November usually brings with it the first frost in this area, which can mean gardeners are seeing the harvest wind down — or, with the recent drought, it may have wound down long ago. However, according to Melissa Swafford, Garden Center Manager at North Arkansas Farm Supply, there’s plenty to be done to get a head start on next year’s plantings.
”Obviously, you want to be getting out what you had in,” such as dead plants,” Swafford said. “Start there.”
Healthy plants can go into mulch or compost piles, but diseased or pest-ridden plants need to be separated to avoid future problems.
Once the no-longer-producing plants are gone, the soil can be amended in preparation for next spring. Swafford said most soils are low on lime, and it can be added at this time of year, as long as it’s agricultural lime. Powder lime is not going to last long enough in terms of being residual in the soil, Swafford said.
It’s also a good time to add fertilizers or other soil amendments.
“If you want compost, manure, any of that type of thing added, now is the time to do that, as well,” she said.
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, in its month-by-month gardening guide on the website, says November is also a time to check old mulch and get rid of any diseased mulch.
For those not wanting to put in a fall garden, it can still be helpful to sow cover crops such as mustard, turnips, or peas, Swafford said.
“It helps your ground. Peas, legumes will actually fix nitrogen naturally … you can just leave them, and then in the spring, of course, till them under, and start again.”
The most important thing a gardener can do to prepare for next year, Swafford said, is a soil test, if a gardener has not already done this.
“That will give you a good idea of what you need to add for the spring,” she said.
Livestock
For those raising animals, Jacob Branscum at North Arkansas Farm Supply said the focus this time of year is getting ready for the difficult months of winter. Healthy animals are more able to withstand the stresses of winter, he said. Many Stone County residents raise cattle, and Branscum said that this is one of the optimal times to de-worm cattle, and to give vaccines.
“Keep in mind that you want to switch your wormers up,” Branscum said. “Don’t use the same one over and over, so that they don’t build resistance to it.”
Vaccines for black leg and respiratory diseases are also important, Branscum said.
“Always keep in mind, if you’re going to be cutting or banding cattle, to make sure and administer two rounds of black leg with tetanus. That way you protect the cow from getting tetanus from the cutting or banding.”
Also, it’s a good time of year to evaluate hay inventory, and determine a feeding program.
“In the middle of winter, it gets harder on the cattle, too,” Branscum said. “You want to make sure that they have adequate protein and roughage.”
Branscum said it’s also a good idea to have an adequate mineral program.
“Make sure and have a complete mineral out, other than salt,” he said. He recommends a good balanced mineral package. “Minerals can help reduce issues with calving, labor and delivery, as well as insufficiencies,” he said. Healthier cows not only are more likely to survive stressful times like bad weather, they also bring a higher price at the sale barn, Branscum said.
“You want to make sure you give them every advantage they can have to weather what’s coming.”
(*Editor's note: the version of this story published in print Nov. 4 incorrectly stated that mustard and turnip crops fix nitrogen in the soil.)
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