GardenHacker:
not your typical seedy site...

o/`o/`Clean up, Clean up, everybody do your share o/`o/`

Time to clean up the garden, so how do you do this with no time? There are several ways to speed it up and also to avoid some of the rows altogether.

1) Cut it down, plant out a green manure.
Green manures aren't (just) from organic livestock, they're actually plants you will either till under, or let jack frost do your dirty work. The benefits are numerous, allowing you to grow something instead of hauling in manure (and other perhaps unwanted plants) so it's lighter. It crowds out weeds, so you don't have to use any herbicides or be plucking out weeds in your warm coat, therefore saving time and chiropractor bills. It adds beneficial nutrients to the soil, so you don't have to go and buy fertilizer, saving you money in the short and long run. And finally, it'll hold your soil, so you don't have to worry about erosion and replacing soils, saving you money, your back, and allowing the benificial insects to continue to thrive.

2) Sweep it under the (row) covers
Many plants can overwinter, though not the true summer crops like tomatoes, cukes and watermelon. Lettuces, other greens and root crops can do well in a sheltered area. In zone 5 where I reside, I'm able to grow or "let rest" lettuces and root crops, especially carrots through most if not all of the season. A double row cover does the best, the inner being a "floating row cover" material (Johnnyseeds.com), then a plastic over the top. This time, I'm reinforcing the upper row cover as the last two seasons the snow has caved them in. Into the winter, I can harvest a lot of greens, then when the real cold weather hits, I lament as I'm raking the snow off the roof. Along about february when we get a "warm snap", I'm able to go in and pull carrots who's starches have turned to sugars, making them a welcome treat. This year, I harvested most of the carrots, but there are a few bits of "garden candy" left and heartily covered.

3) Cover it with a "killing mulch".
Killing mulches do just that - they kill anything that wants to emerge. A quick way to do this is to use newspapers (4 layers) or corrugated cardboard, then piling manure and/or hay on top, then just letting it sit. This saves time next year, holds your soil, adds nutrients to the soil, and saves you a lot of time.

Great tomato sauce that takes less than an hour:
Found this while I was looking around and noticing some of my tomatoes that I didn't freeze were getting a little too soft. One of the nicest things about this is you don't have to peel the tomatoes! I leave the seeds in too, as they taste just as good, and there's a lot of flavor in the "jelly" around them. Tomato Sauce Hack