Is it Time to Put the Vegetable Garden at Your Charlotte Home to Bed for the Winter?
All things must pass. No matter how the gardening at your Charlotte home went this year, it’s getting time to move on and change with the seasons. Here are some tips to help you:
Dig those sweet potatoes. Harvest sweet potatoes before the first frost, or they will be ruined. If you wake up and find the frost has hit before you had the chance, run out there immediately and at least cut the vines off at the base of the plants. This may stop damage to the roots, but you still need to dig your sweets before the next frost. After digging, cure them by keeping them in a warm, dark place like the attic of your Charlotte home. This sweetens them up and gets them ready for storage. After curing, store them somewhere that never goes below 40 degrees; they can still be damaged by low temperatures.- Harvest winter squash. Unlike sweet potatoes, winter squash can survive a frost. In fact, some say they benefit from a light frost, but don’t leave them out during a hard freeze. Winter squash should be very hard; you should not be able to puncture the skin with your fingernail. Truly ripe winter squash should keep in storage for several months.
- Take down garden structures such as trellises and stakes.
- Get rid of weed seeds. If you find any old weeds that somehow went to seed, get them out of there now, or you’ll regret it next year.
- Save vegetable and herb seeds. If anything you grew went to seed, and it’s not a hybrid, collect the seeds and put them in small glass jars or envelopes. Make sure they’re dry first, and label with variety name and year.
- Try some last minute sowings. Some greens, especially spinach, can withstand surprisingly cold weather. What have you got to lose? Just throw down some seeds, water them in, and see if they make a stand. If they do, you may want to cover them with plastic in a month or two.
- Mulch. This is especially important if your garden is not on flat ground. Bare soil is prone to erosion. Leaves, grass clippings or straw will protect your beds and slowly add organic matter, even over the winter months.
If you’re looking for a Charlotte home where you can grow a garden next year, I can help! Contact me at Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com or (704) 491-3310.