Putting the Garden to Bed

 

Steve sowing winter rye on the garden.  Photo by Jerry Apps

Putting our garden to bed is an annual event that we have followed for more than fifty years at Roshara.  It involves several steps, followed carefully each fall, usually in early October.

The first step is to remove the electric fence, with its skinny steel posts and two wires that surround the garden from the time of planting to autumn, when the garden season ends.  The electric wires, the first one about four feet above the ground, the second one about a foot off the ground successfully keep out the deer and wild turkeys.  But not the rabbits.  This year, for the first time ever, we had a problem with rabbits chewing on our broccoli and cabbage plants.  Somehow, they missed the beans.

Next, we remove all the vines from the pumpkins, squash, and gourds along with the tomato and potato vines.  These are taken a distance away from the garden, as they often contain diseases. especially blight.

These days, my son, Steve does most of this work. I mostly watch.  He cuts the sweet corn stalks into little pieces, which he leaves on the ground.  He also leaves the grass-mulching materials that surrounded the tomato, cabbage, and broccoli plants.  With the rototiller, he works the garden, burying the mulching material and corn stalks.

Finally, he sows winter rye over the entire garden, providing a cover crop for the winter. Once sowed, he works in the seeds with the rototiller. Next spring he’ll work the green rye into the soil, adding more organic material to our sandy Waushara County soil.

Another job finished for the season.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: We know that fall is  here when the garden is put to bed.

COMING EVENTS:

Thursday, October 15, 11:00 a.m. (Virtual) Fox Cities Book Festival. When the White Pine was King.  Click on the following to sign up. https://foxcitiesbookfestival.org/authors/jerry-apps-2/

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING: A HISTORY OF LUMBERJACKS, LOG DRIVES, AND SAWDUST CITIES IN WISCONSIN and CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition).

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.