Four plants per square foot Square foot vegetable gardening gets its name from the number of seeds, transplants, or plants that grow in one square foot of garden space. For example, one square foot of garden will grow one pepper plant or four heads of leaf lettuce eight beets or sixteen radishes. A tomato plant
A hearty seasonal vegetable soup is made simply by combining the flavors of one, two, or three in-season vegetables with the flavors of one, two, or three all-season vegetables. You can have tasty home-made vegetable soup in 30 to 40 minutes any time of the year. All-season vegetables–carrots, celery, onions and potatoes–are a classic foundation
March is a month of great transition in the vegetable garden. Spring for the northern hemisphere will arrive on March 20. In the warmest regions–United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zones 9 through 11–warming temperatures have arrived. Planting can go forward this month. In USDA Zones 7 and 8, preparation for spring planting
Minestrone means big soup in Italian. You can make and serve minestrone as a meal in itself, nearly a vegetable stew. Minestrone varies from cook to cook but most commonly includes onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, and tomatoes bolstered by beans or peas and pasta or rice. Because minestrone is a thick soup, the vegetables are
I make many flavorful soups year-round using vegetables from my kitchen garden. Chicken stock and vegetable stock are the base for many of these. Here’s how I make chicken stock: Chicken stock is a basic preparation used to make many soups and sauces. Chicken stock draws its flavor from the bones and meat of a
Slugs and snails chew irregular holes with smooth edges in leaves, stems, and ripening fruits of vegetables and other succulent plants. Control slugs and snails by handpicking, traps, and barriers. Concentrate your slug and snail control efforts early in the garden season as the weather begins to warm and these pests begin to feed and
For fall harvest, choose crop varieties with shorter days to harvest; some cabbage take 90 days to harvest; other varieties are ready sooner. Fall harvest crops are planted in mid- to late-summer.  These cool-season crops get a quick start from seed or seedling in warm summer soil and come to maturity in the cool days of
Peppers can be harvested at any size or color Sweet peppers can be picked when immature or full size, green or red–as soon as they are big enough to use. Hot peppers can be picked at any time–any size or color–for fresh use; hot peppers for drying or pickling should be picked when fully ripe.
You can prepare a planting bed for next year’s beans wherever the soil is workable. Pole and runner beans and lima and broad beans will grow well in soil too poor for most other vegetables. But soil enriched with aged compost and fertilizer will give beans a good home to grow quickly and yield well.
Summer squash and zucchini Vegetable crops will begin to take longer to ripen in September. Give melons, limas, and tomatoes more time to ripen naturally. Eggplants are ready for harvest when they are shiny. Beans, cucumbers, melons, zucchini, and summer squash will not ripen or mature once they are picked. They will keep for a
