Tools and Equipment

A key year-end task is the maintenance and repair of garden tools and equipment. Small tools should be cleaned, sharpened, and put into storage in good condition. A light film of oil on trowels, shovels, hoes, and similar tools will provide rust protection. Winterize the engines on power tools as suggested by the manufacturer. Sprayers or dusters should be thoroughly cleaned and dried so water does not stand in them through the winter months.

Winter is an excellent time for checking power tools and sprayers for repairs needed to put them in good working condition. There is ample time to order parts, make needed repairs, and check to be sure the equipment operates properly before spring.

If possible, store garden tools and equipment in an indoor storage location such as a garage, basement, storage shed, or barn. Where only outside storage is available, keep the engines of power tools or the working parts of other tools covered to protect them.

Store seeds in a cool, dry location if extra seed was left from this year's planting. A glass jar or similar container makes an excellent dry storage container for seed packages.

Tomato vines can be pulled up just before frost and hung in basement or garage for fruit to ripen.

Hotbed, coldframe, or plant growing structures should be cleaned thoroughly and equipment checked for needed repairs. These are some of the items that will be used very early in spring and should not be overlooked in the equipment repair list.

Many gardeners face a feverish flurry of activity the day before the first forecast frost. Frost-tender crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, leafy greens, and beans should be harvested immediately. They then can be stored in a refrigerator and used as needed.

Many gardeners harvest green and partially colored tomatoes, wrap each in a piece of newspaper, and store in a carton in a cool basement (50 to 60 F). Tomatoes can be stored in this manner for several months and will ripen for use in several days when placed at room temperatures. Tomato vines can be hung in a warm shelter to finish ripening for immediate use.

Crops in the cabbage family are usually not injured by the first slight frost, so they can be allowed to remain until temperatures in the mid-twenties are forecast.

Protection can be provided against light frosts by using burlap bags, old blankets, or canvas as a cover. The vegetables may ripen in the garden during warm fall days while frosts are increasingly likely at night. Produce not processed by the first heavy frost should be prepared for storage.

One of the great joys of gardening is the year-round use of vegetables produced in the garden. A number of vegetables can be stored without a preserving process.

In many areas of the South, root vegetables such as carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, or salsify stay in place in the garden and are dug up as needed. A protective mulch cover of straw or compost may be used. In northern areas where the soil is apt to freeze, these vegetables can be stored in place until early winter with a mulch layer, then dug and put into a cellar, basement, or pit storage area. The popularity of pit or cellar storage of produce is increasing.

Your county Extension office may have suggestions on several types of easy-to-construct vegetable storage structures which can be used for potatoes, root crops, cabbage, and onions.

Pumpkin and squash can be stored in a fairly warm (55 to 60 F), dry location in the home on shelves or racks for long periods of time. They should be harvested when the rind is hard, with a short portion of the stem left on each.

Sweetpotatoes require a warm humid storage location. They are subject to injury if exposed to temperature below 50 F, so special care is needed.

Review Garden Plan

Another important step at the end of the season is to review your garden plan, and see how to improve it next year. If you didn't keep records of crops and varieties through the season, make some notes now. By next spring, you may forget the names of varieties you want to choose again unless you have a written record.

Gardeners should keep a list of varieties that did well, besides recording where the seed (or plant) was purchased and how much was bought. Evaluate the production of each crop, and make notes if more or less space may be required next year to meet your family's needs.

This is also an excellent time to match notes with other gardeners. Comparing results from certain crops or varieties may eliminate your choice of a poor variety next year and introduce you to a new variety or crop that may be an improvement.

Check your soil test reports and fertilizer and lime recommendations. Bring them up to date or get soil samples for testing.

Many a cold winter's evening can be warmed by glancing through seed catalogs and suppliers' lists in preparation for next season. Fall and winter is a good time to drop a postcard to garden seed and supply distributors for early mailings of their catalogs.

It's a good idea to review your garden at end of season. Records of which varieties did well, and how much space was allotted to each vegetable, can lead to more successful crop next season.

Top, winter nights are good time to meet with family and decide what vegetables to plant come warmer weather. Above, seed catalog arrives in mailbox.

For those who prefer to buy seeds from local dealers, this is an excellent time to notify them of your next spring's needs for varieties, supplies, or equipment you were not able to find last spring. This allows the dealer time to locate the items before the spring rush of garden sales begins.

Problems in finding garden supplies can often be avoided completely with a visit to the dealer during winter months. While you are there, sharing successes and failures with the dealer can provide important information for him to pass along to other customers.

To sum up, the end of the season is a time to clean up the garden area, compost valuable organic materials, plant cover crops and provide winter protection for the garden soil, to clean and repair garden tools, store garden produce for later use, update soil test reports, and review last year's successes and failures. Many old and wise green thumbers claim a successful gardener is one who keeps at it 12 months a year.

The end of the growing season is not an end to garden-related activities. The late fall and winter months are important for achieving a productive and profitable garden.