How to Prepare Your Soil in the Fall
The number one secret to success for any home gardener lies in having good soil. No, scratch thatโฆ It lies in BUILDING good soil. Because even if you start out with the best soil on Earth, if you continue to grow in the same soil season after season without amending it or adding in any nutrients, eventually it will become not-so-good soil, and youโll get not-so-good production out of your garden.
Plants are just like us: they need good nutrition to survive and thrive. The only difference is that we take in nutrients through our mouths, while they get their nutrition through their roots, by taking up nutrients from the soil. In turn, they grow bigger and produce more, and contain more nutrients for us to consume with our mouths when we harvest our crops!
Then we add our leftover, nutrient-rich veggie scraps to our compost or feed them to our chickens (who turn them into manure) and eventually it all makes its way back to our garden beds to help a new round of crops grow and thrive.
Itโs kinda the circle of life, and it all begins and ends with healthy soil.
Needless to say, putting in a little time and effort building up your soil definitely pays off in the long run. So before you finish with your garden for the winter, take a little time this fall to enrich and improve your soil and youโll undoubtedly thank yourself next spring and summer.
Related: 10 Fall Gardening Tips For A Productive Garden Next Year
There are a few things you can and should do in the fall to ensure rich, fertile soil come spring. While you can technically do some of these things before planting in the spring or at other times of year, the best time to focus on improving soil is in the fall so that any amendments that you add have ample time to break down over the winter and ensure your soil is ready for planting come spring.
How to prepare (and improve) your garden soil in the fall
Once youโve tidied your garden, weeded it one last time and pulled out any summer annuals, there are a couple more things youโll want to do to make sure your soil is ready to produce another abundant harvest next season.
Add organic matter
The first is to add organic matter. This could be in the form of compost, manure, mulch or a cover crop, all of which Iโll go into in more detail below.
Adding organic matter is important because this is how you add nutrients back into your soil.
Organic matter is the foundation of healthy soil, and is basically what makes the difference between soil and dirt. Soil is alive and full of organic matter. Soil grows healthy, productive crops. Dirt is dead, and wonโt grow much of anything at all.
Cover your soil
The second is to cover your soil, which can either be done with mulch or by planting a cover crop.
Covering your soil (and not leaving it exposed) helps to protect the soil from weed seeds that might otherwise fall on bare soil and germinate in your garden. It also helps keep the soil structure intact and prevents erosion of nutrients, and prevents the soil from compacting too much over the winter months.
Other ways to amend your soil in the fall
These first two steps are pretty much non-negotiable if youโre serious about gardening and building healthy soil, however it must be said that there is one more thing you might want to consider doing to improve your soil in the fall, and thatโs to actually test your soil PH and test for any specific deficiencies, and then add amendments to help balance the PH or to help with those deficiencies.
So, for example, if your soil is high in most nutrients but low in nitrogen, you could add amendments like blood meal or chicken manure. Likewise, if your soil is too alkaline you could add elemental sulfur to lower the PH and make it more acidic. Or if itโs too acidic you can add lime (as in limestone) to raise the PH and make it more alkaline.
Honestly though, thatโs getting a bit more technical than I want to get here, and unless you suspect you have a specific deficiency, adding organic matter and covering your soil with a natural cover is really all you need to do to ensure your soil is ready for planting come spring.
Alright, letโs get into the nitty gritty of how to prepare your soil in the fallโฆ
4 ways to improve your soil in the fall
1. Add compost
Whether you have a compost pile of your own or you purchase organic compost from your garden centre or from a nearby farm or supplier, adding compost to your garden beds in the fall is one of the easiest and most popular ways to add organic matter and nutrients to your soil.
You can use your own compost, which ideally should be a mixture of about 25 to 30 parts carbon (dead, brown material) to one part nitrogen (fresh, green material). But donโt worry too much about knowing the exact ratio. As long as your compost resembles dark, fluffy soil (and not stinky, sludgy slime), well then your ratios are probably pretty bang on and you can go ahead and add that homemade black gold to your garden beds:)
Otherwise, you can choose from various types of compost (ie. mushroom compost, fish compost etc.) and purchase bags from your local garden centre.
