Composting in Place to Winterize Your Garden
Fall is a great time to invest in your garden soil. Adding soil amendments in the fall gives them time to decompose and improve your soil over the winter months, so everything is ready to go come springtime. Compost and aged manure are great ways to improve soil fertility and structure. But you can also chop up and incorporate leaves, cover crop, and no longer producing vegetable crops straight into the soil. This is called composting in place. Given a few months, this organic plant material will break down, feed soil organisms, and integrate into the structure of the soil.
When winterizing your garden bed, most people take out plants no longer producing and throw them in the compost bin, only later to buy compost from somewhere else, often wrapped in plastic. What’s more, even the most efficient home compost system can quickly become overwhelmed by all the plant matter that comes out of the garden at the end of the season. This video below shows a great alternative for those looking to winterize their garden plot, improve their garden soil, and reduce garden waste all at the same time.
Let’s Review
A great alternative to ripping out all of the plants no longer producing in the garden at the end of the season is to chop them up with a sharp-edged shovel and incorporate them directly into the soil. Just remember to chop all plant matter up into small pieces so it decomposes faster. Also, don’t incorporate weeds, diseased, or pest-covered plants.
Adding compost and organic matter is often a cure-all for ailing soil. Here’s how:
Adds nitrogen and other nutrients back into the soil
Moves soil pH towards a level ideal for many fruits and vegetables
Feeds soil organisms and builds a healthy soil community
Loosens tight clay and help soil hold more water
Makes the soil easier to dig
What Organic Matter to Add:
Leaves
Grass clippings (A lot of lawns are treated with chemical fertilizers and herbicides. Make sure to do your due-diligence when sourcing grass clippings!)
Winter and summer squash vines
Cucumber vines
Green beans
Lettuce, kale, or chard leaves
Carrot, radish, or beet tops
Partially decomposed compost. The remainder of the decomposition process will occur in your plot!
What NOT To Add:
Any of the above listed plants that have pests or disease
Weeds (dandelions that have not gone to seed are OK to add)
Tough and fibrous flower or vegetable stems kale stems, Brussels sprout stems, corn stalks, and tomato plants
Straw and wood chips - both of these materials are too high in carbon and will sap your soil of available nitrogen, which is exactly what the vegetable garden needs.
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