By August many gardens are looking a bit worn and weathered. Many crops have been harvested or you just can't face another zucchini.

But, you can keep your garden greener by continuing to plant until it's too late to get a crop. It's a bit late for some things already, but you can easily try to get a late crop of lettuce and radishes or any vegetable that needs between 45-60 days of growing time.

Sometimes it's hard to get things germinated and up because of the heat and dry conditions, but if you take a little care, it can be done. One trick I have learned is to plant things fairly shallow, water them after planting and sprinkle a bit of straw or grass over the row. This keeps the moisture there for a bit longer, and gives some shade to the tiny plants when they do sprout.

A second crop of fresh vegetables coming in the fall taste just as good or better than those in the spring. By that time some late rains usually catch your crops and the temperatures start to moderate.

Many vegetables can be successful planted as a second crop, including green beans, summer squash, turnips, all types of greens, radishes, etc.

One thing to remember is to plant a different type of plant in the row. For example, if you had a root crop planted and it is now harvested, plant a leaf crop instead, or vise versa. If it was a leaf plant, plant a root crop. It's that crop rotation thing, you know.

So tear out some of those old used, vegetables plants, and plant something new! Your garden will be greener and produce over a longer period.

Happy Gardening,

The Clean and Green Team