Early season tomatoes ripen fruit 55 to 70 days after being transplanted to the garden as 6-week old plants. Because great tomato flavor comes with just the right combination of sugars and acids that are the product of sunlight and photosynthesis, early-season tomatoes are often dismissed as less tasty than mid- and late-season tomatoes (which
Pea and ham soup Split pea soup and lentil soup are robust, hearty soups that require little preparation time—less than an hour. Unlike dried beans, dried peas and lentils and also black-eyed peas do not require soaking before cooking. They can be combined with aromatic vegetables or meat to make a one-pot meal or matched
Basil growing in dappled shade. A garden site that receives as few as two hours of direct sunlight a day can grow vegetables. A garden that gets only dappled sunlight during the day can grow vegetables. Vegetable grown for their leaves and roots are the best choices for shady gardens. Salad greens such as lettuce
Carrots ready for harvest Choose the carrots you want to grow by the carrot flavor you most enjoy. There are three common carrot flavor descriptors: sugary, pine-parsley, and woody. Carrot flavor is genetically determined—some carrots will simply be sweeter than others. Growing carrots when days are warm and nights cool and growing carrots in loose
Vegetable garden in early spring with straw mulch April is a time of transition in the vegetable garden. Weather extremes from snow flurries to hot weather can occur in the Northern Hemisphere. In cold-winter regions, spring weather may be weeks away. In warm-winter regions, the last frost may already have passed. When the lilacs bloom
Poached pears with chocolate sauce Poached pears and chocolate can be either a hot or cold dessert. For poaching, I like either the early-season Bartlett pear—a medium-large fruit with white, sweet, and tender flesh, or the late-season Bosc—a large, long-necked fruit with white, tender-juicy and sweet flesh. I poach the pears whole then serve them
McIntosh and Granny Smith are two apples that are slightly tart and juicy and well suited for cooking and applesauce making. (Once I have the applesauce, it’s hard to resist the baking up a dozen applesauce muffins.) McIntosh is an East Coast and Midwest favorite. Granny Smith, originally from Australia is a West Coast favorite. It’s
Lettuce is ready for harvest as soon as the leaves are large enough to eat. Salad greens are easy and quick to grow and rich in vitamins and minerals. Plant salad greens—leaf lettuce, arugula, mesclun, and radicchio are a few—for harvest in cool weather—spring or fall. In warm-winter regions, grow salad greens outdoors year-round. In
Carrots are easy to grow; just give them loose, rich soil free of clods and stones and a soil temperature anywhere between 45° and 85°F. Carrots are easy to grow; just give them loose, rich soil free of clods and stones and a soil temperature anywhere between 45° and 85°F. That means you can grow
Onion Growing: Day length or daylight hours stimulates the onion plant to start making a bulb. To grow good bulb onions you need to know about how day length and temperature affect onion plant growth. Onions are photothermoperiodic; that means they are sensitive to temperature and also to daylight. Day length or daylight hours—determined by
