Fall Clean Up for Michigan Kitchen and Vegetable Gardens
Depending on what you plant, Fall gardens will still grow into November and survive a few mild frosts. Here in Michigan, you can actually continue to grow throughout the cold months using season extenders.
If you are not extending your season and are ready to prepare your kitchen garden for winter, here is your fall clean-up to-do list.
Remove any dead plants that didn’t survive frost by cutting at the soil. Leave the roots. They will decompose and feed your soil.
Include these trimmings with your yard waste OR add them to your home compost bin. Remember to also save brown leaves to add carbon to your compost throughout the winter if you compost at home. This will also great nutrient dense compost that you can top your garden with in the spring.
Add a layer of mulch or compost to preserve your soil, and build your soil nutrients over the winter. If you are not using homemade compost you can usually find Mushroom Compost available at local garden centers. To mulch your garden beds naturally try using shredded leaves! For one, leaves are free. But more importantly, the leaves will feed your soil a wider range of essential nutrients than most packaged fertilizers offer, while also feeding beneficial microbes and improving the overall structure to retain more water.
TIP: LEAF MULCHING CAN BE SUPER EASY
My favorite way to naturally mulch my beds is utilizing my leaf vacuum! It automatically mulches the leaves into small pieces in an attached bag. Just unzip and pour on top of your garden beds! You can find “leaf vacuums” online or at local hardware stores
