Malabar spinach is a warm-season leafy crop that can be used as a hot-weather substitute for spinach and lettuce. You can follow an early spring crop of spinach or lettuce with a planting of Malabar spinach. Malabar spinach is a vining plant with thick, succulent, edible leaves. It is often compared to spinach, but it
Swiss seedlings; the variety is ‘Bright Lights’ Chard–also called Swiss chard–grows best in the cool weather of spring and fall but tolerates warm and hot weather as well. If you plan to grow chard into the summer, choose a heat-tolerant variety. Chard tolerates the light frosts of spring and the moderate frosts of autumn. If
Chard—Swiss chard—is a cool and warm-season crop. It will tolerate frost and keep growing in summer. The optimum soil temperature for germination is 50° to 8°5F (10°-29°C). Direct—seeding is the most common way to start chard. Sow seed in the garden 2 to 4 weeks before the last average frost date in spring. To get
Beets and Chard Growing Problems: Grow beets in spring and fall in warm summer regions, in summer and late fall in mild summer regions, and in summer and early fall in cool summer regions. Beets grow best in cool weather. For best fresh eating, harvest beats when they are half grown–about six weeks after sowing.
Fresh chard leaves with peaches, blueberries, and pieces of gorgonzola cheese Swiss chard can be served raw or cooked. Swiss chard leaves have a hearty, yet mild spinach flavor. Swiss chard stalks have a delicate, celery-like taste and crunch. Serve chard greens raw alone or in a mixed green salad. You can also cook chard
Lemongrass is an aromatic grass-family herb with a rich lemon flavor and fragrance. Leaves and the bulbous stem are used as a seasoning in Southeast Asian dishes and lightly in soups. The leaves can be brewed to make a relaxing tea. Lemongrass is a subtropical plant. The slender and arching grass-like leaves can grow to
Oranges can be divided into three basic groups—sweet oranges, blood oranges, and sour oranges. Sweet oranges can be divided into two subgroups—navel oranges and common oranges. Navel oranges and common oranges are the most commonly grown oranges both in home gardens and commercially. Navel oranges are mostly peeled and eaten fresh out of hand. Common
Hot peppers are distinguished from sweet peppers simply by their pungency or hotness of flavor. There are thousands of hot pepper varieties in the world. (This is the case because peppers easily cross-pollinate to produce new kinds.) The hotness of a pepper is determined by a number of blister-like sacs of capsaicinoids on the interior
You can plant, grow, and harvest snap beans and other beans in containers. Growing beans in containers are ideal for balconies, decks, patios, rooftops, and other urban gardens. Beans can also be grown indoors under lights. Many apartment gardeners like to grow bush beans because they can grow three to six plants in a large
There are five potato growth stages: sprout development, vegetative growth, tuber growth, tuber bulking, and maturation. Potatoes are commonly grown from the eyes of other potatoes, not from seeds. Potatoes used to grow new potatoes are called seed potatoes. Seed potatoes are small tubers, also called baby potatoes. Commercial seed potatoes are specifically grown to be
