With the changes in the weather coming, you will be able to do a couple of things. You can either harvest your more tender crops or you can use a cover from fabric to keep the frost from damaging the plants.

Harvesting for the winter

Even with the cover, it will soon be time that harvesting will be your only choice. You can start by harvesting all of the fruits and vegetables that are ripe. Then you can store them either in the cellar, pantry, basement, garage or other cool dry area for the winter months.

You will likely be harvesting cabbage, carrots, leeks, apples, beets etc. Though, with items like squashes and cucumbers, you will need to cure them for the winter times. Spread these squashes out in an airy location like a shed, or green house, after being picked. Then let them get a harder shell before moving them to a cooler location. You will want to let them sit a week or two in that dry environment, out of frost damaging settings. There are also some truths in using a small amount of vegetable oil to coat the outside of the squash for added tenderness.

They main thing about storing your fruits and vegetables after your last harvest is keeping those fruits and vegetables in a temperature that is around 40-50 degrees. Cool and dry is they key.

Picking and moving crops

As you are harvesting your fruits and vegetables, be sure to use caution in the picking and moving times. The reason is that a bruised fruit or vegetable will go bad faster. You want to be able to get the longest life out of these fruits and vegetables.

House keeping for your garden in harvesting times

It will be necessary to remove the old plants that are damaged from the cold. The reason this is important, is because you want to avoid the infestation of bugs that can flock to your garden. This is also the time to make sure that all other weeds are removed as they can do the same thing.

All of this unnecessary vegetation will go toward a mulch pile that you can use the following year. Be sure to place the mulch pile, somewhere away from the current crops. That way you are not inviting the bugs to eat on your good cool temperature crops.

The thing about a mulch pile is that it will also leave a home for mice, rats, moles and rabbits. So you will want to take care to put that pile outside of the boundaries of your cool crops.

Your climate

The thing about the different climates in different areas is that there is no set time to say you should be finishing up your harvesting. You can check the farmers almanac in your area to set the time you want to have all of your harvesting finished.

Knowing how to harvest your garden for the last time. It is all a given on the time you will have to complete your harvesting. However, as you harvest take care on how you do it, and where you store your food.