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‘Fire Sweet’ and ‘Fantasia’ are two simply mouth-watering nectarines. ‘Fire Sweet’ is a medium-sized nectarine with a flaming red and yellow skin that is smoothly sweet. A grower at the Ferry Building farmer’s market in San Francisco handed me a slice of ‘Fire Sweet’ last Saturday and it was so candy-sweet that I simply could

Vegetables mixed with a batter and dropped into hot fat or vegetables dipped in batter and fried. Fritters or tempura? Yes! The term fritter is used for both of these preparations. And tempura is not far behind. Here are quick directions for an almost vegetable fritter you can whip up using the leftover vegetables in

Cutworms are the larvae of various species of night-flying brown or gray moths. Cutworms chew the tender, young stems and leaves of almost all vegetable crops. Control cutworms early in the season by handpicking, trapping, or exposing them to predators such as birds. Cutworms emerge in spring to feed at night. One cutworm can chew

How big should a kitchen garden be? Two more questions: How much space do you have? How much ground can you care for? A small garden that provides the vegetables you will eat is better than a vegetable plot that produces more than you can use or give away. A small garden that you can

Half spicy and peppery, half lemony, slightly sweet but pungent: that’s how you might describe the flavor of ginger. Ginger is used as a flavoring for both sweet and savory dishes and is one of the key ingredients in the cookery of China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Caribbean, and North Africa. Ginger is added

Got cherimoya? Got spoon? You are ready for a tasty pineapple-papaya-banana-pear flavored treat that deserves its aliases “custard apple” and “sherbet fruit”. The cherimoya is nothing less than a tropical dessert on the half shell. The cherimoya’s flesh is juicy and creamy custardy. Its sweet flavors will swirl in your mouth. There are only one

Grapes can be broadly categorized as either table grapes or wine grapes, though many grapes can be used as both. Table and wine grapes. Table grapes are eaten out of hand or used in baking and cooking. Wine grapes are used for making wine. Grapes can also be used for making raisins or for producing

Grapefruit can be sweet and a tad bitter or loud and sour. Grapefruit is well matched with avocado, Campari, Champagne, crab, fresh ginger, honey, lemon, lime, fresh mint, pomegranate, and brown or white sugar. To simply eat grapefruit out of hand with a spoon try one of the following toppings for each grapefruit half: 1

Here’s a quick reference for grapefruit varities: Duncan: lots of seeds, white flesh with great flavor; excellent for juicing; perhaps the oldest variety. Flame: nearly seedless with red flesh and a slight rind blush. Marsh (Marsh Seedless): nearly seedless, white-fleshed, medium-size with smooth yellow skin; it’s very juicy, tender and aromatic. You’ll find a balance

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