Self Sufficiency
Top 10 Fall Gardening Tips | How To Prepare Your Garden For Spring
Fall gardening tips should come handy with the fall season just around the corner. If you want fresh vegetables till winter, to start growing crops earlier in spring, and produce an ample harvest both seasons, better check these fall gardening tips and you might pick up one or two beneficial to you!
Fall Gardening Tips For Great Success In Spring
It’s a common notion to turn in for the autumn season and wait till spring for gardening. I, for one, dream of melting snow, longer days and my sprouting plants even after the fall harvest. However, most homesteaders see the fall season as an opportunity. The weather is cool and fine most days–perfect for me to putter in the garden well into noon. Find out why and how you should take advantage of the fall season. Following these fall gardening tips could help you get a head start in spring.
1. Know Your Hardiness Zone
I used to garden for just a few prime months of the year. In my Eastern Canadian zone, these months fell roughly between May and August. Each fall and winter I’d plan that year’s garden layout, including spacing and what types of vegetables and herbs I’d grow. Come spring, everyone knew (and admittedly this is still very much the case) to expect I’d be entirely unreachable outside the office.
What about fall though? What I was once too-excited-for-spring-gardening-to-notice is this:
Gardening for the purpose of growing food is not limited to a few months of hard work – it really is a year-round activity. Since fully utilizing late August, September, and October, I’ve been able to boost my household’s overall bounty considerably.
Maximizing your growing season, sparing yourself from the troubles of a frost, and boosting your harvest can be achieved by determining your hardiness zone.
2. Veggies And Crops In Season
Along with understanding your hardiness zone, it’s also ideal to get familiar with what vegetables to grow in each season. As gardeners, you probably know well by now about what to grow this fall season which is also best grown in early spring.
The best crop in my soil: garlic. Last fall, I planted over a dozen little garlic bulbs that were gifted to me by a friend. Each and every single one provided delicious garlic greens for several weeks. I used those garlic greens to freshen up our first spring meals and add garden-fresh nutritional value. Today, I’ll be planting more of those little bulbs.
I also tried greens: spinach, lettuces, and kale. Unfortunately, I was only able to get very small sprouts before the spring rains destroyed them. I’ll start those crops indoors this year as I’ve done in the past and transplant in the spring instead.
3. Clean Up
Some gardeners prefer to leave their plant beds to their fate. Let the plants rot, and possibly let the decaying plant parts nourish the soil over the winter and ready for spring. You can say I have control issues, but the sight of badly mangled tomato plants from the pulling and tugging after harvest is too much for me.
Luckily, most gardeners will agree that cleaning up in fall should be the way to go. It’s one less job in spring, you can use the green waste for your compost, and avoid plant diseases for your future plants. Besides, we have better ways to condition the soil, which I will be discussing later.
4. Save Seeds
This may seem like too much trouble but a true-blue gardener understands heirloom seeds and the value of free resources. So the next time you slice a tomato just set the seeds aside. If you’ve beans or okra pods left to mature in the plant, shell them and save the seeds before you dump them in the compost pile. Now I find saving seeds an art and planting the seeds easier with seed tapes.
5. Consider Season Extending Tools
As I type, lavender blooms, green tomatoes hang, sweet potato sprawls, and the last of this year’s lemon cucumbers reveal themselves. The green onions, cat mint, and Thai basil, Greek oregano and peppermint are all still growing fairly strong.
I’ve learned fall is about so much more than the harvests we’ve come to characterize it by. It is, as every season should be considered, another opportunity in an ever-continuing cycle of life.
So these days, instead of closing my patio doors and kissing the soil goodbye until spring, I’m still digging in, getting dirty and feeling fantastic that I am able, with such a limited city space, to grow a considerable amount of food for my family.
Thankfully, I have season-extending tools in cold frames, and the indoors if I needed to tuck my plants safe from the cold frost of fall or early spring.
6. Making Space
Today, I’m taking out a few of my “gardening mistakes“; decorative bushes ambitiously placed too close together and taking prime real estate for growing food. You see, last year I somewhat regretfully decided to add more color to the very small garden space available to me and my family. While the bursts of reds, pinks, and oranges throughout the summer were certainly lovely, I couldn’t help thinking of more productive crops I should have gone with instead.
The flower and bush varieties I chose weren’t optimal: they didn’t attract pollinators like the cat mint and lemon cucumber. I use dried cat mint decoratively throughout the house–it smells amazing, and we eat lemon cucumbers. Don’t get me wrong: bushes and flowers are awesome, but not all of them provide benefits beyond aesthetic charm. When your goal is eventual self-sufficiency and sustainable lifestyle – and space is limited – aesthetics have to come second.
7. Filling Space
You can now use that free space to plant edibles that will sprout as the snow melts. Allium bulbs like chive, onions, and even garlic sure could use those spaces.
