Wait a minute!  It’s not time.  It’s still August.

In the Northwest we have the luxury of year round gardening.  Or year round vegetables if you prefer.  You just have to revise your definition of vegetables for Fall and Winter.  If you are committed to growing your own food things like fresh tomatoes and snap peas are a thing of the past.  You canned those and did some freezing right?  You didn’t?  There’s always next year.

I will admit to being a less than attentive gardener when it came to my planting schedule this year.  I did have a plan.  I just didn’t refer back to it often enough.  I got a little distracted.  The goal is to pay attention next year or at least have a better plan.

However, this time of year is good for a few things.

The first is preserving.  It may not seem like an actual garden activity I assure you it is.  There is nothing worse than spending all of that time toiling over your crops only to have them go to waste at the end of the season.  I have about 4 pounds of tomatoes sitting on my counter that need to be preserved.  There isn’t enough to make into sauce, but there is enough to make into salsa.  I also pickled about 2 1/2 pounds of green beans earlier this month.  I made them a little spicy.  Perfect for a bloody mary or a christmas gift.  I also made a few jars of pickles.  I admit to buying the pickling cucumbers at the farmer’s market, but it did inspire me to purchase my own cuke seeds for next year.  In addition to canning I blanched and froze another 2 pounds of green beans, 1 pound of shelling peas, 2 pounds of blueberries and 1 pound of currants.  My winter reserves are starting to look good.  Later in September I will have plenty of tomatoes to make into sauce and paste.

The other activity in the autumn garden is planting fall crops.  I missed out on cauliflower and over wintering onions (they are difficult to come by around here).  I did manage a fall crop of beets, carrots, lettuce and spinach.  I do still have time to sow garlic and shallots.  I just have to shop for those.

So while the summer may be winding down putting your hands in the soil is not finished.