Covering the vegetable garden with mulch over the Winter may seem like a lot of work, but it has many advantages: it inhibits weed growth, it nourishes the soil, and it protects the soil surface from the worst severities of the weather, which encourages worms and insect life to flourish.
Winter is the time of year when you can start to think about next seasson’s vegetable crop, and in particular what steps you can take to ensure that the soil in your vegetable garden is as fertile as possible.
One technique that is becoming increasingly popular amongst vegetable growers, is to make an extensive use of mulch – this is a central feature of the method of gardening known as ‘Permaculture’.
The theory behind mulching is that, in Nature, the surface of the soil is only very rarely exposed to the elements: in woods and forests, for example, it is covered by a thick layer of decomposing leaves, which protects the soil from erosion, and provides nutrients for the soil-based organisms. Mulching also inhibits the growth of weeds, and reduces evaporation from the soil surface.
Almost anything from the garden can be used as a mulch – grass cuttings, bracken, nettles, straw, or material cuts from banks and hedgerows. It must be borne in mind that mulch that contains mature weeds will drop a lot of seeds onto the soil – so this sort of material should only be used on areas that are to be used for crops such as potatoes that do not require hand weeding.
Excess mulch can be raked off in the Spring, and piled up in heaps. Later in the year, it can be spread back round the vegetables to help keep the weeds down. You will be surprised by how much mulch a garden can absorb, and how quickly it disappears into the soil.
