Fall garden tips to prepare for next season

The growing season in Montana is short and bittersweet.

While local green thumbs are busy gathering their corn, tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini, the experienced gardener knows that the success of next year’s harvest hinges on prepping their gardens for the long winter ahead.

“Right now, is the beginning of next season,” exclaimed Sara Poling who lives on eight acres near Lozeau. Her sprawling property inspires one of her favorite interests, gardening.

She expressed, “Gardening is the slowest form of performance art. Working with the plants, the soil, the land is all part of who I am as a person. Being able to tend to that pursuit is the ultimate escape from the yoke of society.”

For Poling she’s been digging in the dirt and planting seeds since she was barely able to walk. She recalled, “My first "garden" was a bird water dish I had filled with dirt and planted every single little seed off the head of a dandelion. They grew pretty well until they got over crowded and ultimately scorched to death in my bedroom window. The next year I grew a bachelor's button in that same window and got it to bloom.”

These days at her western Montana home the majority of her garden outdoors is ornamental with some functional aspects like berry bushes. But her food garden is expanding more and more each year.

“I have found that I am pretty handy in growing potatoes and heirloom garlic,” said Poling.

Her food garden is about 16 feet by 18 feet in a raised bed. She has multiple patches of ornamental gardening throughout their property which her and her husband built and established together. As fall approaches focus shifts to readying plots and the plants for next year.

“Now is when I will be putting my chickens out in the garden area to eat away at the weeds and turn the soil. Once I have enough goodies piled up, I will amend my garden and plant my garlic for next year. Even for the ornamental plants some need to be cut back, mulched, or some still need to be planted to get ready for winter,” explained Poling.

She recommended that if you don’t have your own chickens that possibly borrowing some from a friend would make this step of the process much quicker. The chickens can strip your garden of unwanted weeds in record time.

After that most gardeners focus on covering their crops. But not for Poling, she noted, “I am in a fairly wild area so believing I can eliminate or prevent all weeds, without chemicals is impossible, so I try to work with the land to control them as best I can.”

In her cherished decorative gardens, she cuts back any iris leaves, lily, and tulips so the plant wil retreat into its roots. This winter Poling is hoping to learn how to can her garden goods. But as the weather turns and the leaves drop, she’ll keep busy with her indoor florae.

Poling said, “It’s never a good bye. I have a nice collection of house plants to tend, chickens and quail, hunting season, and so much more. I also have a greenhouse with a little heater that I can start plants for next season a little earlier than normal.” She added, “My hubby often tells folks that our house looks like we lost to Jumanji, he sadly has no idea that I could be doing so many more plants.”

A fellow horticulturist down in St. Regis claimed there’s really no time to waste once you’re done harvesting in the fall.

“You start planning the second the season is over. That's when it's fresh in your head of what worked and what didn't. Networking with other local gardeners is key. Learn from their mistakes and triumphs as well as your own,” shared Naomi Messenbrink, she’s been planting gardens for roughly 30 years in all kinds of soils and climates.

After her and her husband moved back to Montana with their adult son who is disabled, Messenbrink was discouraged by locals who said gardens don’t do well up north. Messenbrink stated, “In Montana, you have to be resourceful in so many areas. When I originally moved to Montana 13 years ago, I was told not to bother with gardening because "nothing grows here". I took that on as a challenge.”

So, she read books, sought out friends in local gardening groups, and even had the blessing of mentorship from a master gardener, who was also a close Christian friend. She detailed, “I learned many tricks to extending the short Montana growing season. I have a greenhouse in which I start some of my heirloom seeds during the later winter months, with the help of a grow light and heat mats.”

Aside from the brief growing period that Montana is known for, Messenbrink has also educated herself on the content of local soils. She found that in this region, soils are typically deficient in nitrogen and need some help in order to produce a better harvest each year.

Messenbrink advised, “After I've completely harvested for the year, I like to add sheep or chicken manure to my gardening areas, since these have the highest amount of nitrogen. I personally avoid horse manure as it includes too many weed seeds and adds work in the next season. I also like to overwinter some garlic and onions for an early spring harvest bonus. Just be sure to add layers of leaves to offer a nice cover and add more nutrients back into the soil.”

At home she works numerous raised beds filled with peppers, herbs and various squash, and plans to expand in the future. But Messenbrink also gardens with a friend from Superior at her churches garden, the St Regis Community Church, on Main Street.

The bounty from her crops feed her family and others too. She said, “We freeze, can, dehydrate and bake. From the church garden, we donate and share produce with other church families, individuals in the community, and the St. Regis Senior Center.”

As the primary caregiver of her adult disabled son, she has a personal rule about gardening. Messenbrink shared, “I do not grow anything that either doesn't come up on its own, a perennial, or doesn't feed us in some way. I also raised my kids to love the "fruits of your labor" and taught them a different concept of playing with your food.”

Being able to provide her friends and loved ones with quality healthy food is very satisfying. And she noted, “Since my husband and son have seasonal and food allergies, it is very important to me to know exactly what is in our food.”

Messenbrink is nearly done gathering her crops, but even now there are others that are just ripe for the picking. This time of year she watches the weather closely and harvests accordingly.

“Gardeners in Montana tend to run long sprints rather than marathons. If you plan accordingly, you can harvest an abundance of food and enjoy it all winter long,” said Messenbrink.

During the winter months Messenbrink concentrates on gathering seeds for next year’s garden. After deciding what she wants to grow she said, “I then map out on paper what I'm going to plant, where I'll plant it, and what other supplies, bean trellises, tomato cages, hand tools, I need to acquire or build during the winter months.”

One of her favorite resources is consulting some literature on the topic, "The Montana Gardeners Companion" by Bob Gough & Cheryl Moore-Gough. And she reminded, “Lastly, I NEVER plant anything in the ground before Memorial Day due to the possibility of a late Montana frost.”

But Messenbrink concluded, “When it comes to gardening in Montana, have fun and enjoy the earth God gave us!”