Thursday, October 18, 2012

Now is the Time to Start for Next Season

Seems like the season is done, but next season is already starting.  70% of your success or failure right now is going to be determined by what you do right now.  Getting the soil ready during October and making sure the nutrients that you need for next season's plants are in the soil is going to determine in a big way how big that pumpkin is going to grow next year.  After getting a soil test you are going to want to add the appropriate organic material to your patch.  I'll be adding some compost and shredded leaves to the soil and tilling that in during the next couple of weeks.  If the weather is good, I hope to plant a cover crop as well.

4 comments:

Patrick said...

Good stuff! Have you decided what type of cover crop you are going to plant? I am planning on planting some hairy vetch, winter oats, winter rye, and triticale in the next 2 days... do you think it will survive and do well? You mentioned that you may not plant because of the weather. I thought winter cover crops could germinate down to very low temperatures, right?

Jamie said...

I'll be planting the same. Temps here in Denver will be nice for the next week so it should germ. If you can, put down the seed, water it well and then cover the area with clear plastic which will help keep it warm and wet. In a week you should see new green popping up.

Patrick said...

Nice! Thanks for the tip about the plastic, I will give that a shot :)

Patrick said...

Hi Jamie, do you think I should leave the plastic over the patch with the upcoming snow forecast? Not sure if it is bad for the seeds/cover crop to have snow on the plastic or not. Thanks!