How to save the garden before the first frost

The first frost has a way of arriving like an unexpected relative.

You knew it was coming eventually. You simply did not expect it that night, and now you are standing in the garden after supper with a flashlight, three laundry baskets and no clear notion of what to do with 40 pounds of tomatoes.

A good harvest is a blessing, but a blessing becomes a chore when everything must be dealt with at once.…