Add a thick layer of compost (2-3 inches, ideally) right on top of your soil. You donโt need to till it or even turn it in. As you water and/or the rains come over the winter, the nutrients in the compost will get watered into the soil and will replenish it for planting next spring.
2. Add manure
You can also add manure instead of compost in the fall if you choose. Honestly, aged manure (aka. โcompostedโ or โrottedโ manure) is just another type of compost anyway, so you can add one or the other, or even blend a mixture of the two. All of it will add nutrients to your soil.
Chicken manure, cow manure and horse manure are the best options (although horse manure is cautioned against because it can contain hay seeds that can sprout and grow like weeds in your garden).
If youโre adding aged manure, go ahead and add a thick layer (2-3 inches, preferably) just like you would with the compost. No tilling or turning required.
If adding fresh manure, it needs a period of about 120 days to sit and decompose before itโs safe to harvest from. For one, fresh manure is high in nitrogen, which makes it very hot. This can prevent seeds from germinating or burn seedlings or the roots of plants, so it needs to break down over a period of time before you can even plant in it.
The other reason is that fresh manure contains bacteria and pathogens that could contaminate crops and make the food youโre growing unsafe to eat if harvested while the manure is still fresh.
The general rule is to let it age and decompose for at least 120 days before harvesting from it. (This is another reason why fall is the best time to add these amendments, as you typically wonโt be planting again until spring.)
When adding fresh manure, itโs best to mix it with a bit of aged compost or work it into the soil to help it decompose faster, and so that youโre not adding such a high concentration of nitrogen to your soil all at once.
3. Add mulch
Adding organic mulch is another good way to add organic material to your soil AND cover it at the same time.
We usually apply a thick layer of compost and then cover that with a layer of mulch in the fall. We usually opt for bark mulch (we use an โSPFโ mixture of spruce, pine and fir). The mulch helps to protect the soil from weed seeds and pests and keeps soil from eroding over the winter. Plus it breaks down over time and adds more organic matter to your soil.
Mulching also helps to insulate your soil, which helps keep overwintering crops like garlic warm. I always add an extra thick layer of aged compost or manure on top of the soil after Iโve planted my garlic and then I cover with a thick mulch. It grows beautifully every year!
Other choices for mulching include straw, grass trimmings, chopped up leaves, seaweed and even shredded newspaper.
Add about 2 to 3 inches of mulch on top of your soil or on top of a top dressing of compost, if adding both compost and mulch.
4. Plant a Cover Crop
Another option is to add a โliving mulch,โ which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: mulch thatโs alive (aka. a cover crop).
Planting a cover crop in the fall is another option for covering your soil and adding organic matter at the same time. Like mulch, a cover crop will help cover and protect your soil, and can be turned in in the spring to add organic matter before planting.
The added benefit to growing a cover crop is that the roots will help to break up compacted soil and keep it intact at the same time, and certain cover crops (like those in the legume family) will actually help to fix nutrients like nitrogen in the soil.
If planting a cover crop, youโll want to plant your seeds at least 4 to 6 weeks before your first frost, to ensure itโs warm enough for germination and initial growth. Youโll also want to make sure to turn your cover crop into the soil in the early spring, before it goes to seed.
Some of the cover crops you may want to consider include:
- Fall Rye
- Clover
- Hairy Vetch
- Alfalfa
- Oats
- Barley
- Buckwheat
Different cover crops are good for different things, so do some research before you decide which one to plant. We planted fall rye this year because itโs supposed to be the best cover crop for clay soils (which is what we have). But your soil or garden might benefit more from another type of cover crop.
Check out this article by True Leaf Market (affiliate link) to learn more about the different types of cover crops and find out which one is best for you and your garden.
To check out True Leaf Marketโs full range of cover crop seeds, click here.
Other things you should do in the fall to prepare your garden for winter
There are a number of other things you should do to your garden in the fall to put it to bed in the winter and prepare it for planting next spring. You can get my step-by-step Fall Gardening Checklist from the Gardening section of my Free Resource Library for a comprehensive list of actions to take now to ensure a productive growing season next year!
