Taking care of the health of next year's vegetable garden is one of the most important, and often neglected, gardener chores. Prepare your vegetable beds this fall by clearing out dead plants, turn in some nice old compost for soil regeneration, and even plant some early spring crops this fall.

Insect Free: Taking all old leaves and plant debris off of your garden is the best way to prevent insects from overwintering in your garden. Old leaves on the soil surface provide a nice hiding place for insects, such as squash bugs, grasshoppers, and aphids. If you clear out old leaves and stems and compost them, insects have nowhere to hide. Freezing temperatures will help control next year's insect population, and reduced debris on the soil surface will ensure freezing temperatures for insects on the sol surface.

Clearing your garden of disease: Collecting and throwing away diseased plants in the landfill will help keep diseases from reestablishing themselves next season. Leaf and vegetable litter provides a place for other problems to reside also, such as tomato wilt. Many gardeners had difficulty with tomato blight, or wilt this past year. Most spores from the tomato wilt can be thrown away with the plants and fruit. Clear off ALL diseased plants AND fruit for best disease prevention for next year's garden. Keep in mind to plant resistant hybrids for your next season to ensure a good tomato harvest.

Organisms in the soil will have time over the winter to decompose and distribute nutrients to the soil from compost for next year's vegetables. Spread one to two inches of well-decomposed compost on the surface of your garden bed and turn into the soil well. Soil microorganisms will do the rest.

Fall planting = Spring vegetables: You can plant some early spring vegetables for early harvest in the spring after preparing your soil bed. Sowing spinach seeds, and planting your first couple rows of peas will allow for the earliest harvest. Germination will not take place until soil temperatures warm enough for them to grow. Fall is also the best time to plant your garlic bulbs, although you should probably plant your garlic in a drier bed than your peas and spinach.

No one ever said gardening is easy, but spending a little time preparing your garden beds this fall can help you reap big rewards with next year's garden!

Betsy Woodworth gives help on garden and on greenhouse help.

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