Today the last day of July. We’ve got about a month and 10 days before our first average frost day, though if we’re lucky, that won’t happen until much later. We haven’t even harvested our garlic yet, but when we do, we need to think about what to do with the empty beds. I’ve been considering planting some very short season crops, but there just doesn’t seem to be much point. Not with only about 40 days of growing season left, as of today, never mind from whenever any beds are harvested and open.
Which means I’m thinking about getting the garden ready for next year, rather than extending the harvest for this year.
No. It’s not too early! 😄
This timely video from Gardening in Canada talks about one option I was considering. Growing a cover crop.
Given the state of our soil, I am considering planting tillage radishes. I actually got the seeds a couple of years ago.
There are a lot of seeds in that bag! There are a few places I want to use them to help break up compacted soil, in preparation for expanding our garden space. Instead, we ended up unintentionally reducing garden space!
The idea is to plant them and leave them. As they grow, they “till” the soil, then add organic material as they decompose.
The only hesitation I have is our Dark Grey Zone soil, with its thin layer of top soil over gravel, sand, clay and rocks.
So. Many. Rocks.
This type of soil drains quickly and leaches nutrients. The tillage radish might increase how quickly water drains in the soil… or it will reduce the drainage by adding organic material in the sand/gravel/clay below, and act as a sponge.
If nothing else, it’s worth a try. I’ve got the seeds, after all. May as well use them before they get too old!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 