Among autumning rituals at Rosslyn, one end-of-the-growing-season activity that definitively marks the transition toward winter is when we put the garden to bed. This annual right of passage is part lament for what’s ending and part hopeful celebration of what’s to come.
Once all of the annual plants and produce are removed and the soil is amended with compost from inside this season’s raised beds, the garden is tilled and left to rest.
Among the final edibles harvested this season is a tub-full of glorious carrots. Yum! Time for carrot snacks and carrot cake, carrot crudités and carrot muffins, carrot soup and shredded carrot sal,… Fortunately these colorful tubers will last for a while (to avoid overdosing!)
And then there are the six cedar boxes — all bottomless so that they can be lifted with straps suspended from the tractor loader — that we filled with compost and topsoil last spring and planted as raised beds. Year after year we use this technique for elevating greens and radishes (I highly recommend this holistic gardening trick) and then spread the rich material over the garden before tilling.
Now that we have put the garden to bed, it’s time to start planning for spring 2025. If composting a spent garden feels good, composing a new garden feels even better! 
What do you think?