Category: Vegetables

Hardening Off

Ever bought plants from a greenhouse and transplanted them to your garden just to have them die a couple of days later? The plants from a sheltered greenhouse were not able to withstand the full sun of drying winds, they…

I used to plant everything in the garden the second week in May. Trying to get everything done in May was impossible. So, lately, I have started to plant much earlier. Last weekend I planted radish and spinach seeds. These…

Soon we will be planting cold season crops like peas. Peas originated in southeast Asia went to China and was brought back to Europe thru trade. It was not until 1940 that peas become a staple in North America. But…

There are some newer different vegetables that are notable for this year. If they have not made it into your seed selection yet, you may want to add them. Many have planted spinach to be disappointed when its bolts (sending…

Feeling like a new adventure in the garden? Try growing some unusual vegetables. These are not new vegetables because they have been around for thousands of years, but are not common around here. Romanesco (Roman Broccoli) grows a tight, spiral…

The terms sweet potato vs yam are used interchangeably on canned ingredients in cooking and at the grocery stores. But they are totally different roots. The sweet potato is in the morning glory family and the yam is in the…

I was asked what vegetables a beginning gardener should not plant. One of the harder plants to grow is cauliflower. It has a longer growing season, however, head in cooler weather. Most plant varieties like to be blanched, tying of…

I am a lazy gardener meaning I love working in the garden; however, I am all over saving time and energy. I do not have the environment to save vegetables in the house. You can leave some vegetables in the…

When are onions ready to pull and store? Rule of thumb is when 2/3 of the tops have fallen over. You can bend over the rest of the crop. Also, stop watering. Leave the onions in the ground for a…

Been reading about using red plastic mulch being good for tomatoes. I did this and the results are very noticeable! The tomato plants growing on red plastic are showing twice the growth versus the plants without the plastic. I had…

People are having issues with tomato leaf curl. There are no easy answers without looking at the leaf itself and doing some detective work. If the leaves are distorted with brown spots and the leaves are turning yellow. Answer: foliar…

In growing tomatoes, there are some things that people do not tell you about. First, there are two different types of tomatoes, indeterminate and determinate varieties. Indeterminate types produce tomatoes thru the season while the determinate ones produce tomatoes faster…

Why did nature evolve with hot peppers? Nature wants its plants to spread, so if an herbivore eats something, it will spread through its digestive tract. Mammals will not eat hot peppers, so how are they supposed to spread? By…

Colorful vegetables add a variety of health benefits

Tomatillos Tomatillos are unusual vegetables you can grow, this fruit is nice to look at with their lantern-like papery covering. They’re very popular in Mexican dishes with a flavor that’s been described as a cross between a lime and a…