The tomatoes are slowing down, the pepper plants look increasingly tired, and the zucchini has finally stopped behaving like it owns the neighborhood. Herbs, meanwhile, often keep sending out fresh leaves long after the summer vegetable garden starts calling it a season. That makes herbs some of the most useful plants to keep around when the big summer harvest begins to fade.
A few well-chosen herbs can provide fresh flavor for soups, roasted vegetables, sauces, eggs, stuffing, and countless other cold-weather meals. Some handle cool weather surprisingly well, while others keep producing as long as gardeners protect them from hard freezes. Better yet, many need less space and fuss than the vegetables that occupied the garden earlier in the season.
