winterizing

some will groan ( inwardly or aloud ) at the title of this post...but bemoaning the coming of winter will not deter its arrival and i intend to prepare a bit earlier than i did last season which was left almost until too late...there are a few beds with large open spaces that once were home to harvested plants or were just open due to plant spacing ( like the bed with peppers in it in the third and fourth photos )...so i took a warren hoe to those spaces to break up and aerate the soil..then i took some alfalfa seeds out of the bag i purchased from sustainable seed ( a go to organic supplier who will be sending us garlic toute de suite ) and i broadcast it around, covered it lightly ( like quinoa, alfalfa will surface germinate but there are birds to consider here ) and added some water the soil which was still damp from saturday's rain...they will germinate in a few days and will have plenty of time to establish themselves before winter so they will "green" next spring...alfalfa is a legume and will work with rhizobia bacteria to set nitrogen in the soil...i have innoculated these beds with rhizobia already and that those colonies should still be there...but i will add more innocualnt at the next opportunity ( after or during a rain...chlorinated water will kill a new colony before it develops sufficient numbers to recover ) ti be certain...then we can turn the alfalfa under a few weeks before planting day to enrich the organic content of the soil in the beds...no more imported compost here...we are growing our own in the beds...while i was hoeing i dredged up a couple of small ollala potatoes from the plant i harvested from my bed some time ago...those will go into the seed potato bin for planting next spring..or in my basement over the winter if they become impatient...i also harvested ten more potato fruits which leaves me with forty-nine ripening in paper bags, another dozen or so netted on plants in my yard and in the community garden, and the twenty-four i have already processed...i will be having lots of potato seed to share...i have already mailed some out...holler if you want some and i will share what i can.