Late September: Clearing the garden

October first is when compost becomes available at the water pollution control/brush recycling facility on River Road. This means much of the garden needs to be cleaned up so that new compost can be added to raised beds. A full load of compost weighs a lot so I try to get at least half of it out of the truck as soon as possible. It also means some plants can remain for a while and slowly be removed as the season progresses. The first plants of summer squash have been removed, freeing up that bed for compost. The second planting of squash, on August first, has started to produce, and they will remain. Beans, celery and dill have been removed after several heads of dry dill seeds were collected. Carrots will be pulled, washed, sliced, blanched and frozen for use during the winter. Basil will be harvested, most leaves into pesto, a couple of stems put into a vase on the window sill where they provide fresh leaves and invariably start forming roots. Parsley is a biennial and is designed to overwinter then flower next spring. That means parsley leaves are available through most of the winter. Rosemary is treated as an annual, all the stems are removed and dried. Some plants will be left until frost. Vacationing amaryllis will stay in the ground until their leaves shrivel, then bulbs lifted, potted in fresh soil but not watered until they show growth in the spring. Tomatoes remain until the threat of frost then both ripe and green tomatoes are harvested. We waited a long time for these tomatoes and want to eat every one we can. Likewise peppers, both bell and hot. The second plantings of "spring" vegetables, peas, spinach, carrots and squash in August are all growing well, spinach and squash already being harvested. These all will grow until frost, then be removed and their beds filled with compost. Asparagus need to be cut down but that is a big project and will wait until there is more time. Sweet potato experiment will be evaluated. There are two beds and the smaller gets harvested today. The plan for the future is to have a sweet potato bed remote from the main garden, cardboard has been laid down and vines will be mounded up on top, then covered with compost. Vines will decompose over the winter adding to the compost. The second bed will be harvested over the weekend. The arrival of compost also means planning for next year (yikes!). Garlic is usually planted in the fall so a bed must be chosen now, one that has not grown any of the onion family in a couple of years. The bed planned for garlic will have granular fertilizer sprinkled over the compost and worked in before the cloves are planted. Plant material from kitchen scraps and houseplants that has been in compost bins needs to be distributed to provide the soil with lots of varied nutrients. Lots to do, but looking forward to the hopefully delightful surprises in the sweet potato beds. Enjoy! Susan Carty is professor emerita at Heidelberg University.