It seems I should be finishing up with my garden for the season, but I’m hurrying to get my winter crops set. This is what I did in the garden today.

– Clean out tomato debris from my winter bed (this bed has hardware cloth dug in 8 inches around the base to deter voles and also has brackets to support the PVC hoops)

– Spread compost and manure on winter bed (3 bags Black Earth compost and 2 bags composted manure) and dig it in (I dig it in only turning a shovelful here and there, trying to both distribute the amendments and preserve some of the soil structure)

– Plant seedlings in the winter bed, including chard, broccoli, bok choi, lettuce, and spinach – leaving room to seed more spinach

– Mulch the winter bed seedlings with salt marsh hay (I have no water at the garden, so I hope they take root OK)

– Put in place low metal hoops and tall PVC hoops for my double layer winter tunnel

– Clear out my watermelon bed for planting a few cloves of extra giant garlic given to me by a friend (most of my garlic – 70 cloves – was planted several weeks ago in my community garden plot)

– Amend the garlic bed with compost and manure, dig it in, and then plant the garlic (I need to mulch this bed later)

– Cover my lettuce bed with row cover since it might go below 30 tonight

I’m glad my new pup Charley and big sister Suzie are so good. They ran and played nearby while I worked. The leaves and cool weather are great fun for them.