Autumn Jobs for the Self Provision Gardener
What are the jobs that self provision gardeners are doing during autumn. Autumn can be a busy time for any gardener but for self provision gardening, it’s particularly important.
Autumn is when you will harvest many of your crops – especially winter storage crops. But that doesn’t have to end with empty beds, and a winter of cleaning up leaves and fallen twigs.
Instead you could be using that time to plan for next year, prepare and feed your soil and even steal a march on next years harvest.
I live in east Scotland which means quite strong winds, short days and long, mild winters. That gives a bit of flexibility in terms of what I can grow. And it’s perfect for self provisioning. Why? Because the main energy crops (think starchy veggies) and nutritious greens (kale and other cabbage family) grow great through much of the year.
So what jobs can a self provision gardener be doing during the autumn season?
1. Plan for Next Year
Once the dust settles on this years harvest and everything you need is in storage for the winter, you have the chance to sit down and plan for next year. Ask yourself these questions:
- What went well – what worked. And most importantly, what didn’t.
- What crops will go where next year? It’s important to rotate your crops to give the soil a break and stop harmful diseases building up in the soil.
- What are you going to try that’s new?
I like to sit down with a notepad and paper and plan out my beds. The slight lull in the gardening calendar means you can also spend some time shopping around and researching varieties of vegetables that will enjoy your climate.
For me, anything tender or frost sensitive is out (unless very quick maturing) as we can have frosts right into May. But this year I’ve decided to try overwintering garlic and onions to see if I can get a better yield. This also means switching up the varieties.
2. Rehabilitate and Prepare Your Soil
If you are developing a self-provision garden then this should mean minimal inputs. I don’t use any synthetic fertilisers on my veggie patch. I only use what nature gives. This means a number of things:
- Compost which I make myself
- Animal manures from local stables or farms. Horse is good. I also got some alpaca manure which is supposed to be good sh*t.
- Green manures – legumes, mustard and buckwheat are good autumn/winter growing varieties
- My own urine which I ‘dilute’ in the compost heap or outdoor urinal.
If you grow crops for food, your soil is the most valuable thing you’ve got. As someone wise said ‘your wealth is in the soil’. Imagine the soil like a bank account – if all you ever make is withdrawals, you’re going to run out of cash soon. Same with your dirt – don’t get into debt. Put back at least as much as you took out.
Autumn is a great time to do this. The long winter season will allow your manures and mulches to rot and be broken down so that when spring comes, you can just dig them in and plant away.
3. Plant Overwintering Crops
I’m not a big fan of ‘Permaculture’ as the concept of using every spare inch of soil all the time, all year round just screams UNSUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG TERM at me.
But that doesn’t mean I won’t touch overwintering crops. This past season I had a good crop of garlic which I planted in the depths of winter. This year I’ve chose an overwintering variety to see if I can get an early crop in. The same with onions which I’ll be growing for the first time.
Self Provision Gardening is about finding what works and then doing it over and over until you’re really good at it. That will mean a few failures but that’s fine if you learn something from it.
Conclusions
Autumn is one of my favourite times of year. It feels like change and the chance for new beginnings. Some of the coolest and best things in my life have happened in the season before winter. I love getting out into the garden as the days start to shorten, pick the last of the harvest and get the garden ready for the next year.
What jobs do you do in autumn? Leave a comment below.
Neil
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