Our summer gardens are winding down, but here’s a tip to get the most out of what’s left of the summer season.

Summer crops love two things, sunshine and warm weather - and we’re quickly losing both. Our nights are longer than our days and we are just weeks away from the first freeze of the season. After a summer of growth, our plants are bigger than ever, and we can take advantage of that momentum to enjoy some last minute fruits of our labor

Tomato plants are picky about temperatures. Nighttime temperatures need to be between 55 and 70 for flowers to develop fruit and when daytime length drops below 12 hours, it’s going to be difficult for even developed fruit to turn red and ripe.

More Garden Guide: Every tomato grower needs this ONE thing.

A helpful tip - cut your tomato plants back one third in late summer or now in early autumn. This will eliminate the young fruit that doesn’t have time to ripen and any flower buds and focus your plants energy on the fruit that it already has. Cherry-sized tomatoes have a better chance at getting ripe this time of the year than larger tomato varieties.

Although tomatoes are tastiest when they ripen right on the vine, they can ripen on the counter too if they have grown to full size. Put them in a bag next to an apple or ripe banana if you’d like the tomatoes to ripen even faster!

Grocery tomatoes are picked before they turn red because it’s easier for them to transport and are treated with a natural compound called ethylene which stimulates ripening. That’s the same compound that apples and bananas release when they are ripe.

Some warm weather-loving plants are most productive after a summer of growth. Okra, a type of hibiscus with edible seed pods, are loaded with enough flower buds to produce tasty seed pods right up until the first frost. Pick the seed pods every few days for the best results.

Potatoes are also ready to pick this time of the year. The underground tubers are at their largest now thanks to a full summer of growth. In the meantime, you can eat the leaves. They taste great in a stir fry!