Hello, and thank you for helping with my question. It is the end of the season and I feel like I should till my garden. During the season, I had pepper plants, tomato plants, zucchini, plants, and pumpkin plants. I have removed all of the tomato cages, and root balls. However, there are quite a few loose tomatoes that had fallen off of the plants and were either smooshed or being consumed by bugs. My question is, can I leave those tomatoes on the ground and till them into the soil? They do not appear to have been diseased and were quite tasty without bugs.

I wouldn't till the garden until Spring when you get ready to plant again. The tomatoes won't harm the garden laying on top and will just feed the soil and bugs and eventually disappear.

Thank you for your response. I was seeing mixed answers on the Internet and just wanted to be certain I was being proactive. This helps a lot!

I till if I'm putting in an autumn planting.
If I'm not planting, there's no reason to wake up all those micro organisms and expose the soil to erosion.

Each time we aerate the soil, all those aerobic organisms get busy... this actually breaks down valuable nutrients, leaving the soil less valuable to future plantings.

An exception... When I'm breaking up some sticky clay for the first time, leaving it to winter's mercies can be helpful in breaking the clods down a bit.

I agree about not tilling in the fall but I would pick up the tomatoes and other garden waste. I don't like to leave waste from cultivated plants in my garden since I worry about plant specific bugs and viruses overwintering in the waste.

If you are planting wam weather crops - tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucurbits, corn, eggplant, etc. then you can wait for spring to till at an appropriate time.

If you plant early crops - lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, radish, beets, carrots, spinach, cabbage, peas, onions, etc., then it's better to till in the fall to be ready in the early spring.

In the midwest at least, spring weather doesn't always cooperate, and one often ends up having to wait too long into the spring to be able to till without destroying soil structure. You should never be tilling cold, wet soil.

As stone says, aerating (tilling) the soil does prompt a proliferation of soil micro organisms, and you could get a temporary boost of available soil nutrients for your garden plants. In my opinion, though, unless you have a sandy soil, better soil structure trumps nutrients every time. One can always add nutrients in a vast array of forms, but fixing soil structure isn't so easy.

We live in a very rural area. If farmers to the southwest of us disk or plow their fields in autumn, we see ridges of blown soil build up on the ground next to our barns & house. During a windy snowfall you can see the brown streaks aross the open land. After the snow melts you can easily examine the open fields to detect where inches of topsoil are lost.

I do not till in autumn. I also plant a cover crop for the dormant winter season.

Bare fields or gardens through the winter is certainly a concern, especially if your area is open to unobstructed winds as a field is. But the difference between a smoothed tilled garden soil and that which is bare from removal of all plant materials is minimal, IMO.

While I mulch all my own tree leaves back into the lawn, two of my neighbors collect theirs (shredded by their mowers) and deposit them in my garden for me. Over the decades, my "problem" is an overall increase in soil volume.

I would not roto-till, but I have in the past, when I was full of piss and vinegar, turned the soil over with a shovel.
Now I have heavy soil. depending on weather, turning it over left large clumps, which were easier to roto-till than flat soil in spring.

I don't rototill.
those clumps in heavy soil aren't a problem to the plants.
so much of what people do in the garden is for eye appeal, but unhelpful to soil or plants.
Over tillage harms the soil microbes... Makes the soil less productive.
Someone responded to my concerns about soil health by talking about fixing the issue with a bag of fertilizer... but it really isn't that simple.

https://theconversation.com/to...

Everybody gave really good advice. I try to just plant cover crops in the fall wherever I'm not planting my fall/winter vegies. And I just gently turn over the soil in the spring to add some fertilizer and compost. And it's a good time to pick out all the grubs before planting again.

Oh, my @SedonaDebbie, you live in a very rich soil area. That red soil can grow the most beautiful plants.
My Mom & Dad resided in Oak Creek Canyon for 20 years. Way before there was any population problem.
Envy your climate in winter, as I am in Michigan.

