Episode 10: Preparing Your Garden for Winter

August 31, 2020 Victory Garden for ME

In this episode of Victory Garden for ME, learn about how to build and manage a compost pile, sheet mulching techniques to establish new garden beds, planting a fall cover crop or mulching your garden to prevent soil erosion, reconditioning your garden tools at the end of the season, and more!

Helpful Tips and Resources:

If your harvest is extra abundant this year, check out this video: Victory Gardens for Maine # 8, What to do with your Harvest

Think about donating to your local food pantry. Learn more at Maine Harvest for Hunger.

If you have a lot of plant debris, fall is a great time to build a new compost pile.Here’s How Compost Happens. Here’s how: Home Composting.

Sheet mulching (AKA lasagna gardening) uses organic matter to build a medium for plants. Here’s a step-by-step Sheet mulching fact sheet from Oregon State Extension.

Fall is a good time to test your soil. Here’s where you can order a soil test kit or print your own form (PDF) with instructions. If your soil test recommends manure for organic matter, be sure to follow Guidelines for using Manure in the Home Garden. Episodes 3 & 8 of the Victory Garden for Maine Series also touches on this topic.

Cover crops reduce erosion, sequester nutrients and compete against weeds. When worked into the soil, they’re called green manures. For success, cover crops should be chosen based on your soil’s needs and how easy they’ll be to manage.

Choose mulches based on what characteristics you’re looking for.

Here are tips and tricks on getting your garden tools ready for next season, how to clean and sharpen your pruners, and how to clean your garden tools.

Here’s a handy guide to keeping a garden record book.

Fall is the time to plant hardneck garlic in Maine. It’s also when to plant flower bulbs of all kinds to enjoy in the spring.

More resources are available on UMaine Cooperative Extension’s website and in the video description. If you enjoyed this Victory Garden for ME series, please help us out by filling out the quick survey in the video description. And thank you!