While I need these spaces for more practical purposes, I really can’t totally abandon a few flowers. It really is a sight for sore eyes when you see spring flowers blooming in the happy days of spring. So I spared a few tulips and crocuses which I will plant this fall to see them blooming in spring.
8. Work out Your Soil
Don’t wait till spring to do something about your soil. This I know now after getting down and getting really dirty last spring. The melted snow and the messy plots really did give me a hard time. Clean up your plots this fall, spread a good amount of homemade compost and don’t apply fertilizer. You can also apply a plastic mulch so the melting snow won’t wash the nutrients away or have some adventurous weeds growing in your cleaned plots.
9. Keep A Gardening Record
As a kid, I did write some pretty petty lines in a diary which I tend to laugh at now. In gardening, keeping records of just about anything in gardening should help. Most importantly, it lets you find out small yet essential details which could spell your success in or the next growing season. For example, rotating your crops can help condition your soil, and avoid pests and diseases. Knowing which plants you’ve grown in a row or a plot last summer or this fall can help you identify what to grow where come spring.
10. Take Pictures
I have never really been one for pictures. I like being in the moment and experiencing my garden (and life in general) first-hand, not through the camera lens. However, one of the best fall gardening tips I’ve probably ever received involves a camera.
Over the winter months, it’s so easy for me to forget what the full-grown garden really looks like. So in spring, when it’s mostly just bare soil in front of me, I tend to plant seeds way too close together. I forget how big each little seed can eventually become. The photos of growth over seasons help gardeners to better plan each year. Ideally, you do have plants that will come back each year, making planning less and less over time. However, I’m trying to learn how to grow all kinds of resourceful ingredients, and I don’t have a ton of space. Thus, my gardens have a mix of perennials and new trial crops each year. I use these pictures to help plan the new crops into the existing garden design.
Go outside right now and start snapping pictures of your current garden area(s). These photos are now your initial guide to planting success next year.
Help yourself to more practical fall gardening tips in this video from a fellow gardener:
Now you know gardening isn’t just a spring and a summer affair. Fortunately, it covers all four seasons and all the months in the calendar. Spring and summer are just busier seasons, but these fall gardening tips sure will get your garden up and ready in the busy spring and summer days!
What do you think of these fall gardening tips? Are you going to give them a try? Let me know below in the comments!
Up Next: 15 Practical Gardening Ideas On A Budget | Smart Homesteading Tips
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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Self Sufficiency
How To Make Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut In A Mason Jar
The thing about homesteading is you get to create your own ingredient right from scratch! Cheese, yogurt, butter and now sauerkraut, a delightfully sour and crunchy ingredient you can use on your meals — or consume by itself — while on a homestead, or while facing this health crisis!
This homemade sauerkraut is a great meal because it has a long shelf life. You can either make plain sauerkraut or mix it with herbs and spices. In this tutorial let us make Lacto-fermented sauerkraut that preserves all the good probiotics in a jar, good for your guts.
So how to make sauerkraut in a mason jar?
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Delicious Sauerkraut Recipe Every Homesteader Should Know
Why Make Sauerkraut?
Not only does sauerkraut spoil a long time, but it is also a meal in itself, and it is also easy to make! You don’t need to be an expert cook, all you need to do is follow these simple steps.
So let us get started. Here are the steps in making sauerkraut in a mason jar.
Ingredients:
- 1 head of cabbage or 2 1/2 lbs cabbage
- 1 tablespoon of salt
Tools Needed:
- knife
- bowl
- mason jar
- smaller jar
- rubber band
Step 1: Wash & Clean the Tools & Ingredients
Wash all the equipment and utensils you need. Wash your hands too.
You don’t want to mix your sauerkraut with bad bacteria, anything that is going to make you sick.
Next, remove the faded leaves from your cabbage. Cut off the roots and the parts that don’t seem fresh.
Step 2: Cut the Cabbage Into Quarters & Slice Into Strips
Cut your cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Then, slice it into strips.
Step 3: Place in a Bowl & Sprinkle With Salt
Put the stripped cabbage into a bowl. Sprinkle the cabbage with 1 tablespoon of salt.
TIP: Use canning salt or sea salt. Iodized salt will make it taste different and may not ferment the cabbage.
RELATED: Homemade Yogurt Recipe
Step 4: Massage the Cabbage
Massage the cabbage for five minutes or more to get the juice out.
TIP: You’ll know it’s ready when you see a bit of juice at the bottom of the bowl and will look similar to coleslaw.
Step 5: Press Cabbage Into the Mason Jar
Add the cabbage to the mason jar gradually. Press it in hard to allow the juice to come out. Do this every time you add about a handful of cabbage.
IMPORTANT: Food should be covered by the liquid to promote fermentation. Add any excess liquid from the bowl to the jar.
