If potato vines have died down, dig up a few tubers. Rub the potato skin to see if they have hardened. If the skin comes off easily wait a week or two before harvesting. Store potatoes in a cool, even temperature, dark and fairly-humid place. Don’t let potatoes touch one another. Use sawdust or wood shavings between them. Ideal storage temperature is 40 degrees with about 90% humidity.

Keep fallen fruit under trees picked up and disposed of to help reduce insect and disease problems next year. If infestations were severe, raking up fallen leaves as soon as they drop will also help prevent insects and disease. o For garden areas not being used for winter crops, plant a cover crop in September or October to help control weeds and improve soil. Cover crops (sometimes referred to as Green Manure) usually contain a mixture of seeds that will produce plants which work in different ways. Vetch, clover and Fava Beans are legumes that extract nitrogen from the air and store it in root nodules. Annual or cereal rye grass develop long tap roots and are good for breaking up the soil at a greater depth.

Time to prune Wisteria again. Cut new long whippy stems back to leave 3 to 6 leaves on the stem at a point where the stem joins a main trunk or limb. If your Wisteria hasn’t bloomed well, try feeding the plant in addition to pruning. Use Dr. Earth Fish Bone Meal.

Plant a shrub or tree with fall berries for the birds. Cotoneaster, honeysuckle, huckleberry, crabapple, dogwood or serviceberry are all nice additions to most all landscapes.

Fall vegetables can be planted now. Cabbage, kale, lettuce, cauliflower, parsley, onions, garlic and carrots are all good choices.

Mid-September is one of four times a year to fertilize your lawn. The other three times are: late November, First of May, and the middle of June.