I have a tomato garden and I'm going to rip the old plants out and till the soil up so it's ready for next spring, is there anything that needs to be done except ripping the old crop out and tilling the soil up? Should anything be added for the winter? Thanks.

I have an organic garden, I compost and use lots of mulch year round.

I have a year round cycle which has a bearing on what I do.

I have two compost heaps - the working one (in which I toss new organic materials into) and the "simmering" pile which is not having things added and is being turned infrequently "cooking" down the pile to it fully composted state.

Starting in the fall (mind this is a year round circle) I pull up the stalks and dead/dying plants - cut them up and toss them in the Working Compost heap - I am also adding raked up leaves and grass trimmings and kitchen organic wastes.

I rake up the top layer of mulch on my beds (I mulch between plants and rows and over beds which are not in use) tossing the majority into the Working Compost heap - Yes its getting pretty full now.

What is left behind is dark, partially rotted organic material on top of the soil. I add to that from my Simmering compost heap - I shovel and spread the compost over the beds. Then I either till, hoe or shovel the bed turning the composted and semi-composted organic material into the soil. That pretty much empties the simmering compost heap.

Then I go and buy a couple three bales of straw - not hay hay has seed, straw does not. I break those open and mulch over the garden bed between 6" to 12" of material of loose material - this prevents weeds and will prevent erosion. Also allows for hot boxes and very early crop starting in the spring since the soil will warm up faster and/or not freeze. Further, one can keep onion, potatoes, carrots and other root crops in the ground longer even in to mid winter in many areas.

In spring I push aside my mulch for either individual plants or in rows for seed. By this time my "working" compost heap is now the simmering heap and the empties simmering heap of last fall is now the working heap.

If you have raised beds and nobody walks on them the soil should be light and "fluffy" enough in the spring - if not a little hoeing or even using the garden rake should break up the soil enough for planting.