Want more modern homesteading??
Ready to go deeper down the path to a more sustainable, self-sufficient life?
Subscribe for FREE to Modern Homesteading Magazine and get monthly issues delivered straight to your inbox! (Youโll get the latest issue delivered as soon as you confirm your subscription!)
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Wishing you homemade, homegrown, homestead happiness:)
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For many, wood heat and wood burning stoves conjure up nostalgia and cozy feelings. But more importantly, wood heat is reliable, affordable and gives us the ability to heat our homes without relying on the grid or on other types of energy, which are currently in short supply.
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โNot eating mushrooms is like not eating an entire food groupโฆ And a healthy one.โ
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When I first started growing my own food at home, the gardening world seemed pretty black and white to me: plants grow in the dirt, outdoors, in the spring and summer. Thatโs what us city kids always learned in school anyway.โฃ
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And obviously thatโs not wrong, but once you get into gardening and growing food, a world full of endless possibilities starts to open up, including growing food indoors year-round.โฃ
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Living a slow, simple life isnโt easy in this fast-paced world.
No matter how much I preach it to everyone else, I still struggle with the guilt, shame and โnot enough-nessโ that I feel every time I choose rest, relaxation, stillness, disconnectedness or being โunproductiveโ when I feel I SHOULD be working, hustling, moving, checking emails and being โproductiveโ (which is almost always).
We all know that our culture praises productivity and busy-ness, and most of us know itโs a scam that keeps us stressed, burnt out and focused on the wrong things in life. Ultimately many of us end up feeling unfulfilled even though weโre spinning our wheels every day working to keep up with the demands of the world and our never-ending to-do list. Most of us would rather be resting, relaxing, spending quality time with our loved ones and doing things that light us up rather than simply keep us busy. But itโs hard to break free from the societal pressure to do more, produce more, earn more, acquire more and ultimately BE more.
So while I still struggle with this daily, and I donโt have any easy answers for how to overcome this, I wanted to share that today Iโm choosing slow; Today Iโm choosing to be present in the here and now rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow; Today Iโm choosing snuggles with my baby boy over emails and deadlines, and while I still feel that guilt rising up inside me, Iโm making a conscious effort to remind myself that the world wonโt end because I chose to slow down today, and at the end of my life I wonโt regret taking this time with my son, but I might regret NOT slowing down to enjoy it.
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In the dark, bitter cold days of midwinter when weโve been deprived of quality time in the sunshine and the trees are all bare, it can be easy for almost anyone to feel depressed and to overlook the tiny miracles that are happening all around us.โฃ
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Signs of life abound, even in the dead of winter! โฃ
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Connect with nature and enjoy the little things to help beat the winter blues. Go for a walk in the woods or the park and really pay attention to the natural world around you. Watch the songbirds flitting back and forth, gathering winter berries. Look for signs of greenery and new growth; Maybe even some snowdrops or crocuses have begun to emerge from the ground where you live. โฃ
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Spring is coming!
While most people run to the store every time they need something, you and I are not most people. Oh no friendโฆ We are modern homesteaders.โฃ
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Weโre a special breed, and one thing that sets us apart is that we are always thinking about preparing for the future and about stocking up when the things are abundant (and cheap!) which they aren't so much right now. โฃ
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When it comes to citrus fruits, if you live in a place where you can grow them yourself, then youโll probably have more than you can handle fresh when theyโre in season. Knowing how to preserve them will help ensure nothing gets wasted.โฃ
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Whether you're a seasoned homesteader or this is your first season preserving, I've got a hearty list of ideas of how to get the most out of your citrus fruits for the year to come! Visit the full list here https://thehouseandhomestead.com/12-ways-use-preserve-citrus-fruits/ or check out the link in my bio. โฃ
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What do you usually do with your extra citrus fruits? Have you tried any of these preservation methods?โฃ
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Let me know in the comments below!
