Clean out your Garden!

 My little gardener helped me harvest the last of the vegetables!  Its been fun to see how excited he gets about helping in the garden and next year is going to be even more fun.  We are thinking of either dedicating a portion of a raised bed for him to plant or adding one small bed in the center of the garden for him to dig around in.

5 Eggplant, Green Beans and Tomatoes

This is the time of year when I get slightly bummed out about having to dig out all the plants and the last of the flowers.  Its time and everything is ready to be pulled up, but I always wish things could stay warmer just a bit longer! 

You may be asking.....why do you have to clean out the beds?  Can't you just leave everything to decompose until spring?  Well you could do that but that may also cause pests, weeds and diseases to overwinter in your beds and then when the temperature warms up in the spring you have problems to deal with!

There isn't anything difficult about cleaning out the beds you just need to find the time to get it done.  I prefer to clean them out before it gets uncomfortably cool outside.  One thing to remember is this: don't compost plant material or flowers if the plant has had any type of disease or infestation.  (You don't want any diseases or problems when you spread your compost on your beds in the spring!)  Its best to have a clean start to the year. Instead put that plant material in a brown yard bag and take it to your curb for the trash to pick up. 

The last of the blooming Zinnias