North Brunswick Township was farm country before it was neighborhoods, and something of that survives in how people here treat a backyard — as ground that owes you something back. SubUrban Homesteading keeps the lawn end of it in order: mowing on a weekly cycle, trimming close to fences and posts, edging the walks, weeding and mulching the beds so the planting has room to work. Late August is the real test, when the heat has been on for weeks and the grass wants to quit; steady cutting and clean edges carry it to September. Cleanups do the heavy lifting at either end of the year. A yard tended every week starts to feel less like a chore and more like a small holding.