Maintain a Robust & Resilient Ecosystem
Now that we are in September, it's time to begin planning the most important task for your fall garden – recharging your soil with fresh compost! Healthy soil is the foundation for a thriving garden, and now is the perfect time to cover your raised beds with a 2-inch layer of fresh, microbe/nutrient-rich compost. This compost is the same high-quality product we use to fill our new raised beds. It’s teeming with beneficial microorganisms that nourish your plants and build a robust, resilient ecosystem in your garden.
Why Spread Compost in Fall?
Adding our top quality compost now ensures that your soil is full of essential nutrients and microbes by the time spring planting arrives. Plus, this replenishes the organic matter your soil needs to keep performing at its best, growing bigger, healthier crops year after year. Whether you’re preparing your beds for winter or planting a fall garden, don’t miss this vital step!. You can also spread a layer of compost in the spring.
Now is the time to plant a fall garden
In September it’s best to plant seedlings instead of seeds since the fall growing season starts in August. Good Earth Greenhouse in River Forest, other garden centers and farmers markets often sell fall seedlings.
Early Fall: Prepare for the Final Harvest
As fall approaches, your garden enters its final stages. Here’s how to wrap up the growing season with a successful harvest:
Harvest warm-season vegetables: It’s time to gather tomatoes, peppers, squashes, and other warm-season vegetables before the first frost. Keep an eye on the weather and harvest tender crops as temperatures drop.
Harvesting squash: Harvest some squash when they are light beige or slightly green (summer squash). Or wait until they are a warm peach color (winter squash). The winter squash skin is tough and can be stored indoors for 5-6 months in a cool location.
Plant fall crops: Fall is also a great time to plant cool-season crops again. Spinach, kale, and carrots can thrive in cooler temperatures, giving you fresh produce well into the fall.
Late Fall: Garden Clean-Up and Winter Preparation
As the season comes to a close, it’s important to prepare your garden for winter. This will ensure a healthy and productive start next spring:
Final harvest: Harvest any remaining vegetables, especially root crops like carrots and potatoes. For plants that won’t survive the frost, it’s time to cut them down.
Clean and store tools: Clean and sharpen your garden tools before storing them for winter. This will prolong their life and ensure they’re ready for next year.
Apply compost: Spread a 2” layer of compost over your beds. This protects the soil from winter erosion and adds nutrients that will break down and enrich the soil during the colder months.
Plant garlic in fall October 15 to 30 for a bountiful harvest in July. It sprouts in spring and is harvested in July. Plant the biggest and healthiest organic garlic cloves you can find at a farmers market since the variety is best for our local climate. Planting garlic blog post.
Plant spinach seeds between November 15 and 30 for an early spring crop, and after you apply the 2” of compost. But don’t cover with mulch or leaves that will block the tiny sprouts from emerging in the spring. Spinach planting blog post.
Avoid leaching of nutrients. Cover the bed with fallen leaves or landscape cloth to protect soil from snow and rain over the winter. But remove the leaf cover and cloth March 1 (or earlier) so spinach seeds can germinate and perennials like green onions can sprout.
Frost protection: Use row covers ((light weight white garden fabric) to extend harvest of spinach, lettuce, and kale well into November. Row cover comes in 3 protection levels.
Planting a cover crop is optional. Cover crops are an effective way to improve soil health, suppress weeds, and provide other benefits to a raised bed food garden. By choosing the right cover crop for your growing conditions, planting at the right time, and following good maintenance practices, you can enjoy a healthier and more productive garden. See our blog post: Cover Crops in Raised Beds.
Microbe-Rich Compost Is the Key to Success
Whether you're replenishing your existing beds or filling new ones, our microbe/nutrient-rich compost is your key to gardening success. It's made at a local farm with a “thermophilic” (heating generating) process the explodes the healthy microbe populations that your soil needs to grow healthy plants. Plus, it's OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified organic!
Why Deep Roots Raised Beds?
Our cedar raised beds are designed for durability and optimal plant growth. Made from rot-resistant Eastern red cedar, they’re built to handle harsh winter conditions and provide a long-lasting foundation for your garden. The raised beds come in a 15” height, making them ideal for growing a wide variety of food crops, and they’re handcrafted right in our Oak Park workshop.
Learn Our Innovative Gardening Method
We have re-designed and added new content to the “BLOG” section of our website. It is now our “Grow Your Own Food” organic gardening course. It is designed for all experience levels and people with busy lives. You’ll learn to start small and build success year after year. The course covers everything from spring prep to fall harvest, focusing on raised beds filled with microbe-rich compost instead of traditional soil. Healthy soil microbe populations are the hidden garden assistants that feed your plant roots which means less work for you. The course also has posts on healthy people and community. Grow a successful garden from the first year. Plus, get free support and coaching at (708) 655-5299 and support(a)deep-roots-project.org.
Lower Raised Bed Prices in Fall Until January 1
We’ll deliver a bed to your yard in either the fall or spring – whichever works best for you. This is a great opportunity to set yourself up early for gardening success next season without the stress of not knowing the delivery date. we are pre-building raised bed panels this winter so we can assemble the panels quickly in spring
This fall, take your garden to the next level by enriching your soil now – and secure your raised bed for the 2025 season at this year’s prices.
Order our compost in bulk or in bags
Minimum is 27 cubic foot order for bulk deliveries in our truck. Most customers pick up cubic foot bags of compost from our experimental garden at 323 S. East Ave. Oak Park. To help customers with smaller orders who need delivery help, we offer a low-cost bag delivery service . The charge is $1 per bag with a $15 minimum in the Oak Park / River Forest area. Deliveries can be made Monday – Saturday. If you are more than 5 miles from our Oak Park location – call customer support to get delivery pricing.
Contact our Support Team
Before placing an order for compost, leaf mulch, worm castings or raised beds please contact our support team by email, phone or text message.
Warm regards and happy gardening!
The Deep Roots Project Team
(708) 655-5299
support(a)deep-roots-project.org
