Prepare for your Spring Garden this Fall! If your summer garden is about done and you don't plan to grow anything else in it until next season, now's the time to get it in shape. Preparing a bed in the fall will give you a huge head start when spring rolls around. Instead of trying to work cold, soggy soil in time to get your early plants started, prepare the bed now--while the soil is workable, the days are mild and dry, and your other gardening chores have dwindled.  To prepare a bed in the fall, clear the garden of all leftover debris, then loosen the soil and remove any weeds. It's also a good idea to turn over the soil, exposing any insect pests that are settling in for a long winter's nap. You can work in any soil amendments you want, too. You'll be light-years ahead of the game next spring.

SPACE SAVERS  Short on space? These days, you can find all sorts of varieties of vegetables that are perfect for small gardens. The plants are typically dwarf or cone-shaped, so they take up less room, or they're simply bushy varieties of plants that ordinarily put out long vines. Although some varieties produce correspondingly small fruit, many are  actually average in size. Here are just a few of the varieties that work well in limited space (even containers):   - Lettuce--most varieties are a good bet in a small garden, but in particular, Little Gem and Tom Thumb  - Peas--Mighty Midget, Tiny Tim, Little Marvel  - Pumpkins--Small Sugar, Spirit, Cheyenne  - Tomatoes--Patio, Pixie, Tiny Tim, Small Fry, Goldie  - Cucumbers--Pot Luck, Bush Champion, Spacemaster  - Carrots--Little Finger, Lady Finger, Gold Nugget  - Beets--Little Ball, Gladiator

THE KEY TO HARDENING OFF SEEDLING Whether you've brought home a batch of commercially produced seedlings or you've grown them yourself, the process of "hardening off" is extremely important. In essence, hardening off seedlings just means that you give those tender plants a chance to get used to the conditions they'll be thrust into when you put them in the ground. They've been relatively pampered in their greenhouse or indoor environment, so it's critical that they get a chance to adapt to more realistic conditions before you put them in the garden.  To harden off plants, you just need to give them a few days of slower growth conditions and reduced water. While the conditions vary depending on the type of plant, the general rule is to cut the water supply by half and place the plants in a sheltered area outdoors for four or five days. If the nights are cool, you may want to place plastic or a box over the seedlings at night.

HORNWORM PREVENTION  If you plan to grow peppers and tomatoes in this year's vegetable garden, you must face the possibility that your beautiful, thriving crop could be razed by a day or two of feasting by voracious hornworms. There are various ways to combat these striped monsters, including spraying the plants with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis). And if nature's in your corner, you'll notice little white egg pouches along  the backs of some worms. These are the cocoons of parasitic wasps, and you'll want to leave them alone. The larvae that emerge from the cocoons will kill the worms and then grow into beneficial predators. But the most reliable way to deal with hornworms is to pick them off and destroy them. And here's a bonus suggestion: Grow some dill near your tomato and pepper beds. Hornworms love dill, and they're far easier to spot on dill plants, making your search-and-destroy missions more successful.

THINNING CARROTS  If you plant carrots by dropping those incredibly tiny seeds into a furrow by hand, odds are good that they may wind up spaced a bit too close in some places. That's fine, because the plants themselves will emerge almost thread-like, giving you time to thin them to proper spacing as they develop. This process usually involves a few successive thinnings, actually. First, when the plants are an inch or two tall, you can take scissors and simply snip out the seedlings that are within a half-inch or so of another plant. (Using scissors guarantees you won't harm the adjacent seedlings, since they're likely to be pretty close together.) As the season progresses, you can keep thinning, with the goal of allowing the remaining plants enough space to widen into a normal carrot without bumping into a neighbor. The older plants you pull may actually have tiny carrots formed, which are often a delightful treat tossed into a salad for a sweet hint of carrot-ness!

TOMATO-CAGE TRELLIS  You know those cone-shaped tomato cages that you can pick up at almost every store that sells gardening equipment? The ones that are pretty much useless for supporting any decent-sized tomato vines? Well, they may have found their place in the gardening universe--as a support for tall, topple-prone flowers. The key is to turn those cones upside down, so the wide end is on the ground. You can then use a small piece of tubing to pull the three "feet" together at the top and then either use U-shaped garden stakes to anchor the ring to the ground or remove the ring and stick the cage itself into the soil. Once the trellis is in place, the plant can grow up through the structure for the support it needs. (This is also a good trick to use for container-grown flowers that may need a little extra help staying upright.)

