on composting, click here. 

SeaSoil combines waste from the lumber & fishing industry and makes a nutritious soil amendment.

Composted manure is a non-burning and safe soil amendment.

Worm castings are an excellent addition to all soils.

14: Feed the Soil: Mix in at least a couple of inches of compost, well-rotted manure, SeaSoil and other organic matter into the soil now so you won’t have to do it in spring. For more on how to improve soil click on Soil Building. To learn how to make compost tea, a nutritional treat for soils, click here.  ​

Lasagna gardening (sheet mulching) is a no-dig method of making new garden beds.

A successful garden bed made without digging.

15. Make New Beds: Need more room to plant more crops? There’s no need to dig up the lawn, in fact, there’s no need to dig at all, when you use the lasagna gardening (sheet mulching) method. It’s a quick, easy and efficient way to new gardens. ​

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To learn more about veggie gardening check out the following links: 
- Growing Food - Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting - Harvesting - Growing Potatoes - 
Winter Veggie Gardening - Taming Tomatoes - Speeding up Tomato Harvest - Tomato Troubles - Saving Tomato Seeds