Isn’t fall the best? The changing seasons, cooler weather, garden harvests and all those pumpkin flavored things!
We love fall because it's when the real party starts for gardeners that care about their soil's health. Taking the proper steps in our gardens in the fall pays dividends in the next growing season.
If you are already a gardener that practices fall amending your beds, high fives from us! Fall is an important time to amend our existing garden beds as you can read about in our blog post: The Difference Between Dirt and Soil. But, have you ever thought about building an entirely new garden bed in the fall?
Below you will find 4-ish reasons why fall is the absolute best time to put in a new garden bed:
1) Your soil's microorganisms have time to become one big happy family. When you build a new garden bed in the fall you allow the microorganisms present in the soil below and in your garden bed to become well acquainted. The microorganisms will push and pull the nutrients up and down, allowing things to mix together. This process will leave you with healthy soil to plant into come spring.
a) Got leaves? You can also take advantage of the fallen biomass that is all around you. Spreading leaves over the garden bed will add a plethora of microorganisms that will help to feed your plants come spring!
2) The freeze-thaw process through the winter will boost your soil's structure. Your garden soil will have its micropores filled with water in the early winter days. As the freeze-thaw cycle occurs, those pores expand and contract, breaking the soil into smaller aggregates. This process will lead to better soil structure for your plant roots come spring!
3) Your soil will be quick to warm in the Spring. Once spring comes around, the sun will warm the soil in your fall-built raised garden bed faster than the ground around it. With warmer soil, you will be able to get a jump on your growing season.
4) There's an opportunity for an extra harvest. If you build your garden bed in early fall, you can get a growing season out of your bed. Some cold-tolerant leafy green plants can survive deep into fall. If you build your bed late into fall, you can plant seeds that will overwinter. These seeds will take advantage of the spring moisture and warm soil and will provide you with an earlier and often bigger crop. Beets, carrots, garlic, and onions can all be fall sown in your garden beds.
Most gardeners or prospective gardeners are busy. It comes with the territory. If this was the year that you were going to put in a garden bed, but life got in the way, take advantage of putting in a fall garden bed now. Your spring self will thank you. Shop our complete garden kits and let us deliver everything you need to start a new garden bed.
As our Moms always say, “never put off until tomorrow what you can do today!”