Sweet corn is abounding, nights begin cooling, and sunflower fields will give way to pumpkin patches on Instagram. We’re closing in on Autumn folks – what’re you going to do about it? (Other than get out your scarf and flannel collection, I know you’re excited.)

The big two:

1. Continue harvesting. The fruits & veg of your labour are abundant right about now! Make sure as you’re harvesting to pull up and discard any damaged or diseased plants, keeping them out of the compost pile to prevent the spread of whatever attacked those poor babies while they grew. You’ll be tidying up in earnest after the first hard frosts, so don’t worry too much about it right now.
2. Start to can, freeze, dry, or otherwise preserve whatever part of your harvest you can’t eat right away. And look out for big batches of things like Roma tomatoes, peaches, and beans at farmer’s markets and grocery stores if you want to squirrel things away for the coming year.

The other less obvious stuff:

• Plant spring flowering bulbs & perennials
• divide perennials (such as herbs) when the weather cools & soil is most
• aerate, fertilize (not with chemicals!), and reseed your lawn if you must
• plant evergreens and other perennials
• plant hardy annuals
• bring in tender plants
• turn vacant areas in your garden into sheet compost
• pick up some straw bales to mulch garlic, shallots, and strawberries
• start your indoor herb garden from seed!
• when weeding, try to remove those that have gone to seed early in the morning so they are less likely to drop babies all over your garden to come up in spring
• draw a map of your garden, or take pictures, to use when planning for next year
• take notes – as detailed as you can – for next year’s plans as well.