Putting the Market Garden to Bed

Planting Spring Garlic

This has been a very strange fall harvesting season. We are now into the first week of November and have yet to have a hard frost. This means that I’ve continued to harvest some of the veggies, for example the Swiss Chards, Celery and Lettuce. Other vegetables, such as the Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Okra are done for the season. My flowers are also finished except for the Snag Dragons and Merigolds. I’ve been waiting for the first frost to put the Market Garden to bed for the season and start prepping for next year. Monday morning, we had our first real freeze, Tuesday morning brought our first, albeit light, snow. So, it’s time to start this process.

Earlier this fall Andy and I identified what we will grow next year. I’ve also determined the veggie rotation, and which row will be home to which vegetables. The one vegetable I was less successful at growing this year was garlic. This challenge has motivated me to try again next year only this time with Spring garlic varieties. This includes a Spanish Roja, Music, California Early and Elephant garlic.  The garlic is in row three and is where I have started to work. I learned from Jamie the farmer of Blaine’s farm store, that root vegetables like garlic do not need to be planted in weed barrier and do better when it is not. So, with this new piece of knowledge, Andy and I pulled out the spent sunflower stocks and lettuce that I finished harvesting and cut out a section of the weed barrier. To ensure the edges of the barrier that remain stay put in the wind, I staked it down. I raked the uneven ground filling any holes where plants use to be. Next, I unpack the broad fork we bought last spring, and never used I might add. Using the broad fork, I loosen the soil. I grabbed a two by four and marked off five-inch sections down the length of the board. I learned this little trick from both Monty Don from Gardener’s World and Erin from Floret! I then place the board, tick side up, down the length of the vegetable bed. Once in place, I took a small shovel and dug a shallow trench on either side of the board. With this done, I unpacked the garlic bulbs and broke apart the cloves. I placed each individual clove at the five-inch mark down the board. I put a stake at the end of each row and labeled which garlic was in that row and put the date it was planted on the back of the stake. Next, I removed the two by four and covered the garlic with soil. I repeated this process with each new garlic variety until I ran out of space. I then placed a layer of straw over the top to help insulate the bulbs and protect the soil from eroding in the wind.  

Now that the spring garlic is planted, I am pulling out the spent foliage in the rest of the rows. Most of this will go into the compost bin excluding the squash that were infected with squash bugs and the Zinnia’s that picked up leafy mildew/mold near the end of the season. Those plants will go into the burn pile so as not to infect the compost with the bugs and or disease. With that clean up completed, my plan is to get the beds ready for next spring, this includes pulling the metal posts that are in rows three, six and seven and reuse them to build out the arched trellis’ in row six. I also need to move row one over a foot or two so there is more space between the raised herb bed and this row. Adding the herb bed was an afterthought last Spring and although a successful addition, it crowded the space between row one and the raised bed.

The other things I’m planning on doing this fall include building raised bed frames for the hoop house, one for either side of the house on the interior. I’m doing this for two reasons; one I’m going to experiment with growing winter lettuce in there; and two create more structural support for the tomatoes next summer! I also want to build three square raised beds for some of the cut flowers. The raised beds will be shorter in design and thus allow me to move more easily around the flowers when I cut them.

With all that work completed or perhaps I should say when it is completed, I think the Market Garden will be ready for the winter! Of course, then it’s onto the next garden project which is to start prepping the soft fruit section for spring planting. My goal with that is to get ahead of the game and get the weed barrier down for each of those beds so they can start solarizing the hay underneath it. This will help amend the soil and hopefully burn the weeds that are underneath the barrier. Then it’s back to building the potting shed and putting down the rest of the weed barrier and mulch around Posh Cottage!

It is safe to say there is always something new to do on the farm!