Summer vegetables can make a garden feel like a produce factory with a very short attention span. One week, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and zucchini seem determined to bury the kitchen counter, and then suddenly the plants slow down, look exhausted and start offering little more than yellow leaves and one lonely cucumber hiding under the foliage. That does not mean the garden has reached its closing time.
A productive garden can keep handing over food long after the first wave of summer crops fades, especially when gardeners replace tired plants instead of simply watching empty soil take over. With a little planning, cool-season crops, quick-growing greens, root vegetables and even a few strategic cutbacks can keep the harvest going.
