October’s a Busy Time in the Garden

 Finish harvesting your vegetables. 

And if you have extra produce after you’ve put up tons of food, consider donating to the Corvallis Backyard CSA with a mission to include all people in Corvallis. It does this by delivering produce boxes to families from different cultures (Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American) while building mutually supportive relationships with the families. 

Put your Garden to Bed for the Winter

Just because you’re not growing vegetables in an area, it doesn’t mean you do nothing to improve the soil.

Rake on the Riches The cheapest way to improve your soil is to rake the leaves falling from nearby trees over your garden bed several inches thick. This keeps rain from washing away nitrogen from your soil. It also serves as food for the worms you want to thrive in your soil.

Plant a Cover Crop that adds nutrients to the soil, especially nitrogen. That’s why many gardeners plant beans and peas to winter over. Or your soil may benefit from seeds that reach deep into our clay soil. Check out the various cover crop seed offerings at our locally owned and operated nurseries.

Last month we mentioned adding lime now where you plan to put your tomatoes next summer.

Plant Crops to Grow Food in the Winter

With the use of hoop houses that are easy to make, you can extend the growing season. Even though this
hoop house is shown with its ends closed, most of the time during our mild winters, you can leave the ends to let the air circulate around the delicate greens you can grow inside, like hardier lettuces, spinach, arugula, etc.

Also now’s the time to plant garlic that will winter over and be ready to harvest around the Fourth of July next year. In fact, lots of root crops, like onions, leeks, turnips, and beets, grow well uncovered in the winter. Hardy greens like broccoli, kale, swiss chards, and brussels sprouts also don’t need to be covered to thrive in our winters.

So, try out winter gardening, realizing that from November 4 through February 5 we have only 10 hours of daylight or less which means that plant growth will be on the slow side.

Contact Sandi Cheung to find out how you can drop off produce that will be added to the CSA boxes. The boxes are delivered to families every Thursday.  sandi.cheung@gmail.com

Interested in learning other ways to support the Corvallis Backyard CSA? Check with rachel@shonnards.com or text/call 503-779-8570.

Food Action Team -- Edible Garden Group