First frost withered the 26 tomato pants and 8 pepper plants a few weeks ago, signalling the end of the season in Lowarth a Winslow (that’s Garden of Winslow in Cornish). Paula came out to help me dig out the sweet potatoes — we got a full bushel of lovely sweet potatoes — and pulled out the dead vines and plants. Later, I mowed the lawn and threw the grass clippings in the garden.
This past weekend (Nov. 10) I mowed again, gathering the clippings and mowing over the fallen leaves and pitching those in the garden as well. The clippings and mulched leaves break down over the winter, adding nutrients and tilth to the soil. As the rest of my leaves from the maple out front fall, I’ll repeat the process until I run out gas — literally and figuratively.
The transition in the garden patch from vibrant green to withered brown, and eventually to a blanket of white as the snows come is nearly complete. It’s time for Mother Nature to do her work, and give my back a rest.
Unlike many, I welcome the snow (as long as I’m not driving in it). Snow is beneficial to gardeners in many ways; in fact, some people call it the “poor man’s fertilizer” in that it contains nitrogen, which is released into the soil as it melts. Snow also acts as an insulator to evergreen plants, preventing ice burn. The freezing and thawing cycle of winter improves the structure of the soil — the expanding and contracting of dirt moves nutrients deeper into the soil and helps break up compacted dirt. Under all that white, things are happening, without human labor.
The next few months will also give me a chance to review notes and pictures and draw up some plans for 2014. I’ll also have time to do research on plants I’d like to grow next year. Then the color transition will begin to reverse: white to brown to green. And probably some red and yellow and orange. Purple carrots, anyone?