ANOTHER TINY SEED TRICK  In past tips, we've discussed a few methods for getting tiny seeds, such as lettuce and carrot seeds, planted as effectively as possible. For instance, we've suggested creating homemade seed tapes and buying pelleted seeds. But here's another technique that many gardeners swear by: Use a salt shaker that has holes big enough to dispense the small seeds. Of course, you're not going to get perfect dispersal, but you'll gain more control, since the seeds won't be sticking to your hands and hiding between your fingers as you shake them into the garden bed.

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL WATERMELON CROP If you're planning to grow watermelons this year, here are a few pointers. First, watermelons need toasty soil temperatures to germinate--75 to 80 degrees is best. You can start the seeds indoors, a few weeks before it gets settled and warm outside. However, be very gentle when the time comes to transplant the seedlings--watermelon roots are extremely fragile. Watermelons like loose, well-drained soil, and they're heavy feeders, so be sure to incorporate a lot of compost in the bed. Growers also recommend use of black plastic mulch, which heats up the soil, expedites ripening, and protects the roots from becoming waterlogged during periods of excessive rain. Another recommendation is to use floating row covers, which help retain heat and prevent attacks by cucumber beetles (which carry bacterial wilt). But don't forget to remove the covers when the blossoms appear; otherwise, bees won't be able to pollinate the plants.

TOMATOES TAKE TO THE COLOR RED Here's a nifty little tip for gardeners this season. According to Gourmet magazine, a plant physiologist in South Carolina discovered that if you surround your tomato plants with a red plastic mulch, they'll increase their productivity by as much as 20 percent. It turns out that tomato plants respond to a certain type of light called "far-red." When the far-red light hits the tomato plant, the proteins in it respond in a competitive way: They "think" they are surrounded by voluptuous, fecund neighbors, so they try to up the ante, and they succeed! It's a backyard version of Keeping Up with the Joneses. Ask your garden center folks about red plastic mulch.

TATERS IN TIGHT SPACES  If a lack of garden space has prevented you from trying to grow potatoes in the past, here's a technique that might work for you. Start by creating a round cage out of metal chicken wire, about two feet in diameter. Then, place six inches of soil and compost inside it. Put two or three seed potatoes on top of the soil and cover them with another four inches of soil/compost mix. Now, wrap the outside of the cage with burlap or an old sheet. This will keep out the sun. Every week for the next six weeks, add another inch of soil and compost, and water a couple of times a week if it doesn't rain. You can also pour on a little "compost tea" every three weeks or so. At the end of the season, when the foliage has all shriveled, you can dump the contents out from the cage and harvest all the potatoes that tumble out.

EASY TOMATO LABELS  If you grow a number of varieties of tomatoes, you might have trouble remembering which kind is which as the season wears on. You can use any number of commercial labels or make homemade ones, but often they get lost or faded, leaving you with no way to identify some of the plants. Here's an innovative solution: Save the square plastic clips that hold bread bags closed. Then, use a laundry marker to write the variety on the clip and attach it to the tomato cage. It won't get overgrown or washed away, and you'll have a quick way to ID each plant.

JUST A PINCH  One of the most essential gardening techniques is pinching back certain perennials to concentrate their energy into growing bushy rather than leggy. Pinching is just a matter of removing the growing tip a couple of inches, either with your fingers or using scissors. But there's a bonus to this trick: You can plant the parts you pinch off and start new plants!  In its simplest terms, this process simply requires you to have some 4-inch pots filled with potting soil or your favorite seed-starting mix. Punch a hole in the soil with a pencil and put the cutting (or "pinching") into it, pressing the soil firmly around it. Some gardeners advocate dipping the cut end in rooting hormone before  planting it, but it's not mandatory. A 4-inch pot will hold around three cuttings. Once you've planted the cuttings, water them thoroughly. Then, set the pot or flat in a light spot, but not in direct sun (70 to 75 degrees is ideal). You'll want to enclose the pots in a box with a clear plastic top, which you can improvise (by using an inexpensive plastic storage box, for example). If you have propagation trays left over from your spring seed-starting endeavors, they should work too. A few times a week, take the top off for a couple of hours to let in some fresh air. Within two weeks to a month, you should begin to see some new growth, which tells you their roots are established and they're ready to transplant.

HERBS TO CONSIDER: DILL  One of the easiest and most satisfying herbs you can grow is dill. For one thing, it's a pretty plant, growing as tall as four or five feet, with lacy foliage and yellow umbrellas of flowers. For another thing, dill self-sows, which means you can count on it to return next year with no effort on your part. And of course, the leaves add a nice touch to salads and fish, in particular, and the seeds lend a pungent kick to many dishes.  Dill requires full sun and a steady (but well-drained) water supply.  Moderately fertile and slightly acid soil is also a plus.

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Jo's Garden Center