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5 Things Every Gardener Should Do In Late Summer

It’s still summer! And we’ve still got plenty of harvests left. Let’s savor these last few weeks before the (official) start of fall and make the most of our summer gardens while they’re winding down.

I personally love to take advantage of the cooler evenings by staying outside a little longer and really taking in all the smells and colors.

Before we jump into fall cleanup mode, here are five ways to enjoy the end of the season while preparing for the one ahead:

Harvest often

Summer crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers will keep producing until the first frost, so harvest frequently (before the fruits get overripe) to encourage these plants to continue producing.

Save seeds

Saving your own seeds from open-pollinated plants makes sense on many levels:

– You get free seeds to sow again or to share. – Your seeds will always be fresh (as long as you store your seeds properly, that is). – You know exactly where the seeds came from and how they were grown. – You can preserve a specific variety that’s hard to find.

Start fall crops

Now is the time to direct-sow seeds for quick-growing, cool-season vegetable crops like spinach, kale, lettuce, Asian mustards, radishes, baby beets, and baby turnips.

Fill empty beds with cover crops

A cover crop has many benefits for your soil: it adds nutrients, improves soil fertility, loosens heavy soil, chokes out weeds, and prevents soil erosion.

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