(Last week we asked readers this question: “What ‘stuff that works’ do you rely on during the warm months in the New Hampshire outdoors?” We received one response, and here it is.)

I’m still a hiker, so my original answer to this question was my wonderful old leather hiking boots that, paired with jeans, were still the best way I know to keep the ticks at bay. But then I got to thinking about the fact that for the past few years gardening in my own little “piece of heaven” in the Birch Street Community Gardens has been my major summertime outdoor pleasure.

For an annual fee of $20 I get to soak in sunshine, bond with my garden neighbors, plant with high hopes, and wonder halfway through the season whatever possessed me to plant that. And you can guess what that is – whether it’s the pumpkin vines that devoured Cleveland, or those gorgeous seed packets that promised me the world but didn’t exactly deliver.

And all that makes me think of my other favorite footwear, my garden clogs. I bought my first pair for a few bucks years ago at the Boston Flower Show, that wonderful tease about the season to come which gets us through mud season. I’m not sure which iteration of this shoe I’m in now. The cost has gone up considerably, but the clogs are worth every penny. They live in the back of my car, and they make sure I have absolutely no excuse for not getting back to my garden.

New Hampshire folks, you need these shoes! They double as rain shoes when the weather is nasty, especially when you’re dressed for something better. They endure mud, stones, parched earth and end-of-season stubble. They guard against all the indignities a lawnmower or weed-whacker could fling at them. They invite you to brave the wet dew early in the morning when the birds are in full throat, and bees are still asleep in the squash blossoms. They call to you and say, “Don’t forget to check whether the tomatoes are ripe or there’s a surprise waiting in the herb corner.”

Best of all, they remind you that have better things to do in this beautiful state of ours than hunker behind a screen or get stuck behind a steering wheel. Come on out! The weather’s great!

MILLIE LaFONTAINE

Concord