Preparing for Winter
By Sid Gillson
October is the time to prepare our gardens for winter and plan for next year’s garden. Information about the day and night temperature is vital for a gardener’s plans. For example, The Weather Channel reports that the average high temperature at the Gallup airport for October 1 was 35 degrees. The record high temperature was 87 degrees and the record low temperature was 25 degrees. It gets colder as the month proceeds. The high and low temperatures may vary depending upon where one lives. By October 1, gardens in the lower elevations, such as Indian Hills, have already experienced freezing evening temperatures, which can kill tomatoes, lettuce and other garden plants. The daytime warm air in these lower areas rises along the hillsides as the colder evening air descends. Gardens in the higher elevations near the hospitals may have been spared the killing frosts. There can be a ten-degree difference in the temperatures between these two areas of town.
To protect garden plants from freezing in 32 degrees, place a plastic tarp or old blankets over the plants in the early evening and remove them in the morning. If there is a slight wind it is wise to place a garden hose, boards, or small stones on the edges of the tarp to keep the wind from blowing it off the plants.
Tomatoes are very sensitive and will only grow when the temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees. As a result, many of our Gallup tomatoes do not ripen as we expect. Covering the plants during cold nights may protect the plants from freezing, but the tomatoes may not turn red. Tomatoes can turn red if they are picked and placed indoors. If a green tomato has light green vein lines ascending up from the bottom of the tomato, it will turn red if it is stored out of the cold in an area with a constant temperature of 65 degrees or higher. Place the green tomatoes on a plastic sheet that is covered with several sheets of newspaper. The tomatoes will ripen at different times depending upon their maturity. Remember most of the tomatoes sold in the grocery store were also picked green. These tomatoes will not have the full flavor of the tomatoes that ripen on the vines in your garden. If a tomato does not have light green veins on its base it will not turn red and it becomes a good prospect for fried green tomatoes. [The cracks on the top of your tomatoes are a result of irregular abundant rain, which hastens growth and splits the tomato skin. The tomato is good to eat after cutting off the cracks.]
Continue to water your garden plants if the soil becomes dry to your touch. Plants need good watering in the cool weather to sustain their energy. Many plants can continue to produce in the cold weather. Root crops such as beets and carrots are tolerant of the cold if the leaves are covered during the freezing nights. Root crops left in the cold ground become sweet as the carbohydrates in the roots are transformed into sugar.
After the garden has stopped producing and the plants have withered, it is time to prepare for next year. Do not rake all the dead plants off the garden and leave the soil bare. The garden needs a blanket of compost for the winter months to protect the soil from deep freezing and to catch and store the moisture from the snow and rain. Save the leaves from your plants for use as compost. Remove all weeds that may be carrying seeds that will grow into weeds next spring. Dispose of any plants that harbor insects. Straw or old hay can also serve as compost. Gather all your organic kitchen scraps and bury them in the garden. Corn stalks can be shredded or left to lie on the ground to hold the leaves down. Find a source for horse or chicken manure and/or a source for straw or wood chip bedding. Spread it lightly over your garden.
If you have noticed a white powder, like alkali, after heavy watering, it is an indication that a lot of alkali is in your soil. This increases the ph level of your soil and inhibits plant growth. Gallup water has a high ph level. Heavy winds dry out the top 2 or 3 inches of garden soil and the alkali builds up. Now is the time to remedy this problem before next year’s garden is planted. Purchase agricultural sulfur from your local garden store and lightly spread it over your garden area according to the directions on the packaging.
Loosen your garden soil to assure the deep penetration of winter moisture and the penetration of the mulch fibers and sulfur you have placed in your garden. Because of the fall rains our garden soil is usually damp and soft. Use a long handled digging shovel to loosen your soil. On one end of your garden dig a narrow rough trench about six inches deep. Then start at one end of the trench and use your foot to insert your shovel about five or six inches away from the edge of the trench. When the shovel blade is in deep push the handle towards the trench as far as you can. Continue this same process along the trench to loosen the soil in your garden. This will allow your soil to crack and loosen without having to do the heavy work of spading and turning over each shovel full of dirt. If there is loose mulch on your soil, chop it into the cracks with your shovel. The loose soil allows water and compost to penetrate your soil as food for organisms and earthworms.
Spread more manure and compost after you have loosened your garden soil. In order to assure good penetration of the loosened compost use the side of a hoe to loosen and chop the soil further. Then use a rake to lightly level off any rough spots. This may not look pretty but the moisture and mulch will penetrate your soft soil and provide the needed nutrients.
When the harsh spring winds blow near the end of March they tend to suck all the moisture out of the soil and blow the mulch away. To avoid this problem get some black plastic and cover your garden to retain the moisture when the heavy winds begin to blow. Hold the plastic down with whatever is available. I use old cattle panels and the rims cut off scrap tires. When it is time to plant during the first week of June pull the plastic off and the soil will be soft and ready to plant.
If you have read this far but do not have a garden yet, now is the time to develop a plan. Read “Gardening on the High Plateau” from the April 2011 issue of the Gallup Journey (gallupjourney.com). This article contains many ideas about how and where to plant your garden.
In the fall the weeds and native plants are abundant because of our fall moisture. Look around your land or yard and observe where the weeds grow the thickest and tallest. This is a good clue as to where the soil and moisture may be the best for your garden plants. Cut down the weeds and put them and their seeds into the trash bin and then begin to prepare your soil as we discussed above. It is good to have native flowers in your garden area to attract local bees to pollinate your garden plants. Gather some native flower seeds from this area or from your gardening friends to plant in your garden this fall or early spring.
Plan now for the vegetable plants you would like to grow. Talk to other gardeners and learn about which seeds work best for them and where they can be purchased. Not all garden vegetables from other parts of the United States or New Mexico will do well in our high plateau environment.
If you have questions or comments please post them on the Gallup Journey website! Good green gardening to you!
