I finished the final touches on winterizing my two raised garden beds today. With Maria’s help, I spread some donkey manure across the two beds and then used a hand rake to mix the waste with the new topsoil I’ve been pouring in all week.

Then, we cut up some cardboard to cover both beds and placed brinks on top of the manure and soil mix.

Covering the soil is a good idea, I think.

It’s beneficial in the early Spring after fertilizer and fresh soil has been added. The cardboard cover (black plastic is fine also)  helps retain warmth, allowing the dirt and manure to break down and “cure” before seeds are planted. The constant battering of the winter weather permits all those soil microbes to continue to work throughout the winter.

That is great for the soil.

Maria does her vegetable garden this way, and the garden practically exploded and ate the farm this summer.

Afterward, Maria and I held hands and said a “good night” prayer to the garden. Be well, I said, stay warm and fertile; I’ll see you in the Spring. I guess I’m hooked on gardening.

I’m starting to think about seeds.