Harvest is all done, frost has killed all my veggies except the greens. It's time to think about next season.
Where I live, west of Chicago, we can expect snow from November through March, some winters a month earlier and later than that. The ground is typically frozen hard December through the end of February. So anything I want to do needs to get done now.
I have a typical suburban lot with lots of trees around it, so lots of leaves. I also have very heavy clay soil. The topsoil around here is normally excellent soil but of course it was all scraped off when the lots were prepped for building, so we have no topsoil at all. It makes gardening and even growing a nice lawn very difficult.
Below are some pics. I dig a deep trench, 3+ feet (about a meter) and lay down a layer of sticks and wood. The wood is a mix of carpentry scraps, green logs and rotting wood, really whatever I have on hand. I'll be trimming trees and cutting out all the saplings that grow up every year so lots of small green wood too.
On top of that goes all the leaves. Some years the neighbor contributes many bags of leaves too. Mixed in goes more sticks and wood and all the kitchen garbage. After the first layer I shovel a layer of dirt on top to hold everything in place. Then another layer of leaves and wood and garbage, then another of dirt. This continues until I have a large mound and can't go any higher without it sliding off. A layer of leaves 3 feet deep will squeeze down to about a 1 inch layer by next fall.
Then I dig another trench and start over. The final trench stays open all winter and gets all the winter kitchen scraps, all the fireplace charcoal and ash and a layer of dead leaves in the spring. In March this last trench gets filled in and topped with soil.
I immediately scatter lettuce seeds all over the top, regardless of the weather. Lettuce will sprout and grow even if there are hard frosts and snow after sowing. Cold won't kill it, and I can get early lettuce. Radishes and carrots can also be planted with no worry about cold at this stage.
