When it's this hot and school is about to begin, it's often hard to focus on gardening projects. But for GardenLine listeners, the dog days of summer mean it's also time to get ready for fall vegetable gardens. In August? Yes, George in Katy (one of my famous off-site researchers), August is the time to commence.

I realize it's tough just getting some folks to mow their yards in the summer heat, but if you want a successful fall vegetable garden, you should at least be preparing the soil. In fact, as you'll see in the chart below, we are only a week or so away from actually sowing some seeds or transplating certain veggies.

In the past, I've produced a tip sheet on "building the perfect beds", and if you're new to these weekly emails, you should read it. It will get you started correctly.

Once that's accomplished, and the beds have rested for a couple of weeks, we can get more serious about what vegetable to grow. Despite the heat, August is a prime time to plant ... if you wait until temperatures have moderated, many of the veggies listed below will not have time to mature before the onset of cold or freezing weather.

The following can be seeded or transplanted August through September:

*Normally not considered for fall vegetable gardens, but the adventurous can give them an attempt using healthy transplants within recommended planting dates.

When transitioning from a summer vegetable garden to one for fall, be sure to remove any old plants that have stopped producing. They can shelter insects and disease organisms. Keep in mind that peppers and tomatoes planted earlier this year will not set fruit during the heat of summer, even though they may still be flowering. If the plants remain healthy, they will bear fruit again once temperatures stay below 90 degrees. You should side-dress established, healthy plants with fertilizer to encourage new growth, and keep them watered. Tomatoes with spider mites are not worth saving.

Speaking of tomatoes, while they are among the hardest in a fall garden, there are some "fast-maturing" varieties to look for: Merced, Bingo, Celebrity, Carnival and Surefire. There is no guarantee, however, that any nursery, garden center or feed store will have any of those available for fall planting. And most cherry tomatoes will bear fruit within 65-70 days of transplanting.

Also, remember that you can wait to plant cole crops like broccoli, lettuce and chard because they do well in cooler weather. If slightly protected, they can make it through very light freezes and be productive well into the new year.

Photo credit: Distant Hill via photo pin cc