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When the outdoor thermometer hits 100, it's hard to think about a fall garden; heck, it's hard to think about gardening, period. But the calendar doesn't lie, and sure as sunrise, fall is coming. It's not too late to plant a number of garden veggies, which will feed you well into the winter if you play your cards right.

One of my favorite fall-planted crops is garlic. Many varieties of garlic exist, broken broadly into two categories: soft neck and hard neck. Within those broad groupings, dozens of varietal names crop up. These names often refer back to the place of origin (Georgian Red, named for the republic, not the state), or to color (Inchellium Red), or to timing of harvest (California Early). What I find interesting is how garlic has been able to differentiate into so many expressions, given that the plant only reproduces clonally. That's right, no flowers (which means no sex) for garlic. The hardneck varieties do put up a stalk that looks like it will contain flowers, but instead of flowers it produces tiny bulbs (known as bulbils) which can be planted, but which will take a couple of years to produce a bulb of any good size.

Garlic grows some in the fall, more if planted a bit early, very little if planted into October. Then it will go somewhat dormant during the winter, resuming growth early in the spring.

During its time of rapid growth, treat it like any prize veggie - plenty of water, good soil and reasonable nitrogen. As it begins to mature in late spring, the leaves begin to dry and brown, even when frequently watered.

However, at this stage you should begin to dry down the soil, so that the maturing bulb won't have any rot issues. Harvest the garlic when the bottom half of the leaves are brown. If left in the ground too long, the outer layers of wrapping will disintegrate, and the bulb will fall apart.

After harvest, store in a cool, dry, shady area to let the bulbs finish maturing. Once the tops have fully browned, and any soil on the bulb is fully dry, the tops can be cut off and the bulbs brushed free of dirt.

Other crops you can still plant include most of the greens (lettuce, chard, mustard, mizuna, spinach, etc.), and some of the root crops like carrots and radish. You could try sweet peas, if you have a cool enough spot to get good germination and growth. If you can find them in the stores, you can transplant broccoli and cauliflower seedlings into the garden. To make sure these mature, and to push harvest later into the season, consider investing in some row cover material with which to protect the crops from light freezes. Some people find they can grow stuff right through the winter with just a little protection.

If you don't have the energy for a fall garden, consider planting a fall cover crop. Legumes like clover, winter peas and vetch will grow well in the cool weather. These plants can take nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil (thanks to symbiotic bacteria living in their roots), and can be used to increase nitrogen and organic matter levels in the soil.

Often, legumes are combined with a small grain, like oats, wheat or rye. The grains provide a scaffold for the legumes to grow on, and though they don't add nitrogen to the soil, they can add a lot of bulk organic matter. Feed the soil, and it will feed the plants.

Viers is horticulture agent for the Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Service.