Fruits & Veggies

Q&A: What is late blight?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I heard there’s a disease spreading this year called late blight that affects tomato and potato crops. Should I be worried?

Homemade Dill Pickles

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s an easy recipe for dill pickles. Use homegrown cucumbers or special pickling cukes.

Cooking with Swiss Chard

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Quick and easy ways to use swiss chard in the kitchen.

Identifying Tomato Late Blight

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Late blight is a fungal disease that attacks tomato and potato plants. Look for these tell-tale signs.

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How to roast pumpkin seeds for snacking.

Growing Swiss Chard

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Tips for growing swiss chard, a leafy spring or fall crop.

Blueberry Soil pH

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When planting blueberries, consider the soil.

Artichoke Aioli

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s a recipe for enjoying freshly harvested artichokes. Just make this easy dressing and dip in the artichoke leaves.

Pomegranate

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Perhaps no other kind of ancient fruit tree has staged a comeback quite like that of the pomegranate (Punica granatum). Armed with new studies showing that pomegranate juice contains more polyphenol antioxidants than any other drink, including red wine and blueberry juice, California growers have vigorously promoted the consumption of pomegranates as a way to "cheat death."...

Tips for Growing Strawberries

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Strawberries aren’t difficult to grow. Meet their basic requirements and you can enjoy a sweet harvest.

Growing Artichokes

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Artichoke plants provide a delicious harvest and also work as a striking visual in the garden. Read how to grown them and what to plant them with.

Practical Matters: Good Gourd!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What member of the plant kingdom produces fruit that can hold beverages, float fishing nets, house crickets and make music? It’s the gourd, of the Cucurbitacea, the large family that ranges from the salad cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and melon (C. melo) to winter squash and pumpkins (C. maxima). This versatile plant likely has held a longer association with humans than any other.

The Chili Pepper

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A chili pepper's heat comes from the alkaloid capsaicin. Though practically devoid of odor and flavor, capsaicin packs a wallop. The human tongue can detect it in concentrations as low as one drop in 30 million...

Grow Veggies Despite Small Space and Little Sun

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Even if your garden is small and receives little sun, you can grow vegetables. Here’s how.

Growing Blueberries

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

To grow your own crop of blueberries, all it takes is an acid soil rich in organic matter, a sunny spot, and one or two inches of water a week during the growing season.

Preparing Roasted Beets and Toasted Fennel Seeds

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

These tips complement Lora Brody’s recipe for Beet and Fennel Salad.

Herbs Are Easy to Grow and Use

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Herbs are easy to grow in the ground or in pots. They can be used fresh, or dried or frozen then stored. This article covers growing and saving herbs, plus favorite herbs and tips for growing and cooking with them.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This sweet fall dessert uses sugar pumpkins from your garden or the farmstand.

Highbush vs. Rabbiteye Blueberries

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding the difference between highbush and rabbiteye blueberries. Learn which to grow.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Catsup

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s how to use your homegrown tomatoes to make your own catsup.

Hardy Vegetables

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

With the first frost coming soon, will you tell me which vegetables will survive unprotected in the garden?...

Kale

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In late summer, my neighbor, who has been growing vegetables since the 1930s, cranks up his tiller to make room for fall crops, including a couple of good long rows of kale. Kale is one of the essential winter vegetables, as pretty as it is delicious, and not hard to grow...

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Roasting tomatoes brings out their flavor. Use roasted tomatoes to top burgers, sandwiches and salads.

Pruning a Raspberry Patch

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

No other fruit is as tasty, as perishable, and as easy to grow as the raspberry. This alone should be grounds to have a patch of one's own. Given sunlight and some well-drained soil, all that raspberries require, beyond weeding and a little fertilizer, is periodic pruning.

Beet and Fennel Salad

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:51:32 GMT

Here’s an easy way to enjoy freshly harvested beets in the spring. Feta cheese and fennel round out this simple beet salad.

Fava Beans

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For gardeners who want an early start on bean production, fava beans fit the bill...

Q&A: Attracting Bees

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Can you recommend some plants that are particularly attractive to bees? I’m hoping to lure many bees toward my vegetable garden so they will also pollinate my veggie plants and help ensure a good harvest.

Frozen Strawberry Parfait

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s a cool recipe that uses the delicious fresh strawberries from farmstands, groceries or your own garden. Enjoy this homemade strawberry ice cream parfait.

Poll: Cut Costs by Growing Food?

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There’s much buzz in the media this year about more people turning to vegetable gardening as a way to cut grocery expenses. Based on your experience, do you think people can save money by growing their own vegetables?

The Tomato

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Julia Child couldn't imagine civilization without onions; for me, life without tomatoes would seem incomplete. Of the hundreds of varieties available, three favorites always find space in my summer garden...

Celeriac

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Though it is pretty enough in the garden, celeriac wins no beauty contests on the kitchen counter. The edible part is a knobby root, and its thick skin must be cut away before the cream-colored flesh is revealed. But if your favorite part of celery is the carefully pared bit at the end, celeriac, its close relative, is for you...

Figs

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Commercial fig production takes place in California and the Southwest, but gardeners can successfully grow in-ground figs as far north as Massachusetts.

Roasted Root Vegetables

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Bring out the flavor of root vegetables with this easy recipe.

Prickly Pear

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

One August afternoon in 1996, my wife and I discovered that the several acres of Engelmann's prickly pear (Opuntia engelmannii) growing neglected in a vacant lot behind our Tucson, Arizona, home were loaded with ripe fruit, known as tunas in Spanish.

Fresh Picked: Leeks

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In the movie The Queen, starring Helen Mirren, the scene that caught my eye shows her taking a phone call in the kitchen at Balmoral Castle. Cooks and scullery maids scatter; the queen is left at a table piled high with leeks. They are gorgeous leeks, long and fat, their snow-white stems topped with aquamarine. They are a dish fit for a queen...

Eggplants

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

There are people who keep their fingers on the pulse of color trends for various reasons, verging from haute couture to house paint, and they're predicting that deep purple is about to happen. So it's time to talk eggplants. Yes, pretty soon all the best-dressed gardens will be in aubergine...

fresh picked: white asparagus

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

fresh picked: white asparagus

'Forellenschluss' romaine lettuce

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Historically, lettuces of the ancient world were divided into two main camps: the cabbage-headed lettuces, which are of a round, relatively loose-leaved habit, and the cos or romaine lettuces, of a tighter, more conical, and elongated inclination. Said to have originated on the Greek island of Cos (Kos), off the coast of Turkey, romaine lettuces were known to be under cultivation as early as 3000 BC...

Vegetable Varieties for Containers

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

These vegetable varieties are perfectly suited to growing in containers. Essential for the gardener with limited space.