The last potatoes have been collected and stored; Only lamb's lettuce and lettuce as well as winter spinach grow in the autumn sun. It's time to winterize the bed and prepare it for the next harvest season.
How do I prepare my vegetable patch in autumn?
To prepare the vegetable patch in autumn, harvest all vegetables in good time, loosen or dig up the soil, sow green manure and add a protective mulch layer of straw, leaves or crop residues. Avoid additional fertilization until spring.
The Last Harvest
Cucumbers, herbs and eggplants are harvested in good time before the threat of night frosts. You should also bring celeriac and beets into the house and store them.
Tomatoes and peppers continue to develop flowers and fruit in frost-free weather. These are only picked when the first night frost has been reported. Place the fruits in a sunny window, where they will continue to ripen a little. Alternatively, you can make a delicious jam from unripe tomatoes, which enriches the winter menu with its exquisite aroma.
Dig up or is it better not to dig?
Whether you have to completely dig up the bed or just loosen it up a little depends on the structure of the soil:
- Heavy soils are dug up, otherwise there is a risk of siltation. Loosen the bed with the spade to a depth of around 20 centimeters. This can cause frost to spread through the ground. As the water expands, the clods of earth break up (frost freeze) and the next spring the earth is finely crumbly.
- Normal soil, on the other hand, can be loosened a little with the digging fork (€139.00 on Amazon). Take this opportunity to incorporate some manure or mature compost soil.
Green manure for strong vegetable plants
With green manure you can give the harvested vegetable patch new strength for the next garden year in autumn. Sow:
- Yellow Lupine
- Persian clover
- Yellow mustard
- or Phacelia.
These plants grow quickly, loosen the soil with their roots and can be incorporated after a few weeks when digging. The soil organisms convert the green manure into humus and release valuable nutrients.
The right winter protection
A protective mulch layer made of straw, leaves or crop residues protects the soil in the cold season and provides it with additional nutrients.
Tip
Apart from green manure or some incorporated compost, no additional fertilization is necessary in autumn. Only in spring, when you prepare the bed for the next harvest season, will you fertilize.