With wintertime sadly draw ever closer – we began the appendage of putting the garden , garden tools , farm hand truck and tractor to bed for a winter ’s rest .
One of the best things you’re able to do if you are a gardener is to take a small time in the fall to take maintenance of the puppet and equipment that take attention of you .
Putting The Garden To Bed
A nice protective and nutritious coat of annual rye now grows in our planting rows – protecting the soil for the long winter months.
A dainty protective and nutritious coat of annual rye whisky now grows in our planting rows – protecting the soil for the long winter months .
Now that the covering crops are growing in all of the planting quarrel – the only chore leave in the garden is to apply a thick mulch to our fall onion and garlic rows – and mulch the walking rows .
Hand Tools :
A little fall TLC on the tractor and other equipment goes a long way in keeping them running
Since our entire garden is nearly work with bridge player tools – keeping them sharp and well cared for is a must .
Before pay heed them up in the barn for the winter – we will clean off and sharpen the blade on all of our shovel , rakes , hoe ’ , clippers , etc .
We then hold a flimsy coating of oil on all of the metal blades and tips to keep any rust through the winter months . A prompt mist nebulizer of WD-40 or 3 - in-1 oil colour is all it bring to keep them rust free .
Our “new” old corn crib structure…not used to hold corn, but leaves for use in our compost bin. We made it from old barn wood – and it can store tons of leaves for use throughout the fall and next summer.
Mowers , String Trimmers and Tractor .
A little crepuscule TLC on the tractor and other equipment goes a long agency in keeping them running
These all get the same treatment – a thorough cleaning and sharpening of blades before storing them away .
It just seems easier in the slow stride of spill to take off the blades and perform the necessary vegetable oil changes and greasing . It cause it nice and promiscuous to be ready to cast come the confidence game of outflow .
For all of the gas engines we use – we follow a simple procedure . alternatively of sum up any fuel additives to the existing gun – we unravel them dry during their last manipulation -and park them in the b – preventing bad gas and laborious start in the give .
Learning our Lesson from the Mice
The computer mouse took a cost last year on our truck and inside the barn .
The original plan was to get a barn cat or two – but that will have to wait until next twelvemonth . Although – we do have one of the neighbor computerized tomography that has been lurking in ours – and we are more than o.k. with him shoot the breeze anytime he wants .
We put dryer sheets and camphor ball inside the truck now , along with a few computer mouse traps to keep the critters from taking up residence in the winter .
amass Leaves to Mulch , Insulate And Store :
Our “ new ” old corn whiskey pony anatomical structure … not used to halt corn , but leaves for manipulation in our compost bin . We made it from old barn wood – and it can stash away gobs of leafage for consumption throughout the fall and next summer .
With falling leaves in teemingness right now – our crusade by locality collections have begun . We look for bagged leaves awaiting metropolis blame up at house with lots of maple , ash tree or fruit tree in the yard .
Leaves are one of the best and cheapest ( actually spare ) way to help the garden soil . Usually in about an hour – we have enough collected to fill the quondam farm truck and keep us with leaves throughout the yr .
We practice them anywhere and everywhere we can – as mulch and as a principal component for our compost bin . We will tear up many of them with the lawnmower and then use them as the mulch for our fall planted onions and Allium sativum .
We also place a thick covering of leaf in the walk of the garden rows . They do a swell job of smothering any weed – and then in the outpouring we just top it off with a little straw .
The straw is easygoing to walk on and provides a great and tidy top bed during the spring up time of year – but the leave do a better job of muffle out any widow’s weeds – and they are liberal !
Last but not least , we then use all of the extra leaves we can find to sate our “ leafage ” corn crib we build from erstwhile barn wood .
It is build up in the precise way of an old fashioned corn crib – and we use it storage 100 ’s of suitcase of collected leaves that we can store to apply next year throughout the summer.(See : compost Leaves )
Putting Away The Rest .
Last but not least- it was prison term to put out all of the outdoor tables , chairs , grill , garden markers and everything else that could be stored .
We clean them off , and bring them in to prevent older man winter from shortening their life span ! It commonly only takes a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. to discharge everything , but with most of our equipment on the farm serve it ’s second or third life – it pays immense dividends in save money on experience to replace things due to uncalled-for wintertime wear .
Happy horticulture ! ! ! – Jim and Mary
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