The Minnesota Extension Service produces an informative newsletter called Yard & Garden Line News. Since all of Minnesota is in USDA hardiness zone 4 or lower, most, if not all of the information should be relevant to cold climate gardeners in North America, at the very least. I found a nice variety of topics in the latest issue, covering everything from the legal issues concerning nuisance trees, insects I was unfamiliar with, and a good checklist of what to do–and not do–in the coming month in your garden. Many publications have those to-do lists, but most are so general as to be useless. This one is much better focused on the realities of cold climate gardening, though you still might need to make a few mental adjustments if your local weather has been too rainy as opposed to too dry.
In the end, this may be the most important thing about frost: Frost slows us down. In spring, it tempers our eagerness. In fall, it brings closure and rest. In our gotta-go world–where every nanosecond seems to count–slowness can be a great gift. So rather than see Jack Frost as an adversary, you could choose to greet him as a friend.
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Kathy, I find weeding is good therapy…a peaceful time to do some thinking. I like it! However, when my back begins to hurt, that’s a good time to stop! I haven’t been able to keep up with the weeds this year though with so much rain. On the positive side, I’ve hardly had to water….just the baskets and containers, or if I plant or move something. That’s a wonderful timesaver.