You would think fall and winter would be a slow time for a gardener. If you are trying to garden imitating nature though,
she is very busy in the fall. Seeds are
being broadcast, frosts are knocking over dead plants for mulch, fallen leaves
are forming a dense mat of composting material, hungry birds are scratching for
missed seed, extra rain is compacting mulch and seed down to touch ground and
humans and animals alike extend their walking border to look for roots and
missed nuts - further pushing seed to
ground. All this happens before hard
frosts come and breaks open the soil through heave, wraps seeds in frozen
moisture and takes a long inhale before spring.
It is amazing what frost heave will do to the soil when dying grass
loosens its grip. The soil is so light
and crumbly in the spring. Trying to
recreate nature and create insectaries that require no care during the summer, happens
in the fall. To recreate all of this
that nature does without strain requires extra work initially. Permaculture and
no-till gardening doesn’t mean no work, there is much mulching to be done and
in the beginning creating beds is a primary job. Creating insectaries is vitally important not only to the garden, but to the health of the environment around you. So many people create death zones by mowing acres and acres of grass.
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| Kittens after a hard day helping in the garden |
