By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Summer crops are slowing down -- even in sunny SoCal.  So here are two ways to make the most of your remaining harvest.

You could make a tomato tart with the ripe tomatoes.  Yvonne Roman Davis has a great sounding recipe on her blog, Beyond the Lawn.

Then, if you have a few green tomatoes still left on your plants, but you're eager to put in your fall crops, go ahead and yank out the plants and hang them from the rafters in your garage.  The green tomatoes will continue to ripen, and you get to enjoy a few more home-grown tomatoes before the season's over.

This tip from Cindy McNatt's blog, Dirt Dujour.

Basil isn't going to be along much longer either.  Fern describes and critiques three different methods for preserving the leaves on her blog, From the Balcony.  The salt technique is new to me and perhaps you, too.

If it fruits, it sells, every nursery person I meet tells me.  Think your yard is too small for fruit trees?  You might be surprised at how many varieties you can grow successfully in containers.  Shirley Bovshow is growing an orchard worth of fruit trees, all in containers.  She tells you how she does it on her blog, Edenmakers. Here's one example from her garden.