The days are getting shorter. You might be thinking it's time to clean up the garden and pack things away for the winter But you might be wrong. Well, you'll still need to do the regular winter prep stuff but, here are some other tasks you might want to do as well.👇 1. Collect and prepare seed for stratification. Most good varieties of fruit and nut trees don't grow true to seed but some are likely enough to produce good fruit that its worth a shot if you have some extra space. Here are some to try: Apples Pawpaw Persimmon Chestnut Hazelnut Heartnut (type of walnut) Pecan Mulberry Service Berry (a.k.a. June berry, Saskatoon) Seaberry 2. Mark trees before leaves fall. I don't know about you but I'm no master at identifying dormant plants. There a few plants around town or off the side of a road that I have plans to take cuttings from this fall but I first need to mark them before they lose their leaves so I can pick them out from amongst the other plants once they've gone dormant. 3. Collect Hardwood Cuttings After plants go dormant but before the ground freezes, Prepare and store cuttings to root in the early spring. Here are some plants to try it with. Currants Gooseberries Grapes Blueberries Mulberries Elderberries Seaberries Kiwi (hardy) Fig Pomegranate Quince Hazelnut 4. Order dormant trees and shrubs. You can't propagate a plant if you don't have access to it. If you don't know anyone with the plant you want and can't find it anywhere where you live, you're going to have to buy one. You could just go to the tree nursery and buy one for 1 or 2 hundred dollars. They could be cheaper if you catch them on sale. Or You could order bare root plants online for a fraction of the cost. Single plants are often $25 I've seen bundles of 10 high quality fruit trees for as little as $54 Anyway. If you love to grow things. The work doesn't need to stop after the growing season is over. Fall is full of activities you can do to help you grow more food with less work.