For those living in and around our neck of the woods, probably your garden is finished for the year. You have harvested that last juicy tomato and are thinking you can sit back and take it easy for the rest of the year. Guess what, you're not done just yet. Smart gardeners take this time to prep their gardens for next year. A little extra work now can save you a lot of work later.
Talk to any farmer and they will tell you that just because the last of the harvest is in and their fields prepped for the next season, there is still lots to. For most of us farmers, winter is just about as busy as the growing season. There is a lot that has to be done now because there simply wasn't time to do it while planting and crop work was going on. Farmers also know that by doing what needs to be done during the off growing time, next year's work will go much easier.
This lesion should be taken to heart by our readers who consider themselves "gardeners". If you take this time to get your tools in shape, your irrigation brought up to speed, your next year's garden laid out, your planting beds prepared and pre-fertilized, your garden shed cleaned and straightened up and anything else you might think of done now, next year will not be so rushed and you will enjoy your garden that much more.
