8 Fall Season Tips

8 Tips for fall season:

Fall is in full effect! Here are some tips to prepare your beds and plants for the chillier season that is upon us. Designer and installer, Kevin Feinstein, has some tips to share with you.1. This is a good time to sow winter cover crops, such as winter rye, wheat, oats, barley, daikon radish, field mustard, vetch, clover, or Austrian field peas. This will protect the soil from erosion in the spring. It will also add nutrients to the soil; it’s a win-win!2. Placing mulch around perennials such as fruit trees protects the soil and provides some additional warmth for more cold-sensitive plants.3. You may want to bring inside your house, or in a greenhouse, any potted plants that are not cold hardy for your winters, so that they do not die.4. It’s the time to harvest anything that might be damaged by the upcoming frost, or freezes. That is for anything you choose not to bring indoors of course.5. If you are going to be using season extensions, such as high or low tunnels, over your beds, now is the time to install them. 6. Cleaning up any old crops or debris for the compost pile is always a good step to include in the fall preparation for winter. If any crops are diseased, it is best to burn them, or at least remove them from the site at this time as well.7. Save any seeds that you need or want to. This is one of the best ways to save money and ensure you know exactly what you will be planting the following season.  By planting seeds from plants on your site, future plants will be locally adapted, and thus, more hardy and vibrant!8. Labelling any plants that might go dormant, so that you will not forget what they are and can't tell when they are dormant, is always a good practice.