Those bountiful summer harvests are long over... or so you thought. Just because the weather has turned cool doesn’t mean you can’t eat well. You can still get homegrown, nutritious veggies in the fall by planting a few varieties that love chilly temperatures.

Cheerful mums, with their autumnal hues, hardy character and abundance of blooms, are easily the showoff superstars of a fall garden.

And for those among us who prefer less labor-intensive gardening, all you need to plant these flowers are a few containers. These robust babies will produce blooms (and bunches of them) for weeks, even in finicky weather. While resilient, these happy blossoms still need some TLC. Try these four tips to keep your mums looking fresh all through fall.

It’s that time of year when eggplants start to invade the psyche from all corners of the farmers market. Low in calories and fat (unless you fry them – they’ll easily absorb oil and ruin your low-calorie plans) and high in taste, eggplants are used in a range of recipes from different regions of the world. Served in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and more, you’re sure to find a favorite recipe inspired from faraway lands.

For many, the idea of leading an organic lifestyle is associated with a lack of affordability. Premiums placed on organic produce by higher-end retailers, for example, cause some shoppers to stray from products labeled as such. But there are ways to be a sustainable consumer without breaking the bank, starting with a lesser-known practice called Integrated Pest Management.

All spring you worked your perfect yoga-sculpted butt off to ensure your organic garden would be successful. It’s summer and your garden harvesting is in full swing. While weeding your garden’s tomato bed, you notice a gigantic, horned green caterpillar clinging to one of your beautiful tomato plants.

My mom taught me early on that if you want to make a delicious dinner, you'll have to chop onions and garlic. They're staples in most kitchens, and with good reason: They're easy to store, easy to grow and full of amazing flavor. Alliums also have their own unique growing conditions: A long season resulting in fat, heavy-skinned bulbs. If you planted yours in April, they may just be maturing now. Here's how to dig them up and store them without damage.

Whether you love summer or hate it, one thing's for sure: It will end, and that end is only a couple of months away. Smart gardeners are already preparing for the change in seasons, by planning and planting fall crops. Autumn is a perfect time for a second round on your cool-weather plants: Greens, peas, carrots, beets... With good planning, you can enjoy garden-fresh food until the snow falls.

“Lettuce is like conversation," wrote humorist Charles Dudley Warner. "It must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it." As the weather heats up, lettuce tends to become acrid, tough and sun-bleached, eventually bolting or going to seed. Luckily for fans of summer salads, there are a few tricks to keeping your greens tender and refreshing through all but the biggest heat waves.

With all the oohing and aahing over summer garden darlings—those delightful tomatoes, berries, peaches and melons, we often overlook another very versatile summer fruit: The pepper. Eat them raw, add them to just about any dish, and make the finest pepper relishes, sauces and jellies to last you until next year. However you like them, there's no shortage of uses.

Hot peppers—while wildly flavorful and feats-of-strength in-and-of themselves—actually serve a very important function. They grow in many hot equatorial climates and can kill certain bacteria, making them a practical tool in thwarting food borne illness. They also keep us from overeating—spicy food is only tolerable in smaller bites, and taking longer to eat allows the body time to know that it's full. Here's a look at some of our favorite peppers from the mild-at-heart to the seriously-too-hot-to-handle. 

Gardening doesn't usually make the news -- but when it does, it can be surprisingly scandalous. Take the two recent cases, one in Michigan and one in British Columbia, where residents were cited and threatened with jail time for growing vegetables in their front yards.