The best way to plan your kitchen garden is to give some thought to what you eat or would like to eat and how much. Note all of the fruits and vegetables that you bring to the table or pack for lunch. These fruits and vegetables can become the starter crops for your kitchen garden.
Plantains have a mild squash-like or potato-like or sweet potato-like flavor with a faint sweetness reminiscent of a banana. Well, you’ll have to taste the plantain to decide. Exactly what flavor you ascribe to the plantain will, no doubt, have something to do with how it’s been prepared. The plantain is a fruit–a very close
Cabbage and beets–cool-season crops for fall harvest Planning and planting for fall and winter harvest should begin in early- to mid-summer depending on how soon cold weather will arrive in your region. Where growing seasons are shorter—USDA Zones 4-7—and summers are cooler, cool-weather crops for harvest in fall and winter harvest should be planted in
Planting Melons and Squash Early: Getting an early start will ensure a harvest in short summer regions and perhaps two or more harvests in longer summer regions. Long-season vine crops such as melons and squash can be started early in the season if you adequately prepare and warm the soil. The right preparation will ensure
Parsnip roots can be used in soups, stews, and side dishes. (Learn more about cooking and serving parsnips, click here.) The parsnip is a root crop that can be planted in spring and autumn in all regions and winter in mild-winter regions. Parsnips require 95 to 120 days to mature and reach harvest. The parsnip
Pole beans are heavy producers for the relatively small area of garden space they require. Choose a spot in full sun, loosen the soil to a depth of 1 foot, and add a 4-inch layer of aged compost or organic soil amendment—but not manure (beans produce their own nitrogen). Plant 5 seeds around the base
You only need to list a few of the varietal names of pluots—Flavor King, Flavor Queen, Flavor Prince, Flavor Supreme, Flavor Heart, Flavorosa, Flavorella, Flavor Grenade—to understand the most outstanding attribute of these hybrids between plums and apricots. A pluot—which is ¾ plum and ¼ apricot—is all about flavor. It has the flavorful blend of
If you crave a fruit with a juicy sweet-tart taste and don’t mind working for it, you will surely enjoy the pomegranate. The pomegranate is a native of Iran and is one of just a handful of fruits that warranted a mention in the Old Testament. In fact, Moses told the Israelites as they wandered
There are more than 200 varieties of chilies or hot peppers. Sometimes the names of chilies can get a bit confusing because often the same pepper will be known by two or even three different names. Here’s a quick users’ guide to about four dozen very popular chilies and how you can used them in
Boiled Yukon Gold potatoes with butter and dill Choose potatoes for planting with cooking in mind. Potatoes for boiling—for making potato salad and home-fry potatoes—should have a low- to medium-starch content. Potatoes for baking should have high-starch content. Low- and medium-starch potatoes keep their shape and remain creamy and toothy when boiled. High-starch potatoes will
