* Leave one inch of stem when harvesting pumpkins and winter squash.  Any pumpkins or squash that get exposed to frost should be used right away.  If cured for about 10 days at 80°F, then stored at 50–55°F in a dry place, they'll keep for a couple of months.

* Remove all annual plants from the garden when you are satisfied that they have given you every last blossom they could muster. Even when dead, these plants might be harboring diseases or pests. So, pull them up and toss them onto the compost pile. 

* Don't cut down asparagus foliage until it has turned yellow. As long as they remain green, they are producing and storing food for next year's crop.

* Get in a supply of coarse sand, sifted compost and topsoil. That's all you'll need to make potting soil mixes during the winter months. I'll often mix the ingredients now in my wheelbarrow and then store the mix in a large garbage can in the basement. 

* Sift compost through a screen of quarter-inch mesh and spread the compost over your lawn, no more than 1/4 inch deep. Rake the lawn to help the compost settle between the grass plants. This topdressing of compost helps keep the soil biologically active, supplies some nutrients, aids in the breakdown of thatch, and suppresses turf grass diseases. 

* Use a steel brush to remove rust from garden equipment and tools. Either paint the metal surfaces with rust-proof paint or spray with a rust-inhibiting oil such as WD-40.

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Construction of new lawns, renovation of old ones or just seeding bare patches should have been completed by mid-September. However, some people find themselves caught up in early-season football games, leaf-peeping or other crucial tasks and overlook these projects. Not that you fall in this category, but here's an old technique for procrastinators. Begin by preparing soil for seeding.  Loosen it, work in some limestone, 10-10-10 fertilizer and a little organic matter. Level and smooth the soil but don't seed. Leave that job until mid-November or just before the ground freezes. Grass seed sown then won't germinate but will make its way into the soil with the freezing-thawing cycles of winter. The grass seed will sprout in late winter or in early spring, giving you a head start to the next growing season.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.