A late planting of lettuce can be wintered over. Just cover with a foot or so of loose hay. Do the same with parsley for an early spring supply. It will have a stronger flavor then, but will keep you in fresh parsley until a new planting is ready.

In northern climates, where the ground stays frozen all winter, try a planting of peas in fall, after the ground has frozen. Get a big jump on the next growing season.

When autumn leaves fall, run the rotary mower over them before you rake, to reduce their volume and combat matting and blowing. Use them everywhere - rototill into the vegetable garden, apply lightly around evergreens and shrubs, dig into future tree holes, and add to the compost pile. You can probably even get bagged leaves from your unwise neighbors.

In the fall, take two hours of a Saturday afternoon as time to get ready for spring. If you have a tiller, drain the gasoline from it, drop a few drops of oil into the cylinder, and even change the oil, so come warm weather, when things are rushing, you'll be ready to till.

If you won't have to bother with spring tilling because you mulch year-round, use that same Saturday afternoon to plan and mark the rows for next year's garden, and you'll be all ready for spring planting the minute the soil is.

Clean, repair, and sharpen your tools before hanging them up for the last time. Take inventory and jot down requests for Christmas presents to fill your needs.