The weather of September has helped gardens continue to grow and produce as long as you were able to supply needed water. Shorter days and cooler nights will now end most growth. Weeds, of course, are happily growing and making seeds for next year so they need to be removed and used to make fertilizer. Let’s remember that the best way to a healthy, productive garden is through healthy, fertile soil. October is a great time to get soil tested and start building soil fertility for next year.  The best way to improve soil fertility is with compost and “weed biofertilizer”. Both can be made at home, for free. Finally, as the leaves fall, use this great, free resource of nature as a soil builder instead of raking & bagging.

Soil Fertility    Fall is the best time to build soil fertility but it’s important to know what your soil condition is before adding anything.  The key soil characteristics gardeners care about are soil pH (acidity), soil nutrients, and organic matter content.  All of these are vital to healthy, productive soil and can be best improved before winter so everything will be ready in the spring.

Do a soil test to learn the health status of your soil.  The test results will tell you what amendments will be most effective.  Do not assume that adding some lime and fertilizer will work; it could be counter-productive and wasteful.  I don’t recommend using the inexpensive soil test kits sold in stores.  Soil testing is best done by a professional soil lab because their methods are more accurate and they provide specific recommendations for the plants you want to grow.

The University of Vermont testing lab offers a basic garden/lawn soil analysis for just $17 and includes pH, macronutrients, and other characteristics.  Download their order form and instructions (https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agricultural-and-environmental-testing-lab).  Send them about ½ cup of air-dried soil in a sealed plastic bag and the completed order form.  Results will come back by mail or by email within 1-2 weeks and provide recommendations for what and how much to apply.  Follow their instructions for How to Collect a Soil Sample, very important.

Fall is the best time to apply limestone to gardens and lawns because the change of soil pH will take several months.  Limestone applied now, if needed, with be well incorporated into the soil and have raised the pH by spring planting time.

Do not assume limestone will always help; there are two cases in which lime applications will not help:  1) the soil pH is already above 6.5 and raising it higher will reduce the availability of nutrients to your plants.  2) The plants that you are growing prefer acidic soil with a pH below 5.5.  This includes blueberries, raspberries, elderberries, blackberries, rhododendrons, azaleas, holly, and most potatoes.

Weed Fertilizer.  Do not stop weeding yet!  Weeds are now producing their seeds for next year’s growth. Weeds produce thousands of seeds per plant!  Do not allow weeds to go to seed in your garden, turn them into fertilizer!  Weeds are a rich source of mineral nutrients in a naturally balanced mix just right for your plants.  Here’s how:  1. Chop up enough weeds (leaves & roots) to fill a 5-gallon bucket, 2. Add a handful of mature compost or leaf mold, 3. Add enough water to fill up to 3 inches from the top, 4. Mix well and cover the bucket with its top or a board to keep out rain & critters.  This mix will begin fermenting and produce a rich “biofertilizer” full of minerals and beneficial bacteria for your garden soil.  After 2-3 weeks store the liquid in gallon jugs for next spring. Add the remaining solids to your compost. To use, dilute the tea 10 to 1 and pour onto your favorite shrubs, perennials and gardens.  Great weeds for this tea include dandelions, stinging nettle, burdock, or any weed you have lots of.  From the garden use carrot tops, bean/pea plants, and beet or radish greens.  Here is a good video to help you get started.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKoKC0vGkPo)

Tarping the garden.  If you would like to have less weeding and soil prep work in the spring, this is the answer.  After a garden bed or area has been harvested and cleared of weeds, I apply 1-2 inches of compost on top and then cover it with woven ground cover (available online and locally), weighed down with rocks along the edges and down the middle. Tarping blocks most fall and spring weed growth until the tarp is removed for spring planting.  The compost works its way into the soil and water can pass through the woven tarp, but there’s no sunlight to support weed growth.  In the spring the black tarps also help warm the soil for earlier planting. A little extra work covering the garden in the fall but a lot less work in the spring!

Got Leaves?  Make Compost!  Nature is now releasing leaves from trees to add fertility and build soil.  It is pretty amazing that plants produce their own food by photosynthesis and then feed the soil around them for all the beneficial fungi and bacteria that they partner with.  Compost those leaves into rich fertilizer instead of raking them.  Leave the leaves!

Not doing compost?  Mower shred all those leaves in place right on your lawn.  Chopped up fine they will enrich your soil (no fertilizers needed!), add organic matter to hold moisture in dry spells, and suppress weeds.  It’s a win-win-win!