Gentle crop planting pointers – Harvest to Desk

March is harvest time in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn will come officially in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile on March 21. Beans are harvesting now. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn can be picked now. Your potato harvest can begin as soon as the foliage dies back. Pumpkins can be cut with the

Ladybug Ladybugs are beneficial insects. One ladybug can eat 5,000 pest aphids in its lifetime. Adult and young ladybugs also eat asparagus beetle larvae, Colorado potato beetle larvae, lace bugs, mealybugs, Mexican bean beetle larvae, scale, spider mites, whiteflies, and the eggs of several insects. The ladybug is also called the lady beetle and the

Yam roots A yam and a sweet potato are not the same vegetables, but they can be substituted for one another in most recipes. The yam has more natural sugar and is, therefore, sweeter than the sweet potato and its flesh is moister than the sweet potato. Yams–depending upon variety—can have a flesh that is

Kale is usually cooked and rarely eaten raw because of its strong pungent flavor. Small amounts of raw, young kale can be added to salads to bring a spicy note. Steam kale and serve with butter, lemon juice, and chopped bacon. Kale has large cabbage-like curled leaves, usually soft green but also shades of blue-green

Cabbage planted in late summer for spring harvest February is late summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn will come officially to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile on March 21. Planting slows down in the late summer garden. Spring cabbage can be sown this month and so can parsley for winter harvest.

Medjool dates The peak season for dates is from mid autumn through mid winter, October through January in the northern hemisphere. Select plump, shiny dates. Stay away from dates that are too sticky or covered with crystallized sugar. Most dates will need to be pitted before they can be used for cooking or eating out