By Tamara Galbraith

The temperatures are getting cooler, and your herbs are slowing down. Time to harvest, enjoy...and prepare for next season where possible.

Pull off and dry all the leaves you can from parsley, French sorrel, coriander/cilantro, and basil.

For woody perennial herbs such as thyme, rosemary, lavender, savory, and tarragon, don't cut too much off. A few sprigs is okay, but discontinue heavy pruning of woody herbs 45 days before you expect the first fall frost.

To overwinter non-hardy herbs indoors, dig up the plants about a month before the first fall frost. Put each one into a pot that's slightly bigger than its rootball, and then let them rest in a partly shaded outdoor location for a week or so. Then move them into deeper shade for another week to get them ready to come indoors. (Chives are an exception, however; leave them outside to enjoy a little of winter's brisk temperatures before potting up and bringing in.)

Whiteflies and spider mites can be a problem for indoor herbs. Spray with an insecticide, such as Shultz Fruits & Vegetables Insect Spray or an insecticidal soap. Try to increase the humidity around your plants, either with the use of a pebble tray or spray plants often with a mister to increase humidity.

Fall is a great time time to plant cool-season annual herbs like mustard, calendula, and arugula. Some, like Giant Red Mustard, make glorious ornamental winter plants in milder climates too, even if you don't want to eat 'em.

By Tamara Galbraith

Early fall is a great time to finally put that compost pile to good use. Sprinkling compost on flower beds, vegetable gardens and yes, even your lawn gives plants of all kinds a nice boost, while also enriching the soil and encouraging earthworms and other beneficial insects.

But what if your compost pile looks less than ideal as you turn through it? Is it basically just a pile of dried leaves? Or is it smelly, wet and slimy? Luckily, with a few tweaks, it's pretty easy to turn that nasty pile into a productive and valuable landscape additive in just a couple of weeks. Here are some tips:

* If your pile seems dry and is only made up of leaves, you need to add some water to it as well as some "green" material.

The best green material is grass clippings. Have you let a bag of grass sit around in the sun for a couple of days? It gets really hot and really stinky, right? But in the compost pile, the high nitrogen content of grass reacts with "brown" carbon-rich material -- like leaves -- to quickly turn into fluffy black gold. Other good "green" materials include kitchen scraps (fruits and veggies) and used coffee grounds.

* A compost pile should never be smelly. If it is, it's most likely too wet or has too much "green" material, which generally contains more water. This situation is also easy to fix: add chopped leaves, sawdust or old potting soil.

Also, to speed up the burn in your pile, be sure to poke and turn it often to allow oxygen to move within the pile and moisture to be distributed evenly. Once it's cooking properly, there will be a noticeable heat difference, especially at the middle of the pile...which can also double as a nice hand-warmer on a chilly autumn day!

In the Kitchen Garden:

1. Hoe regularly to keep down weeds
2. Lift onions and shallots as they become ready
3. Continue to thin vegetables sown earlier
4. Give plants that need a boost a dose of a quick-acting fertilizer, like Red Star Gro-Master.
5. Sow cabbages for spring use
6. Pinch out the growing tips of runner beans when they reach the top of their support
7. Pay regular attention to outdoor tomatoes
8. Continue to harvest herbs regularly
9. Summer prune cordon and espalier apples if you have not already done so and if shoots are mature enough
10. Tidy up summer-flowering strawberries. Cut off old leaves and unwanted runners, remove straw, and control weeds
11. Protect fruit against birds if they are troublesome. A bird netting is ideal

The Flower Garden:

1. Dead-head plants in borders and containers regularly
2. Feed plants in containers to keep the blooms coming
3. Hoe beds and borders regularly to keep down weeds
4. Clip beech, holly, hornbeam and yew hedges, and most evergreen hedges, if you have not already done so
5. Plant spring-flowering bulbs
6. Plant lilies
7. Clear summer bedding and plant fall/winter bedding plants
8. Continue to watch for pests and diseases on roses and other vulnerable plants
9. Disbud dahlias and chrysanthemums as necessary

The Greenhouse and Conservatory:

1. Bring in house and greenhouse plants that have been standing outdoors for the summer
2. Clean off summer shading washes
3. Repot cacti if they need it
4. Check that greenhouse heaters are in good working order. Arrange to have them serviced, if necessary
5. Pot up and pot on seedling pot-plants as it becomes necessary
6. Plant hyacinth for early flowering under glass

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