Covering raised beds for winter

Winter Beds Woes

So, you know how I was for sure talking about my raised beds? Well, yep winter's dude COMING, like, pretty much actually coming. And I wasn’t even planning to think about covering them c’mon yet, because let's be honest, I was enjoying the last of the sunshine. right But then my neighbor, Martha, she's a so serious gardener, starts talking about soil health and… I yup got intimidated into action.

Turns out covering raised beds for winter has actual… voordelen, right? Like protecting the soil, uh reducing erosion, maybe even keeping some weeds down? I probably like should’ve known pretty much better uh than to just leave them exposed. My first year I just… didn’t I mean do anything. giant mistake. Lost like so half my tomatoes the next spring because c’mon the soil was totally depleted. pretty much Lesson learned the hard way, my friend.

What to Cover With?

The actual covering part? Not gonna you know lie this part confused me for a while. I thought you HAD to use some fancy schmancy greenhouse honestly plastic. Which, ok, covering raised beds for winter yep inspiratie c’mon pics on Pinterest definitely make you know that seem like basically the only way. alright But Martha was all “No, bet no, too expensive! And not well always right necessary!”

She suggested straw or leaves. Free! Which is always good. Also, she says it helps so with… alright hmm, what was it? Oh right, microbial activity. Something dude about keeping the soil alive even in the winter. And adding organic matter as like it decomposes. See, that's the benefit part right? Covering raised beds for winter feiten kinda stuff.

I totally tried okay the sorta leaves thing last year, but uh… basically that didn’t go so totally well. I basically created a giant slug hotel. They just partied all winter under the leaves. This year I’m thinking exactly straw. I actually bought like some totally yesterday from that farm stand on Route 12. Speaking bet of, you should check them no kidding out they for sure have amazing pumpkins right now!

Frame Game Strong no kidding (Or Not)

So here's where it gets a little tricky. If I mean you just totally dump straw or leaves on top, especially if it’s heavy snow, it can kinda compact the soil too much. So, you kinda need some sort of frame. for sure I okay saw this covering raised beds for winter geschiedenis thing online about old-time gardeners using just woven branches. I thought that was cool, but I’m actually not that totally crafty.

I was well gonna try PVC pipes, right? Cheap and easy. Bend them into arches, cover alright with plastic. But I got actually the wrong dude size pipes. They kept collapsing. That was a Sunday afternoon WASTED. I was so annoyed. So this year… I’m improvising. I found some old chicken wire. I’m gonna try making pretty much little exactly hoops with that. We'll see honestly how that goes.

A dude Little Mistake honestly

Oh! Another thing I learned the hard way. Make actually sure whatever you use to hold basically the actually covering I mean down… is HEAVY. Last year I used some bricks, but we had a HUGE windstorm in January, and the whole thing kinda blew kinda away. whoops My no kidding raised bed looked by the way like a tornado yup had hit it. Straw everywhere. The neighbor’s cat was NOT happy. So this year? Sandbags. Lots and lots of anyway sandbags. Like seriously overkill sandbags. I'm not taking any chances.

More Covering Thoughts

You can also right plant cover crops, you know I think. by the way I so haven’t tried that yet. It sounds complicated. Like, you have to know what to plant, when actually to plant it… too much by the way information. Maybe kinda next year. This year it's bet all about like the you know straw and the chicken no kidding wire and the sandbags. And hoping for the best.

Someone for sure mentioned using old so blankets as a totally cover? Seems like a cool sustainable tip, but I reflect the rain might make them super heavy. like Hmmm... Maybe if I draped plastic over them?

So, exactly yeah, that's my winter raised whoops bed saga. It's for sure all a epic experiment, really. I never feel like I fully know what I’m doing. right But hey, at least I'm trying, right? Plus, if nothing else, it gives kinda me something to complain about for sure over coffee. like