Dakota gardener: Hold off on the cleanup

The extended summer with temperatures near 80 degrees Fahrenheit in recent weeks has been great, as a few more of my tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins ripened.

Unfortunately, winter isn’t that far away. Like most gardeners, there is a list of tasks I need to complete before the first snowflakes fall.

One of the tasks not on my to-do list is plant clean-up. I won’t remove any plant debris (leaves and st…