How To Prepare Your Garden For Winter (Part Two)

Hey Guys,
I hope everyone is doing well.
This is the second half to the previous post all about preparing your garden for winter.
I wanted to split this piece into two parts so that reading such a long blog post doesn't become too overwhelming.

This time around we're going to be focusing on vegetable gardens.
so let's dive in once again:

1: Harvesting & Storing Vegetables- Tender vegetables do not tolerate frost so they should be harvested before the frost strikes. Pull out these vegetables and all crop debris. If any of your plants are diseased, either burn them or discard them in the trash. Do not leave infected plants in your garden, also do not add them to the compost pile.
Hardy vegetables on the other hand can tolerate hard frosts and can be left in the ground. They often taste better after a light frost.
2: Cover Up The Garden Beds- For vegetables gardens, another option is to simply cover your garden beds with black plastic or a layer of cardboard.. surprisingly even an old carpet will do the track, leaving it in place throughout the winter season and up until you're ready to plant again in the spring. This will kill existing weeds and subdue sprouting seeds.
3: Turn Off The Watering System- This is an important step in winter garden preparation because the last thing you want is for your hose or irrigation system to be connected when the weather turns really cold and begins to freeze because this can and will cause real damage if you're not careful! In warmer climates, you may be able to simply disconnect the system from a hose spigot and allow the water to drain out naturally, but for particularly cold climates, you will want to either blast all the water out with an air compressor or if that's simply not possible for you... the alternative is to bring everything inside for the winter. Do not leave watering systems connected over the winter!
4: Help Your Garden Helpers- During the warmer months of the year, you will find that a lot of wildlife will assist your garden in many different ways so when the weather turns colder, its our time to help those who have helped us. For wildlife, food sources are harder to find in winter so it's best to keep feeders topped up and clean. Birds especially appreciate fatty, high-energy foods during colder months. Establish a feeding routine, offer water, and regularly clean feeders and bird baths to maintain good hygiene.

This is just the beginning of a small mini-series that we will be looking at this we, it's all about preparing your garden for the various times of the year, next up is spring, but before we dive into that one, we're going to be taking a look at the benefits of a winter garden.

Thank You for reading,
until next time,
Kim