November 14, 2014
I spent most of this week spreading horse manure and mulch, preparing the garden for next season. A friend brought over some horse manure. Each planting section got a layer of horse manure and a layer of mulch.
Sweet Potato Patch #1:
Sweet Potato Patch #2 (with kids’ garden at the end): 
Boxes: 
Here is the tomato patch as an example of what everything looked like before being covered with mulch. It is amazing what a thin layer of mulch does for the smell as well! The tomato patch was covered with mulch after I took pictures 🙂 
She is going to bring me more manure as she is able. In the meantime, I am systematically going through the garden, pulling weeds and layering on more mulch. The NC heat breaks down the mulch pretty quickly. Great for the plants and soil but it means you have to add more mulch each year to make sure the weeds don’t take over.
I had already weeded and mulched around the apple tree when the friend came with the horse manure.
(dark mulch is the new mulch)
So I just put the manure on top. 
Even though it will be stinky while it decomposes, it is worth it. The compost/manure tea the soil will be getting all winter will show in our beautiful broccoli this spring (what I am planning on planting there). 🙂
That is the main chore for the rest of the year. At least, I hope I can get it done by the end of December! It certainly is a tall order!
Do you prepare your garden in the fall for next spring? It makes the spring a lot more enjoyable — no fertilizing and very little weeding as well! Love BTE gardening! 🙂
Gardening Without... 
I put compost on my garden. No manure though as I live in the city and I try to keep my neighbors happy.