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Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Quebec, Canada

I am throwing alfalfa Pell down in a few days. Should till them in now or leave them on the surface and till in spring

11/8/2026 1:46:54 PM

Grittyville, WA

I dont know what the benefit would be as far as tilling. Have you considered sourcing a larger quantity of nutrients? How rich is the soil at the new patch? If there's a sheep or goat dairy near you might be able to get a lot more alfalfa manure/ waste. It's very expensive to feed this hobby, at retail prices!

11/8/2026 5:09:16 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I wouldn't till just for alfalfa pellets, but I would hard rake them in (metal rake) so they are in the ground and at that spot.

Ideally you would feed a cover crop with them and then till it all in spring. You could add compost and other amendments then too. I fed alfalfa to my Winter Rye and it is growing the best I have ever had.

11/8/2026 6:07:47 PM

Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Quebec, Canada

I’m trying to acquire cow manure or compost for the spring. I haven’t run a soil test yet, that’s for march. Slow release 14-10-10 is part of the plan.

11/8/2026 6:26:39 PM

Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Quebec, Canada

Coffee grounds?

11/8/2026 6:26:50 PM

Grittyville, WA

I dont know if coffee grounds are great for pumpkins. I've had ok results using them near potatoes. They can help compost smell better and the worms might wake up.

11/8/2026 7:02:45 PM

Portland, CT

Remember Maurice, you only really need the area around your seedlings to be 100% prepped in April. It's ok to wait for the spring and for things to warm up a bit before you amend and till the rest of your patch. A lot of people actually say that's better because those nutrients will have less time to leach out of the soil. For now, I would try to find out the ph of that patch and put down lime or sulfur to fix that and then basically leave it alone for the rest of the winter.

11/8/2026 7:09:49 PM

Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Quebec, Canada

Actually that’s great because seed starting is April 23 I’ll plant outside may 10-15 in hoop houses with IRT around. Weeds don’t start till early June and they give out free compost may 15-16 so I can do the rest of the patch with that and then put down the irrigation cables and the IRT in the rest of the patch

11/9/2026 12:24:53 PM