Don't forget the garden

It is fall and time to clean out your garden and get ready for spring. Now I know that spring is a log way off but there are some things that you should be doing now. First lets just clean up the place, pull down the vines, and get the weeds down. trim up the raspberries, and mulch down the blackberry brambles. Next let us go ahead and get the soil test done and apply the lime or soil amendments spreading the lime and mulching with new leaves. If you want garlic and sweet onions then go ahead and prepare the soil and plant them now they will get a big jump on spring and make the bulbs you love so well. Leaves are abundant now and it is time to start composting them for spring. Find a supply of horse manure and a supply of leaves, then layer them about one foot thick with a good six inches of manure, wet the pile so it is moist not wet and repeat the process till you get a pile about 3 feet high and wide. In a couple of days the pile will get smoking hot and steam will be rising off of it. In about three weeks turn it over putting the top on the bottom and the bottom on top. do this about every three weeks and you will have beautiful leaf compost come spring. I like to rototill my beds now and place a good cover of leaves and manure for some sheet composting directly in the garden bed. Turning them over in spring. It does not take long for you to do these chores and we can't hunt most Sundays so get crackin!