If this was your first season trying out your green thumb, please note that it wasn't an especially bountiful growing season. Cool and often violent weather may have played havoc with your plants. Late spring freezes along the Front Range ruined chances for most fruit such as plums, apples, pears and peaches. Warm season vegetables have been slow to mature, and many gardens were hit with hail and high winds.

Just put it behind you and focus on getting the most out of your remaining crops. Although tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash and beans may have been delayed by the cool June and July weather, there's still plenty of time for these crops to catch up and start producing heavily. To help them, keep the soil evenly moist and keep your beds weeded. Vegetables suffer when they are forced to compete with weeds. And it certainly won't hurt to apply a fertilizer formulated especially for vegetables.

I'm enjoying my first flush of tomatoes, peppers and squash. My best producers so far have been potatoes and garlic. Underground vegetables are a bit less vulnerable to weather extremes. If you haven't grown either of these two crops, I recommend them. They're easy and productive, as well as much more delicious than their commercially-grown counterparts.

One of the main advantages of growing your own produce is in the variety. Commercial growers concentrate on the most productive, most uniform types, often regardless of taste. The most obvious result of this practice is in the pitiful fruits that supermarkets pass off as tomatoes. They may be uniform and firm (making them easier to ship) but they are a poor substitute for home-grown varieties. Many gardeners have begun to grow heirloom varieties that are especially flavorful. You'll also find flavorful varieties of tomatoes and other produce from local farmers at garden markets and roadside stands.

In almost every vegetable category, you'll discover that if you grow your own, the results will taste better. Even seemingly uniform vegetables, such as garlic, offer options for home gardeners. I grew three different varieties this year, each with a unique taste. One was much sweeter and milder, one was pretty much like standard commercial garlic and the third was extra zesty. I'm set for a winter of delicious experimentation.

I'll also have plenty of potatoes. I grew three varieties of these as well, none of them available from the supermarket. If you think potatoes are boring, freshly-dug "new" potatoes might change your mind.

If you considered starting a vegetable garden but didn't get it accomplished because of chilly, damp weather, start one now. You can turn the soil, work in compost and prepare for next year. Better yet, you can plant a late crop of lettuce, chard or spinach, as well as garlic. The spinach and garlic will live over the winter. The spinach can be harvested from late winter through spring, while the garlic matures in midsummer.

While no one can predict what next summer's weather may bring, growing your own vegetables is always a learning experience. And there's always a delicious treat at harvest time.