(Radio Iowa) – For Iowans who enjoy growing fruits and veggies in their back yards, it’s almost time to put those home gardens to sleep for the season. Horticulturist Isaac Zaman says once the fall harvests are complete, consider planting some cover grass over your garden.

Any sort of rye or short-lived perennial grasses will do the trick, and he suggests you could also layer your garden with compost or leaf mulch and let it rest over the winter. Zaman says the traditional “three sisters” plantings of corn, beans and squash should be seeing good progress.

Canned Peach Jam (Radio Iowa photo)

Pick those beans now if you want green beans, Zaman says, or let them keep growing if you want harder beans to keep over the winter. At a loss for what to do with all those tasty veggies? Zaman says simple preparations can sometimes be the best ones.

The Iowa State University Extension has a wealth of information online about how to can vegetables, including recipes. Just search for “canning” at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/preserve-taste-summer