Garden Smart: Less Garden Work Equals Great Results

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We can cover the garden with something to protect it from the elements. Or we can do nothing, leaving the garden as it is at the end of the growing season.
We can cover the garden with something to protect it from the elements. Or we can do nothing, leaving the garden as it is at the end of the growing season.
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2. End-of-season garden illustration.
2. End-of-season garden illustration.
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3. End-of-season garden illustration.
3. End-of-season garden illustration.
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In this photo, frost has wiped out our tender crops. The wheelbarrow at the far right is loaded with manure which is to be spread over bare ground and covered with hay mulch to hold nutrients and protect the soil.
In this photo, frost has wiped out our tender crops. The wheelbarrow at the far right is loaded with manure which is to be spread over bare ground and covered with hay mulch to hold nutrients and protect the soil.
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1. End-of-season garden illustration.
1. End-of-season garden illustration.
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Sunflowers in the foreground; weeds beyond were left to catch blowing snow.
Sunflowers in the foreground; weeds beyond were left to catch blowing snow.
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1. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
1. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
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3. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
3. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
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2. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
2. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
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4. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.
4. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Common Ground Country Fair.

Mort Mather cuts through the false folklore of late-season garden chores to garden smart and makes a compelling case for doing … nothing? (See the garden illustrations and photos in the image gallery.)

How to Garden Smart

September and October are the most beautiful months in Maine. The air is clear and crisp. The garden is overflowing with its bounty. Corn on the cob roasted on the grill in the husk is a favorite. We strip back the husk and use it as a handle, buttering the corn by rubbing it across a stick of butter. We frequently eat it as an hors d’oeuvre outside before the rest of the meal. When we finish an ear we throw it in a high arc toward the compost bin, cheering if it hits the target.

Salads are the best ever with vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh lettuce, maybe green peppers and onions or scallions. Or maybe we will have a platter of thickly sliced blood-red tomatoes with fresh basil chopped and sprinkled over them or cucumbers and onions swimming in vinegar and water and flavored with a little fresh dill.

The main course might be kabobs with summer squash, onions, pepper, green or pink cherry tomatoes, and some red meat. Then again we might grill some fish or chicken along with zucchini, whole onions, and potatoes.

  • Published on Oct 1, 1996
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