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Green lacewing adult The larva of the green lacewing bug is a voracious predator of soft-bodied pest insects including aphids, whiteflies, and the caterpillars of many pest moths. One lacewing larva—also known as an aphid lion—can devour 100 aphids in a week. One or two or three larva in each square foot of a garden

Delicate flavored shallots grow best in slightly sandy, well-drained soil. Where the soil is even a bit heavy with clay, you will get the best results growing shallots in raised beds evenly amended with organic matter such as aged compost. Plant shallots—like onions—early in the season. Leafy top growth which nourishes the bulbs comes during

The secret to getting a good strawberry harvest in hot summer climates—where daytime temperatures are consistently greater than 85°F–is to have strawberries ready for picking in mid-winter, not in late spring or early summer as in cooler summer regions. Early spring is the traditional time to set out strawberries but where summers are hot, a

Tomato plants trained to single stakes Grow tomatoes on stakes to ripen fruits earlier than unstaked plants. Grow tomatoes on stakes to keep fruit cleaner and easier to spot at harvest. You can grow almost twice as many staked tomatoes in a given area than if you let plants grow unstaked or even caged. Tomatoes

Use mint fresh or dried to flavor vegetables—cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini. You can add fresh mint to cold and hot soups and beverages. There are all types of mint to choose from: spearmint, peppermint, pineapple mint, orange bergamot, and apple mint to name a few. Mint has a striking aroma

Serve guava slices on pancakes or waffles in the morning. In the evening, pair guava slices with a mild white cheese for dessert. You can even put guava slices in a baggy and send them to school or work in place of a candy bar. The guava has the sweet flavor of a strawberry or

Cool-weather crops in early autumn Mid- to late-summer is an ideal time to plant a second-season vegetable garden that will come to harvest in fall. Hardy, cool-weather crops are well suited for the second-season garden. Cool-weather crops like to get their start in warm soil and come to maturity when days and nights are cool.

Brandywine heirloom tomato Do heirloom tomatoes (or other heirloom vegetables, for that matter) have benefits or advantages when compared to hybrid tomatoes. The answer is not simple. The Natural Selection of Tomatoes Most of the crops we eat today, including tomatoes, have evolved from less desirable wild plants. Over generations and generations, humans have selectively

Hollandaise sauce is a smooth rich creamy sauce thickened by the use of egg yolks. Use hollandaise sauce as a topping for asparagus, broccoli and other vegetables. Hollandaise and mayonnaise are very similar—the fats are the difference: hollandaise uses butter; mayonnaise uses vegetable oil. One of the earliest recipes for hollandaise appeared in a French