Late Summer Garden To-Do List

And just like that, Labor Day has passed.  For Midwestern gardeners, it's time to start thinking about fall.  My to-do list on these last sunny weekends looks like this:

1.  Remove garden plants as they finish up.  I've already removed the Cuor di Bue tomato that started bearing on July 1 and was a mass of brown on Sept. 1.  Next out will be the other Tennessee tomatoes: the San Marzano is done, and the Box Car Willie will soon follow.  If you aren't up to date on the saga of the Tennessee tomatoes, I promise a recap at the end of gardening season.

2.  Burn any garden plants that suffered from bacterial wilt.  Order beneficial nematodes for the garden to help curb the problem next year.

3.  Nurture the fall garden.  I put in some peas and broccoli, and now I need to keep fending off the critters that want to eat the tender shoots as they make it up over the tops of our critter fencing tubes.  I'll be putting up the pop-up greenhouse soon to create a little garden to weather the frost.

4.  Keep canning.  I need to do another batch of tomato sauce soon, and I recently tried canning green beans and loved it.  

What are you doing in the garden this late summer?