Hi, and welcome to the very addictive world of gardening! One of the best sources for information on all aspects of gardening is Virginia Tech through the Virginia Cooperative Extension. There are dozens of publications available for free on more topics than you can imagine. I'll put a link below to the publications on vegetable gardening. If there is nothing on that page about a subject you need information on, just enter a term in the search box near the top of the page and you should find lots of information.

Enough water is one of the basic keys to good gardening. In most cases, vegetables need 1 - 2" of rain a week. If nature doesn't provide that, then a good watering system can be used to supplement. I personally like soaker hoses because the water doesn't evaporate in the heat nearly as much and the foliage of the plants doesn't get wet as often, a fertile ground for disease.

If the garden is growing well in August, it most likely doesn't need any fertilizer at that late date unless you are starting new crops. Then a good complete fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) can be added for the fall crops.

Sanitation in the fall is important, too. Remove the old plants when they stop producing and compost them if they don't have diseases or dispose of them to prevent spreading any diseases that may be present.

A good cover crop to help the soil over the winter is crimson clover. Sow it in the fall and turn it under about 2 weeks before time to start planting in the spring and it will enrich the soil a lot. It also adds organic material to the soil which helps hold moisture in during the heat of the summer.

These are just a very few tips that should help some. If you can't find answers to questions online, you can always call the extension office in your county for help. A list of the offices can be found here: http://www.ext.vt.edu/offices/

Good luck!
Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: VT publications

Thank you SO much Sandy. I will be checking out those links. I really appreciate the help.