Jalapeños are a summer favorite with gardeners everywhere. They add a bit of spice to a dish, but aren’t overwhelming like some of the spicier peppers. In the garden, jalapeños grow much like any other pepper. They love heat and sunshine and grow easily both in the ground and in containers. You can usually look…
Sunflowers may just be the brightest and most cheerful flowers of summer. Their huge golden heads follow the path of the sun throughout the day, attract pollinators, and simply look beautiful. As one of my mom’s neighbors told her “Your sunflowers are so cheerful! I love driving by and seeing them.” Sunflowers are much more…
Turmeric has become a well-known superfood in recent years. Most often used as a yellow-orange powder, the fresh rhizome can also be used and chopped or grated much like ginger root. Of course, this leads to both gardeners and wellness enthusiasts wondering whether turmeric can be grown at home. The short answer is: Yes! Turmeric…
Sweet corn is a classic summer vegetable. It takes some patience to wait for the ears to become perfectly ripe for harvest, but there’s nothing like freshly picked and cooked corn eaten straight off the cob. Of course, it can be a little tricky to know when corn is at its peak and ready to…
Green beans are a staple summer vegetable that’s easy to grow and taste amazing when picked fresh from your garden. Both bush and pole varieties are easy to grow and can provide you delicious, nutritious fresh vegetables for weeks. One of the keys to getting the freshest and most tender beans is picking them at…
Jalapeños are by far the most popular hot pepper in North America. They are a New World plant that’s native Mexico. Like its tomato relatives, jalapeños are a summer garden classic. The medium heat of jalapeños (2500-8000 units on the Scoville scale) gives them just enough heat to spice up a meal without making them…
If you’re looking for a novelty vegetable that’s attractive, easy to grow, and nutritious, you need Okinawa spinach in your garden. A perennial “spinach”, this leafy green grows with little to no maintenance in the right climates. It’s the perfect addition to your perennial garden or permaculture food forest. Okinawa spinach is a great way…
If you are growing it this year, there are a few different ways you can harvest your lettuce crop. You can pick the individual leaves as needed or harvest the whole head to make a large salad for dinner or to try a new grilled romaine recipe. Here’s how to know when you can start…
Tomatillos are a unique vegetable (or fruit, if you prefer) to grow. They have a tangy, citrusy flavor that stars in salsa verde and lightens up both cooked and raw dishes. Literally meaning ‘little tomato’ in Spanish, tomatillos do grow in a similar way to tomatoes, but have a very different appearance when ripe and…
Fava beans, also called broad beans, are somewhat of a novelty crop in the U.S. but have been grown and enjoyed in many other countries for thousands of years. They’re one of the world’s oldest domesticated crops! These large, almost meaty beans have a delicious nutty flavor with a slight sweetness and hint of bitterness….