How to prepare your vegetable garden for winter?

The drop in temperatures, the first frosts and the reduction in sunshine are the first signs that characterize the approach of winter.... and I won't teach you anything by telling you that this period of the year is not really conducive to gardening. However, there are techniques you can implement now, in particular to improve the quality of your soil for next year but also take advantage of some harvests during this approaching cold period. Let's take a tour!

Harvesting and protecting vegetables

Start by making room in the vegetable garden by harvesting the last of the vegetables, especially the summer varieties. These crops will produce virtually nothing at this time unless you are lucky enough to enjoy a Mediterranean climate. If you are in the North or in a colder region, don't hope any more which still populate your plants after mid-October. Likewise, zucchini will probably no longer have time to mature even if a small fruit begins to form at the base of a beautiful yellow female flower.

If you have started growing fall vegetables (turnips, carrots, spinach, leeks, etc.) and winter vegetables (salads, leeks, Brussels sprouts, curly green cabbages, headed cabbages, etc.), you can protect them by placing a winter cover when temperatures drop. This allows you to increase the heat thanks to the greenhouse effect and thus promote faster growth of your plants. In addition, less resistant vegetables will be protected from light frosts thanks to the tarpaulin which will maintain a higher soil temperature.

Clean the garden

Autumn is also a good time to clean up your vegetable garden. For my part, I pull out all the summer vegetable plants at the beginning of October (except in the greenhouse): powdery mildew affects the zucchini plants, the tomatoes no longer turn red, the eggplants turn brown... You can also pick the yellowed leaves that start to pile up on your lawn and trim the hedges to make BRF using a good shredder. 

STOP!!! Do not take these plants to the local recycling center. All this organic waste should be kept, for example in a compost bin or by letting it decompose on the growing beds that you will not use this winter. They will serve as food for the earth and will improve the structure of your soil and its richness in nutrients for next year.

Prepare the ground for next year!

Amendment is a process of improving soil fertility by modifying its biology, chemistry or structure. It is ideally done during the fall. Depending on the crops in your vegetable garden, you can use compost, manure, green manures and the many plants from your garden to cover the soil and regenerate it.

1. Pass the grelinette

If you choose to cover your soil or plant green manure, do not hesitate to use a grelinette beforehand to aerate the soil. It is an ecological technique and very beneficial to crops since it promotes the proliferation of microorganisms located in the first 15 centimeters. Conversely, turning over the soil removes these precious allies that are so useful to your vegetable garden.

2. Bring compost

Have you installed a compost bin in your vegetable garden? Perfect ! Start by collecting compost that has matured. It is generally located at the bottom of the tank and is very dark in color. Then all you have to do is fill a wheelbarrow and take it near your growing bed. With a rake, spread enough compost on the earth to encourage the development of the microorganisms necessary for the fertility of the earth. Compost should therefore not be buried in the ground, contrary to many beliefs!

3. Bring manure

Are you lucky enough to live in the countryside? Good news, some equestrian centers provide horse manure for free so don’t hesitate to ask them. Warning: this one is too rich to use immediately in the vegetable garden. We recommend letting it “ripen” for at least a year before spreading it on a future growing area. 

Please note that some equestrian centers administer medications and antibiotics to their horses. Even though their active ingredient will break down over time, some prefer not to use manure from treated animals. It's up to you... Not having a trailer, I buy bags containing granules of manure (mixture of horses, cattle, chickens) which I place on a growing area that I found less productive this year.

4a. Mulch the vegetable garden

Mulching is a technique of covering the earth with mulch. These mulches can be composed of organic or mineral materials. To protect the soil of your vegetable garden from frost, heavy rain, leaching, and winter erosion, you can choose between sawdust, wood chips, vegetable crop residues, dead leaves, brown cardboard, straw, the size of your hedges transformed into BRF and mowing grass. The thickness of your mulch must be at least 7 cm and it is best to vary your contributions between "brown" and "green" waste in order to encourage composting on site. will give you lots of advice on mulching .

4b. Sow green manure!

Rather than mulching the vegetable garden, you can also choose to sow green manure on the plots vacated before mid-October. It is a plant sown with the aim of nourishing and protecting the soil. Used widely in the agricultural world, this technique is devilishly effective even in your small vegetable garden. I've been testing it for three years now and I've really noticed the benefits over the years. 

The choice of green fertilizers is wide. Most often, legumes are grown at the end of summer to nourish the land. They fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and once cut, they release the minerals they contain. These minerals are then absorbed by microorganisms, which increases the biological activity of the soil. The roots of these legumes decompact the soil in depth during their growth and therefore, they participate in its structuring and protection for the fall. 

For my part, I try to alternate green fertilizers each year. I sometimes choose mustard (see photo), phacelia or even a vetch + rye mixture which has the advantage of being able to be sown later. Rather than buying seeds from a garden center or online, I go directly to the local farmer who offers these seeds at a much more affordable price.

I hope that this article has allowed you to learn more about preparing your vegetable garden for next year! Do you have questions or suggestions? Feel free to indicate them in the comments! =)