Step 6: Press a Smaller Jar Into the Mason Jar
You want to squeeze every ounce of that juice from the cabbage. To do this place the mason jar in a bowl and get a smaller jar.
Fill it with water or marble to make it heavy. Press it into the bigger mason jar. Allow any juices to rise to the surface.
Step 7: Cover the Jars With Cloth & Tie With Rubber Band
Leave the small jar on. To keep your jars clean from annoying insects and irritating debris, cover your jars with a clean cloth. Then, use a rubber band to tie the cloth and the jars together, putting them in place.
Step 8: Set Aside & Check Daily
Set it aside in a cool dry place, away from direct sunlight. Check the water level daily. It should always be above the cabbage.
Step 9: Taste Your Sauerkraut & Keep at Cool Temperatures
After about five days, you can taste your sauerkraut. If the taste is to your liking, tightly cover it with the lid and store in the fridge or cellar.
NOTE: If after five days it’s still not your desired taste, leave it for a few more days. This will allow the fermentation process to continue.
You can now enjoy your sauerkraut in a mason jar. Enjoy its goodness! You can use it as a side dish or mix it with your favorite sandwich.
Things to Remember in Making Sauerkraut
- Store away from direct sunlight and drafts.
- Colder weather will make the process longer. Spring is the best time to make them since the warmth helps activate the fermentation.
- Always make sure that the cabbage is below the water level during the entire fermentation process.
- If the water level decreases during the fermentation process, you can make a brine and add it.
Let us watch this video from Kristina Seleshanko on how to make delicious Lacto-fermented sauerkraut in a mason jar!
So there you have it! Making Lacto-fermented sauerkraut in a mason jar is as easy as slicing the cabbage into strips. Remember that as long it remains unopened, your sauerkraut can last for months. Best of all, you can partner this sauerkraut in many recipes.
What do you think of this homemade recipe? Share your best sauerkraut recipe in the comments section below!
Fellow homesteaders, do you want to help others learn from your journey by becoming one of our original contributors? Write for us!
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Self Sufficiency
9 SPRING VEGETABLES FOR YOUR GARDEN
Having plants in the house will bring peace to people. Having a little garden with vegetables is even better! You can grow these vegetables in your backyard garden easily as well!
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In this article:
Growing veggies in your garden will give you an opportunity to understand what you eat and value it more. Early spring is when most vegetables are being planted. Keep reading to learn about 9 spring vegetables that anyone can grow in their garden!
Tomato
Tomato is the most popular garden vegetable in the States! There are different varieties to choose from. Tomatoes need to be planted in early spring because they won’t survive a frost.
Because tomatoes are consumed daily, try adding them to your garden! They’re not difficult to grow either.
Eggplant
Eggplants are known to have low-calorie, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Plus, they are delicious! So why not plant them in your garden?
Eggplants shouldn’t be planted too early because they won’t be able to survive a frost. So you could consult an expert in your area before you plant your eggplants.
Beets
Beets are known to be a superfood for its various health benefits. They’re easier to grow in the garden, usually around late March or early April.
If the weather is always cool, beets will keep getting bigger and bigger. Once the weather starts to warm up, you’ll need to harvest them, or they’ll go to waste.
Spinach
Spinach is a delicious early spring veggie, and it’s also very beneficial for health. And it’s not difficult to grow spinach in your garden!
Spinach needs cold weather to grow. Getting spinach to grow is easy, but keeping it growing will require some extra care.
Pea
Peas are usually planted in late April. Peas will die in freezing temperatures, but they also won’t survive the heat either. So make sure you plant your peas in early spring.
Peas are widely used in many different ways, and there are different types of peas. The soil you’ll be planting your peas should be suitable for them, so make sure you ask while buying seeds.
Carrot
There are different types of carrots, but regardless of their size and color, it’s a fact that carrots are both delicious and rich in vitamins.
They’re root vegetables, so with proper sun and watering, they can be picked up as baby carrots as well.
Radish
A radish is an excellent option for beginners because it doesn’t require too much care. Radish is easy to harvest.
Radish grows fast, so it’s better to keep an eye on it after a few weeks. Radish usually is grown pest-free, but there’s always the chance of unwanted guests, so watch out for worms. Radish can be eaten raw or can be added to garnish recipes.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower isn’t the easiest vegetable to grow at home, but it is very popular.
Cauliflower grows better in colder weather, so before you plant it, consider the climate of your garden. Cauliflower can be eaten raw or cooked, and it is known to be very beneficial for health.
Asparagus
Freshly picked, tender asparagus is very delicious!
Asparagus plants get more productive with each harvest, and mature asparagus harvest can last for months! Make sure you plant them at the correct time, or else they might go to waste.
All the vegetables listed above are great for your healthy diet, and it’s fun to watch them grow. So don’t miss out on the opportunity to grow your own veggies and eat healthy this spring!
So tell us which veggies will you be growing this spring? Tell us in the comments section!
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