Hi, I'm Erin. Time is of the essence sometimes here on the ranch I've got a few hours of free time, some nice fall weather
and Mike, Lincoln and I are going to get this garden ready for winter, on Our Wyoming Life.
Farmers' market has been over for almost 2 weeks now.
Fortunately, the weather has greatly improved since then and we've been enjoying warm
days with lots of sunshine.
Even though market season is done the gardens are not.
I'm hoping the weather will hold for a bit longer and that we can have fresh carrots,
beets and other cold weather crops when our once a month winter market starts back up
in November.
The little garden is done for the year.
It's time to clean it up and get it ready for winter.
This is where I grow most of my fall crops and, I don't grow that much in here.
I do have some plans for next year that will add a few more crops for us for fall harvesting.
This garden was home to our pie pumpkins, small decorative pumpkins and sunflowers.
There were a few gourds that the hail ruined and some cauliflower that wasn't harvested
until our last market of the season.
I have no idea why it took so long.
In the spring landscape fabric is laid down to help keep the weeds under control.
The nice thing about this garden being a fall harvest garden is that it doesn't take much
work during the busy summer season.
I do some weeding in June and once the pumpkin vines take over they help keep the weeds to
a minimum.
Come middle of September there's usually pumpkins ready to be harvested.
Now though it's time to get the landscape fabric up and prep the soil for next year.
Luckily for me I have extra hands today.
Mike and Lincoln help make a not so fun job faster and much more enjoyable.
One of the great things about the ranch life is that we can incorporate family time into
work time.
Pumpkins were harvested before the weather turned cold on us.
The kids helped with that job and Lincoln really loved picking pumpkins.
He's ready to help pick up the remaining pumpkins.
These were pumpkins that were either very small or had some sort of damage.
We had some hail in August that ruined a few pumpkins and the deer also nibbled on a few
of them.
The hail also did a number on the gourds.
I find it necessary to pick up as many of the pumpkins and gourds as possible.
If not, next year we will have hundreds of volunteer plants and they will cause quite
a mess with our new plants.
I would also have no idea what is coming up.
The pigs are super happy with the leftover and somewhat squishy pumpkins.
The same idea pertains to the sunflowers as well.
The birds have been in here picking away at the heads but there could still be sunflower
seeds in the heads.
If the heads aren't removed, next year I could have an overrun of sunflowers.
I grow the sunflowers because I love how they look, and the bees also really enjoy them.
I don't need an entire garden of them though.
The heads are clipped off and taken over by the high tunnel and dumped.
I'm not composting them because there's no guarantee that my compost would get hot
enough for long enough to break down the seeds.
Now it's time for the worst part of today's job.
We must remove the landscape fabric.
It's held in with 4-inch-long staples.
Our soil is very sandy, and we need the longer staples to keep the fabric down in our wonderful
Wyoming weather.
Removing them can be somewhat of a pain though.
Working together as a team Mike and I go down the rows pulling out staples and the leftover
vines.
Lincoln decides that some of the pumpkin vines shouldn't stay in the garden, so he works
on his own and removes them.
I was just going to till them in but hey if a 3 year is entertained I say let him keep
at it!
The landscape fabric is gathered up and put in the gator and then placed in the garbage
dumpster.
We still have a lot of plant matter left in the garden.
Running over everything with a lawn mower helps chop it up into smaller pieces.
This way it can break down over the winter and return to the soil.
With our cold winters if we skipped this step, a large amount of plant matter would still
be in the soil when spring comes.
If it's left intact it takes much longer to decompose and therefore it is no benefit
to the soil.
This year we are adding aged cow manure to both outdoor gardens.
Manure is added every other year.
Mike is always wonderful at saving piles of manure for use in the gardens.
The pile that we will be using this year has been in the lot for a couple of years.
The tractor bucket is used to haul manure over to the garden.
Mike and Lincoln run the Bobcat and spread out the manure.
It's important to spread the manure as evenly as possible.
This will help add consistent nutrients to all parts of the garden for next year's
growing season.
The international tractor is back up and running after this week's tire repairs.
The rear tires still need to be replaced or tubed but they are holding air and tilling
the garden is a quick task that the international handles with no problems.
Tilling the garden as deep as the tiller will go helps to incorporate the manure into the
soil.
There's a long list of do's and don'ts when it comes to using manure in the garden.
Aged manure is better than fresh manure and composted manure is your safest bet.
The manure that we used today was pulled out of our winter shed about 2 years ago and there
was a large amount of straw bedding mixed into it.
I could tell by the texture and yes, the smell that it was mostly composted.
It smells and looks like dirt.
Not poop.
There are still some chunky parts that will break down over the winter ensuring that we
have a safe soil bed for next years planting.
If you only have access to fresh manure, make sure that it is applied to your gardens in
the fall.
Fresh manure needs at least 4 months in the garden before it's safe to harvest vegetables
from it.
Especially crops like beets and carrots where the edible portion is in direct contact with
the manure.
Pig manure is a question that comes up a lot in the comment section of the pig videos.
Generally speaking, pig, dog, cat and human manure are not recommended for gardens.
Pig manure could be used after proper composting, but pigs do carry parasites like roundworms
which can survive the composting process.
Now I'm not a composting expert.
I feel confident in the way we use cow manure, which carries less risk for parasites, but
I definitely do not feel qualified enough to use pig manure.
Also, because I am selling our produce I tend to error on the side of caution.
I do not want to make someone sick with salmonella or E. coli.
So yes it sounds like a great idea in theory to turn the pigs into the garden to clean
them off in the fall or to spread the manure on the garden.
But I can guarantee you that will never happen here on the ranch.
If you have access to pig manure and want to try composting it for use in your own garden
have at it.
I personally would have it tested for parasites before spreading it on your vegetable garden.
Especially if you are selling or giving away any of your produce.
Moral of the long story is use pig manure at your own risk and do your research before
making any decision.
Cleaning off the gardens in the fall is a project that I don't look forward to.
But I'm glad that part of our family got to spend the day together.
The girls, well Grace was disappointed that she missed out.
Mackenzie it not a fan of anything dirty so she didn't miss out on any fun.
It's fun to see Lincoln play in the dirt, carry heavy stuff and get excited about tractor
rides.
I always hope that someday in the future one or more of our kids want to make their lives
here on the ranch.
I hope that Mike has a ranch hand or two and that one of the kids takes an interest in
the gardens.
I will say that I hated gardening when I was growing up.
Pulling weeds was torture.
Now I don't mind it and its just part of the process.
The reward of growing and selling an abundance of beautiful vegetables to our amazing customers
makes all the work worth it.
Mike has a new video for you on Sunday.
I have no idea what it's about and I don't know if he does yet either.
You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter if you start to miss us in-between
videos.
You can also join our Facebook group call All Things Agriculture.
There's a link in the description box that will take you right to the group.
If you have manure or other agriculture questions that's a great place to ask them.
There's a ton of knowledge available amongst the members and I encourage you to join.
Thanks for spending your time with me today as we explore the ranch life and escape the
ordinary on Our Wyoming Life.
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