A positive trend that appeared in the last year and a half has been the surging interest in vegetable gardening. As the season fades, many new vegetable gardeners are not sure what to do next. A well-planned fall care program can lead to more successes next year, no matter what size garden you have.
There is still time to enjoy your garden, and tomatoes can be stretched to near November if you are vigilant about covering them if frost is expected. If temperatures below 30 are in the future, it is best to just harvest what you can, and let nature take its course.
Certain vegetables can survive a frost and keep going until temperatures hit the upper 20s, and some like kale and Swiss chard can even handle the middle teens. Now is also the time to plant garlic, which I find is best planted on the edges of the garden, so as not to get in the way of spring planting. Be sure to mark where it was planted!
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/AW5DHDMQORGQZNJRYPX7Y4SF4A.jpg)
Eventually, nature takes its course, and the plants fade. While it helps insects to leave plants standing over winter, vegetable gardens should be cleared out. Any plants that had disease or infestations should be disposed of in city composting or otherwise destroyed. Home composting may not be effective enough to kill insect eggs and disease pathogens.
Remove any stakes or supports, and if disease was an issue, wipe them down with a 10% bleach solution. Once the garden is clean, it is a great time to add a top dressing of compost or turn in organic material. Not all beds require cultivating, but if you found your soil to be less than rich, this can quickly improve the soil.
The final step is to reflect on what went right and wrong this year. Was the spacing too tight? Did you get too many beans at once? Taking pictures now, while the garden is still full, can help you plan next spring. Write notes or create reminders, but also look for ways to be creative with the space. Could you squeeze a row of lettuce in between where the tomatoes go? Adding planning to the process gives an element of hope for next year.
A good checklist in the fall can mean all the difference for the success of your garden next spring. Soon you will be perusing garden catalogues and dreaming of getting your hands in the soil once again.
• Jim Stendler is a University of Illinois Extension Kane County master gardener. Email the extension office at uiemg-kane@illinois.edu for more information.