Hi Kathy,
I'm glad I brought you some good memories. I wish my garden was full of the great dirt that is up in Oak Creek Canyon. But Sedona is high desert. The dirt is just pulverized red rock that has to be super amended to be able to grow anything. I've done a lot of tilling. I don't head up to Flagstaff very often but when I do it is so awesome that the second you leave Sedona you enter the beautiful canyon surrounded by towering cliffs and forest. And it always brings back memories of wonderful, thick, wooded forests again like the ones in Michigan! When I was there years ago heading to Lake Huron I remember one forest that was so thick it was dark as night in it even though the sun was shining bright at 12 noon. It was the end of May and winter was just ending! And I accidentally got up close and personal with a bear! You brought me great memories as well. Thank you.

Yes, you can definitely till those fallen tomatoes into the soil at the end of the season. Here are a few reasons why and things to consider:

Nutrient Return: By tilling the tomatoes into the soil, you're allowing them to decompose and return their nutrients to the soil, benefiting the next crop you plant.

Disease Concerns: Since you mentioned that the tomatoes don't appear to have been diseased and tasted good, there's minimal risk in tilling them in. However, it's always a good practice to keep an eye out for any signs of diseases in your garden. If any plants showed signs of disease during the growing season, it's best to remove and dispose of those specific plants and fruits away from the garden.

Seeds Germination: One thing to be aware of is that tomatoes have seeds, and by tilling them into the soil, you might find some surprise tomato plants sprouting up next season. If you're okay with some potentially rogue tomato plants, this isn't an issue. If you want to prevent this, you might consider picking up as many of the fallen tomatoes as possible before tilling.

Soil Structure: Tilling does help mix organic matter (like your tomatoes) into the soil, but it's worth noting that frequent and deep tilling can disrupt soil structure and harm beneficial soil organisms over time. Consider no-till or reduced-till gardening methods in the future if you're concerned about maintaining a healthy soil ecosystem.

Other Garden Residue: Since you've removed tomato cages and root balls, you've already prepped your garden well. Make sure other garden debris, like larger stems or uncomposted plant materials, is broken down or removed before tilling to ensure an even soil texture for the next planting.

In conclusion, it's perfectly fine to till those fallen tomatoes into your garden soil. They'll break down and contribute organic matter and nutrients back to the soil, supporting future crops. Just be mindful of potential volunteer tomato plants next season!

CelticFarm said: Just be mindful of potential volunteer tomato plants next season!

I actually want those self-sowed maters...
But I usually pick them up for the chickens... Except for the ones that the cats eat...

Nice response, Steve.
Also, nice to meet you !

There are pluses and minuses to every action that we take in our gardens... but I find fall tilling reduces the presence of such things as squash vine borers and asparagus beetles. But, don't till if the soil is too wet - which has prevented me from doing so about 75% of the time.

I never till. I pull the weeds and plant.

There is a big movement where people are starting to realize that tilling damages the soil structure and those things that live within. It's called no-till gardening, and it's what I now do. I also use my leaf sweeper and clean up all the neighbors' leaves and bring them here to chop up. I take those and deposit them on top of the bare earth--again, I don't disturb the soil by trying to mix them in. That would not be helpful, whereas chopped leaves just lying on top will break down and create rich soil. On top of the soil, it is pretty and it keeps the soil moist and weed-free for the entire season. It was a dream come true! Back to undisturbed soil, the thinking is that you just cut the plant off at dirt level, rather than pulling it out, leaving the roots to decompose in place which helps to aerate the soil. Just wondering, being the garden is done, could you let your chickens in to eat the tomatoes? There is nothing better than chicken manure for a garden--no rogue weed seeds like you'll find in horse or cow manure.

The large farming community agrees with the trend of no-till. But that's where they & I part company.
In Spring I see the farmers spraying Roundup (or its equivalent) to kill the cover crop before planting their crops.
Gaaaaaa......