Timely Gardening Tips for Where You Live

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Photo courtesy MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors
Tips for gardening based on region and season.

Canada Maritimes/New England

After frosts arrive, enjoy the cool weather as you complete the fall tasks — planting garlic and bulbs, cleaning up the garden and building the compost pile. This time of year, fruit trees need protection from mice and voles; wrap their trunks with hardware cloth, metal screening or plastic tree guards. As outdoor activities slow, turn your attention to cleaning seed crops, and shelling peas, soybeans and dry beans. In late fall, spread manure except in the area reserved for next year’s carrots, which don’t need all that nitrogen. Colder days are good for clearing ski trails or winterizing the chicken coop. Make your own kim chi and sauerkraut, or fruit butters and jams. Make the butters and jams from berries frozen in bulk in July and August, when time was at a premium. The long baking time for fruit butter warms the house nicely, and the delicious butters are a favorite holiday gift. Mid-November brings the Leonid meteor showers, and longer nights to enjoy them. — Roberta Bailey, FEDCO Seeds, Waterville, Maine.

  • Published on Oct 1, 2004
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