February is a busy month for the kitchen gardener. In many regions, indoor and outdoor sowing and planting is underway. Some gardeners already have seed in the ground. In the coldest regions, where there is snow on the ground, February is still the time for making plans and preparing for spring. Here are some of
A kitchen garden is—as its name suggests–a garden that is as close to the kitchen as it can be. A kitchen garden provides the cook ingredients that are fresh-picked and at their peak of ripeness—fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Plan to use the produce from your kitchen garden immediately, at the very next meal.
Lift kohlrabi from your garden when the mid-stem bulbs swell to 2 to 3 inches in diameter. (Turnips that form bulbs below the soil are best harvested at about the same size.) Don’t let kohlrabi bulbs grow much larger or they will rapidly become woody. Lift kohlrabi bulbs gently or cut them off just above
Kumquats have a sweet rind and a zesty tart flesh. You can eat them raw out of hand like a grape or slice them and toss them in a salad. Kumquats look like small oranges. They are seldom larger than 1¼ inches (3 cm) across, about the size of a quail’s egg. The rind is
Lady beetles in their larval and adult stages eat aphids, mealy bugs, soft scales, psyllids (jumping plant lice), whiteflies, mites, and other pest insects. One lady beetle can eat nearly 1,000 aphids in its lifetime. There are about 4,000 species of lady beetles worldwide and about 400 in North America. Perhaps the best known is
San Marzano tomatoes Late season tomatoes varieties reach ripeness or maturity 80 days or more after the seedling has been transplanted to the garden. Late season tomatoes generally bear the largest fruits and are commonly the tastiest tomatoes because they have been on the vine the longest and have ripened in the heat of summer.
Basic vinaigrette is a simple mixture of oil, vinegar, and seasoning. The ratio of oil to vinegar in a basic vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Less oil will make the dressing more tart. More oil will make it taste milder and oilier. The following recipes will make 1 quart (1 liter)
Lemon zest is the yellow part of the lemon rind. (Zest can be taken from the rind of any citrus.) The aromatic oils in the zest of a lemon—and other citrus–are the strongest just after zesting. So remove the zest just before using if you can. (Zest will keep in the freezer for up to
Ade–such as lemonade and limeade–is a drink made by combining water, sugar and citrus juice. Citrus juices have a thirst quenching ingredient. Here are two simple recipes for lemonade: Lemonade for One Squeeze the juice from one lemon and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pour on one cup of boiling water, and cool. Lemonade for
Lettuce is the most popular leafy vegetable. You can plant enough leaf lettuce for a family of four in a 1-sqaure foot area, enough head lettuce in a 2-square foot area. Plant spring lettuce between rows of larger crops such as cabbage or broccoli. Lettuce can be sown in the garden as early as four
