As September progresses, temperatures begin to cool, and the possibility of frosty weather increases. If your garden is like mine, there's a lot of produce left in it. So pay attention to the weather.
For frost-sensitive crops like tomato, pepper, late beans, cucumber, zucchini- first, pick all the fruits that are mature or maturing. Second, cover the sensitive plants to help them trap heat. Third, if possible, provide some supplemental heat under the covers. A 40-watt incandescent light bulb generates quite a bit of heat that can help ward off the cold.
Think about your winter squash if they are maturing and check them to make sure they're ready to be harvested. If you can still scratch the rhine with your thumbnail, the fruits immature. Once the rine is hard, you can pick it in store the squash for winter.
Bring it indoors and cure the fruit for 10 to 14 days at around 65 to 70 degrees. Then store it later at 50 to 55 degrees. Storing fruit at colder temperatures leads to rotting and off labor.
Finally, prepare a place in the garden for garlic. Plant bulblets from late September to late October. Also, consider seeding fall cover crops try using a mixture of vetch and wheat. This helps to deal with weeds, traps extra nutrients, and holds the soil in place. Seed this at about a half a pound of seed per 100 square feet and then lightly rake it in.
