I’m a bit behind with garden cleanup this year. So, I spent most of the weekend cleaning up the koi pond and the vegetable garden. Yesterday was cold and miserable so, of course, that’s when I worked on the koi pond – poor choice on my part!
Today was gray but definitely warmer and I cleaned up the raised beds and the in-ground vegetable beds. I’ve got some tillage radishes growing for cover crops in the in-ground beds. The raised beds are mostly empty except for one that has radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, and some lettuce growing in it. The empty ones will get covered with a thick layer of leaves in the next couple of weeks.
But It’s Really Not a Wrap
I don’t yet have a hoophouse on the raised beds nor do I have a greenhouse. Those are both goals, if you’re wondering. However, I do have a small hydroponics setup in our basement and I’ll starting growing lettuce, bok choy, and spinach in early December. I’ve also got some cool-seasons vegetables – like beets, kale, radishes, and turnips – growing outside and I’m hopeful for a harvest or two before winter really hits. Time will tell!
I have a silly question… what happens to the koi? Do they come inside? Hide in the mud?
It’s not silly. They don’t come inside or hide in the mud (the pond has a rubber liner so there’s no mud for them). Our pond is deep enough that they hang out at the bottom, where it’s warmest, all winter. Their metabolism slows way down so they don’t need food or much activity. On sunny winter days, they’ll come to the top to say hi. If we have a cold winter, and the pond is frozen over, we won’t see them until spring.
My lovely husband read this post and wanted me to point out that he helped load all the plant matter from the pond into the truck and he’s going to take care of hauling it away. So, I just pointed it out. 😀