Get creative with your gardening project. Next season is a whole winter away. This gives gardeners and farmers alike ample time, roughly 3-4 months of composting that otherwise cannot be done during the productive months of the year.

Are you preparing a plot to raise vegetables, or fruit on for next year? Search around the property for old containers of soil, logs rotting down into a mulch texture, leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, and even your personal compostable trash such as paper, cardboard, leftover food, and ashes. At Growers Solution, we have many containers around that contain soil, and other possible soil amendments. I used what was laying around from the unused soil containers. I also added additional amendments such as worm castings, lime, pine bark, mulch, and even topsoil, which are always worth the effort and cost.

Preparing a hoop house in the autumn is a great opportunity to gain a lot of work with less effort. Mushroom compost and manures should be used sparingly. Remember that hay, and horse manure can be one of the best additions to any garden plot. Typically, the fall is a dry season, allowing the removal of plants to be easier than if it were started in the summer, or early spring. We dumped countless bins of unused soil in areas of the ground that looked heavy with red clay. Evenly rake them out with a yard rake. A tiller was brought to thoroughly mix the surface of the soil. After the ground was tilled, I dumped two yards worth of mulch in the center, and raked out a path between two large beds.

The last step always involves planting. For instance, here in the hoop house we are preparing it to be wrapped with greenhouse film for the winter. If you are unable to prepare a greenhouse over your newly established plot, sew cover crops such as barley, wheat grass, buckwheat, rye, clover, or an assortment of flowers like comfrey or nasturtium. These will begin to develop the important soil structure, and prevent nutrient loss from water and wind. Good luck next season and begin next year this moment.