How do you make your garden cleaning chores more fun?

[Tania]

This is a time again for garden cleaning. The long and cold rain we had over the weekend destroyed my container tomato garden on the deck - all tomatoes not covered were dying from late blight in just a short day, and I pulled them last night.

I did not weigh the harvest, but I probably got about 100 lbs of green tomatoes from these plants last night. Most of them I think will color up inside, as they are full sized green fruits. It has been the most disappointing year for tomatoes I remember. I did not have time to check my GH tomatoes yesterday, but I am hoping they are still holding up and will deliver a few more ripe fruits in the next couple of weeks...

Needless to say I found this cleaning episode very disappointing and stressful, because I was so hopeful these plants will finally get to ripening stage in a week or so. And I generally do not enjoy garden cleaning in the fall , especially if this activity coincides with the end of my vacation

How do you do make your garden cleaning more pleasant? Please share your tips and tricks!

Tania