The growing season in the Napa Valley has been anything but normal this year. Our typical warm summer days were replaced by prolonged periods of below-normal temperatures, followed by brief above-normal heat spikes.

As a result, home garden vegetable and fruit crops were slow to start and quick to ripen. I fretted over my vegetable garden this summer, wondering when the tomatoes would finally turn red. I also recall a hot Sunday that caused my pumpkin vines to wilt.

September traditionally brings some of our warmest temperatures, but the days are growing shorter. It is time to harvest summer produce and prepare for fall and winter crops.

Most crops planted in early summer should be mature now, including tomatoes, carrots, chard, peppers, eggplants, corn, lima and snap beans, summer squash, cucumber, pumpkins and melons. Although you may have been harvesting these crops throughout the summer, your production is probably peaking or even waning now.

It’s time to can or freeze soups, sauces, salsa, jams and jellies for enjoyment in winter. It’s always a delight to eat something homegrown, even if it’s from seasons past.

You have probably already harvested most of your tree fruits, but some late-ripening plums, peaches, apples and figs may still be maturing. Be sure to continue irrigating these trees so they can withstand autumn heat.

After gathering summer’s harvest, dig your vegetable beds deeply, amend with well-composted organic matter, and add a balanced fertilizer if you plan to grow a fall-winter garden. Fruit trees are still actively growing even after harvest, but they should get their last watering in September. Feed with 10-10-10 fertilizer in late September or early October. Wait to prune until they are dormant.

Collect all fallen and spoiled fruits and vegetables. Chop them, then combine with leaves, dead-headed flowers or other organic materials from the garden and put them in the compost bin. Once these materials decompose, they can be worked into the soil to enhance your spring garden. Leaving them to rot on the ground will only encourage diseases and feed snails, slugs, earwigs and pill bugs.

Start planting your winter garden. Napa Valley’s mild winters make it possible to grow many vegetables between now and spring. Sow seeds directly in the ground for peas, carrots, chard, lettuces, mustard, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, beets, spinach, radishes and fava beans. Other vegetables — asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, kohlrabi and cabbage — will grow better if set out as seedlings. You can also plant strawberries now for a crop next spring.

Are you interested in becoming a Napa County Master Gardener? If so, you can pick up an application at the upcoming informational meeting on Wednesday, from 6-7 p.m., at the University of California Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa.

Free Workshops

Napa County Master Gardeners are hosting a free workshop on habitat gardens — how to attract birds, bees and butterflies to your garden — on Saturday, at Napa Valley College’s Upper Valley Campus in St. Helena. The workshop will repeat on Sept. 26, at Connolly Ranch in Napa. Both workshops are from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

If you would like more ideas for growing winter vegetables, visit the Napa County Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden at Connolly Ranch in Napa on Oct. 3, from 9 a.m. to noon. Master Gardeners will be present to advise you.

To learn more about composting, plan to attend the free composting workshop at Connolly Ranch on Oct. 3, from 9 to 11 a.m. Register online at http://www.cityofnapa.org/compost or by phone at 253-4221.

 Napa County Master Gardeners (http://cenapa.ucdavis.edu) answer gardening questions Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa, 253-4221, or (877) 279-3065.