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   Labor Day has passed, and the temperatures are dropping. The garden is yielding plenty of healthy, delicious food. The warmseason plants are nearing the end of their cycle this year, with fruit on the vines and tubers or bulbs in the ground. This is an ideal time to plant cool-season crops such as fall rye, winter wheat, and perennial clover to continue building roots in the soil and support soil life. If this isn’t comfortable for you, simply mulch the soil and keep it covered. Leaves, pine needles, wood chips, straw, and wild rice chaff all make excellent mulches to keep the soil warm and protected. The worms, bacteria, fungi, and other creatures will benefit from your efforts. Mulching also helps suppress cool-season grasses like quack grass, which thrive in these temperatures and tend to spread when rain falls. This process prepares the soil for a successful start in the upcoming growing season.

   It is also a great time to plant perennial trees, shrubs, and garden plants such as asparagus and garlic. The nurseries have stock that they would love to see planted, and the deals usually pop up for your benefit. Take advantage of this opportunity to increase the diversity in your yard and garden. Don’t forget to inoculant these new plants with mycorrhizal fungi(the underground internet). This will give these new plants a better chance for survival. The fall is an amazing time of the year, and everything is preparing for the upcoming winter months. Enjoy the outdoors with a walk, a bicycle ride, gardening, and harvesting of wild plants. Have a wonderful fall and don’t forget to cover the soil up, leave your plants for the wild creatures to hide in and feed on.   

   If you have any questions, please contact Jim Etzel at 218-252-3258 or www.earthisourhome.net

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