Growing Together: Open Forum

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  • 1.  Growing season end

    Posted 09-29-2021 11:38:00 AM
    I am in zone 8, PA.
    Our gardens are almost finished producing squash, tomatoes, and  beans.
    What should I plant to help replenish the soil and not leave the growing beds to the weeds.

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    Susan Borders
    Darby Free Library
    Darby PA
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  • 2.  RE: Growing season end

    Posted 09-30-2021 01:31:00 PM
    Hi Susan,

    One of the best fall green mulch plants that we have found is buckwheat. It's bloom is popular with pollinators, so it's good for those migratories.  The seeds are popular with chickens and other seed feeding birds. 
    Pigeon peas are also a great nitrogen fixer and green mulch.  Till it in before the peas "make". 

    --
    Michelle Zupan
    Curator 
    Hickory Hill & the Tom Watson Birthplace
    502 Hickory Hill Drive
    Thomson, GA  30824
    706-595-7777
    FAX: 706-595-7177

    Visit us at www.hickory-hill.org or on Facebook.
    Follow us on Twitter: HHEducation

    Historic homes of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc








  • 3.  RE: Growing season end

    Posted 09-30-2021 04:55:00 PM
    I am in Minnesota so it may not meet your weather needs - but we usually rake up the leaves that are near our veggie patches at the school and cover the soil first with a layer of compost and then the leaves.  Part of our concern is in regards to soil moisture, especially given how climate change has impacted the amount of snow we've been getting.