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This is a really nice bread to dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar or as part of a spread or cheese board. For the full recipe click here https://thehouseandhomestead.com/easy-no-knead-homemade-bread/ or visit the link in my bio. โฃ
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Iโve tried my hand at many skills and tackled my share of adventurous projects over the years. Along my homesteading and journey Iโve tried everything from candle-making to cheesemaking, sourdough bread to fermented vegetables, canning and dehydrating to rendering lard and more. When it comes to home medicine, Iโve learned how to make may useful concoctions, from herbal teas, tinctures and syrups to poultices, salves, ciders and more. But encapsulating my own placenta after the birth of our son was definitely a first, and by far my most adventurous โkitchen projectโ and foray into home medicine so far.
I have to admit, I was a bit squeamish at first, but Iโm fascinated by this kind of stuff and love learning skills that allow me to take my health and well-being into my own hands. I also love challenging myself to try new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
A few of the possible benefits of consuming placenta after birth include:
โข Hormones in the placenta can improve mood and lessen symptoms of postpartum depression
โข Can reduce postpartum bleeding
โข Provides a natural source of iron and other micronutrients
โข Can help boost milk production
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So tell me, whatโs the most adventurous thing YOUโVE tried in the name of homesteading and/or natural health? Comment below and let me know!
Since the weather is often cold, dark and gloomy, there arenโt as many fun, free things to do outdoors, so itโs easy to blow your budget on other things that will help you beat cabin fever like eating out, going to the movies and even going shopping just for something to do.โฃ
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When I'm staring at the pantry wondering what to make, I love referring back to this list for a little bit of inspiration for either bringing back an old recipe, or creating a new one. โฃ
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๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ: โฃ
Breakfastsโฃ
Soupsโฃ
Homemade Breadsโฃ
Main Dishesโฃ
Snacks & Sidesโฃ
Sweets & Treatsโฃ
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So whether youโre trying to save a little extra money on your grocery bill, or prioritizing rest this season these 35 frugal recipes will help you get good, wholesome, delicious homemade food on the table every day, which means you have one less thing to stress about. โฃ
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Check out the full list at https://thehouseandhomestead.com/frugal-recipes-roundup/ or visit the link in my bio. โฃ
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Eat well friends:)
I hope you had a wonderful and restful end of holidays, and are also feeling ready to get back on track with your daily schedule here in the new year. It can sometimes feel like a lot to get going, but those "regular days" help us to regulate our rhythms, and in turn help us slowly, gear up for the Spring season ahead. โฃ
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In our Winter Issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine, my friend and fellow homesteader, Ashley Constance of @alittleselfreliant wrote "Breaking Your Cabin Fever" a list of ideas for staying productive over the winter months. โฃ
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If you're feeling a bit restless and up to it, this list of ideas is a perfect way to get back into a daily routine. โฃ
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From making and creating, to preparing, planning and organizing you'll be feeling ready for Spring in no time. โฃ
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To see the full list, subscribe to Modern Homesteading Magazine here at https://modernhomesteadingmagazine.com/subscribe/ or visit the link in my bio.
Homesteading is a year-round lifestyle, andโฃ
for whatever reason, homesteading is most often thought of as a three-season โactivity.โ โฃ
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1. ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. โฃ
2. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ.โฃ
3. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. โฃ
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So much of homesteading centers around preparing for winter. But what happens when winter finally arrives?โฃ
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Sure, we could just hunker down and relax, enjoy the fruits of our labour and rest until spring returns and the really busy seasons begin again. But the very nature of most homesteaders is that we tend to enjoy keeping busy. In other words, we tend to go a bit stir crazy sitting around on the couch for too long.โฃ
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Now, let me just make this clear before we continue: I think itโs VERY important to take time to rest whenever possible so that you can feel rejuvenated and be more productive when you really need to be, but if youโre looking for some (mostly relaxing) homesteading activities that you can do throughout the winter months to help keep you occupied, Iโve got a few suggestions for you:) โฃ
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My full list of winter homesteading activities can be found here https://thehouseandhomestead.com/winter-homesteading-activities/ โฃ
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Happy homesteading!
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