What Happens To The Soil As Temperatures Drop?
- Brandon Cottey
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
🪱 The Soil Through Fall & Winter
’Tis the season to plant potatoes and garlic, and to collect those newly fallen leaves that will become next year’s compost. As summer harvests wind down and fall crops take root, let’s pause and reflect over a cup of coffee or tea. Let’s focus below the surface and ask the question: What exactly happens within the soil as temperatures drop?
🌾 The Living Soil in Winter
While plants above ground go dormant, the soil is quietly alive. It’s taking a deep breath after a long season of giving, storing energy and nutrients while microbes and larger soil organisms continue breaking down organic matter into humus.
It’s important that we don’t neglect or become apathetic toward our gardens during the winter months. Encouraging soil microbes promotes life within the soil throughout winter and may even help grow some hearty winter crops.
The process of decomposition sets the stage for spring. The more organic matter we build up now, the more dynamic our gardens will be when warmth and light return.
🍂 Winter Observations
Take a walk in the woods this winter. Move slowly and listen. You’ll notice the quiet stillness that the cold brings, yet if you listen more deeply, there’s life all around you: the chatter of birds, the scurry of a squirrel, the satisfying crunch of leaves beneath your boots. (Ahh, the crunch of leaves...)
Peel back that blanket of leaves and you’ll find black, humus-rich soil teeming with life. Bring that soil close and breathe it in. You’ll catch the ancient scent of earth, the smell of decomposition, transformation, and renewal.
If you’re in an old forest, this soil may be thousands of years in the making, built from generations of life and decay.
How does the forest thrive with no human help? It thrives on humus and in humus. Everything in the forest eventually returns to the soil, forming rich, dark humus that fuels the ecosystem and allows it to thrive.
🌻 Lessons from My Backyard Garden
My home sits in an older neighborhood that was once an orchard and farm about a hundred years ago. The soil in my backyard is still a work in progress, but each year I see more signs of health and diversity.
Most of that progress has come from focusing on the microbiology within the soil instead of only what’s produced above it.
And while it might sound unscientific, I’m encouraged by small signs, like the Monarch butterflies passing through this week. Their presence reminds me that as I increase life in the soil, life above it will follow.
🌱 How to Feed the Soil Before Winter
1. Add Compost
Compost is king. If you want your garden soil to act like a forest floor, you’ll need to add compost, and plenty of it. We add compost every spring and fall, and we’re always looking for ways to make more.
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be starting another Johnson Su Compost Bioreactor, and I’ll document the process for those curious about this method. The more compost you can make or buy, the better.
2. Apply Worm Casting Tea
Worm castings are rich in beneficial bacteria. A compost tea made from them is an easy way to spread those microbes throughout your garden.
I like to apply worm tea to fall crops such as cabbage and daikon. The brassicas love it, and it’s a simple way to give your soil a biological boost before winter sets in.
3. Incorporate Biochar
If you’ve never used biochar, fall is a great time to begin. As you clear out your summer beds, work a bit of char into the soil so it can settle before spring.
I’m always amazed by how evenly it spreads over time. Even a small amount seems to distribute itself through entire garden beds. Biochar truly is remarkable material.
4. Plant Cover Crops
Cover crops remind me that I’m not the only one working in the garden. They fix nitrogen, loosen compacted soil, and invite other beneficial organisms.
Above the surface, they shield the soil. Below it, they enrich it. And when their work is done, they fall, decompose, and feed the next generation of plants. Thank you, cover crops.
5. Mulch with Leaves
One of the most overlooked resources is the abundance of fallen leaves. Here in Springfield, a designated “Tree City,” we’re surrounded by free mulch every fall.
This year, I plan to use leaves instead of plastic to cover unused beds. They insulate, feed the soil, and return carbon to where it belongs.
🌍 Final Thought
As we tuck our gardens in for the winter, it’s good to remember that life underground never really stops. Every layer of compost, every leaf, every handful of soil is part of a living system preparing for renewal.
What are you doing this fall to care for your soil? I’d love to hear your methods or observations.
Thanks for reading,
Brandon Cottey
📚 Winter Reading List
Barefoot Biodynamics: How Cows, Compost, and Community Help Us Understand Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course — Amazon link
Soil Fertility and the Human Species by William Albrecht — Amazon link
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