Once the growing season is done remove the vegetation and compost it. By having a compost pile we remove all habitat for pests and disease to overwinter, but we make great soil amendments in the process.

For the most part garden beds do not need any winter care, but if your garden sees a lot of run off or you have perennial plants marginally hardy in your zone then mulch helps insulate them and control run off (of nutrients).

If you are using organic materials to raise fertility or improve soil tilth the fall is a great time to add more. This allows the warm soil (but cool air) of fall to have the microorganisms start working on the material and then the freeze/thaw cycles of winter also break the material down and in the spring the soil critters wake up and find an easy meal they can work on quickly. This improves both the structure of your garden soil as well as raise it's overall fertility.

When the weather ends *your* gardening activities this doesn't mean garden activity is over. Fall is prime time for soil amendments and let the soil critters and the freeze/thaw cycles do all the work for you. Come spring your soil is in better shape for the crop than it was the season before and each year just gets better.

To reiterate what justaguy said, pull the plants and remove the debris to reduce bug and disease homes. Get a soil test and amend your soil as needed to prepare for spring - gives the amendments all winter to distribute throughout the garden. After I put my garden to bed in the fall, it is ready for spring planting except for adding appropriate nitrogen.

I pull and pile all the spent veggies and either compost them or if, like this year, insect pests are out of control, burn them. The ash will be spread everywhere on our property. Everything else is composted either in piles or sheet-composted, then turned under in spring. We recently found a source of ground shredded free mulch we plan to pile and sheet compost over he winter. We already picked up one load and plan on getting several loads a week as long as possible. Our soil is fine clay so needs as much organic matter as we can turn under.

What is meant by composting?

Hi Jonesfam,

Composting is the method of keeping a pile of any green or brown debris found in your garden or kitchen. You can set a pile up in a sunny spot near your garden for convenience. I have a three bin system ($20 at www.gardeners.com). During the season and after, I through all garden plants (that aren't diseased) into the bins. I also put kitchen scraps, leaves, grass clippings, etc. in there. The only general rule is NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS. No meat, dairy, grease or cooked items. You can put egg shells, cow and horse manure, etc. NO DOG or CAT or HUMAN waste in there though. Just turn it every once in while with a pitch fork and by next spring you'll have "black gold". The best soil ever to add to your gardens.

Theres a great site on here that you can learn allyou need to know about composting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil, Compost and Mulch Forum

I pull everything out and run them through my chipper/shredder and rototill back into the soil

Why not plant some fall/winter crops? They are never as productive as summer crops, but they will give you food from your garden from time to time all winter long. In the last two weeks I've planted 4 kinds of lettuce including mache that I will pick and eat 3-4 times between November and March. I planted some leaf lettuce that I'll pick until the first very hard frost (and when this happens I'll plant the garlic right in the lettuce bed). The carrots and parsnips will be picked until about Christmas. My kale gets so sweet and tasty after two or three good frosts. There is no reason not to keep edible things growing in your garden all year long.

Is there anything that can grow through the winter in Zone 6, western-ish maryland?

Thanks!

Leisa, check with your local extension office. Also, Johnny's I believe has their field tests in Maine, which is close to you. Check their winter catalog for varieties of veggies that they say grow for you.

Also an option for ovewintering if you've been growing for a while, is to plant a cover crop for green manuer. You let the mix of grasses and field beans grow to about 6 inches over the winter and til them under to compost for spring. My brother did that after 5 years of growing with just augments of compost annually. It worked like a charm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!