I grow more eggplant than we need just to have plenty of the gorgeous purple and black eggplant fruits in the garden. I get four or six beautiful eggplants, or “eggs” as my grandson says, from each plant, but you can get lots more if you have a longer, hotter season than mine. Read the rest of this entry »

Greens are the greatest. I doubt that any other group of vegetables provides so much good eating for so little effort. From small sections of wide rows, you’ll be able to create salads of all kinds, from early spring to late fall. The long harvest is a big reason I like greens so much. They keep my garden going long after frost has nipped my last tomatoes, beans, and corn.

Greens fit in everywhere. More and more people are growing them in their flower beds, along walks and driveways, and in all sorts of containers. Read the rest of this entry »

Some gardeners are hesitant to try celery and I understand why. It needs a long time to grow—up to 4 months of mostly cool weather. Celery also demands steady water and fertilizer because its root system is near the surface. But if your soil holds water well and has plenty of organic matter in it, you’re in good shape, especially if you plant early and harvest early.

Because celery takes such a long time to grow, start the seeds indoors early. Celery seeds are slow to germinate, so you can soak them overnight to speed the process. Plant them indoors 10 to 12 weeks before the average last frost date. Read the rest of this entry »

Chard has a lot going for it. You can plant it as soon as you can work your garden in the spring, and it will provide tasty, nutritious greens for months. Through cold weather or hot, it won’t get bitter, tough, or strong as long as you keep it harvested.

With wide rows you can get basket after basket of chard to can or freeze for the winter. To me, it’s the perfect green for a wintertime meal. It tastes good, it’s nutritious, and it’s a lot cheaper than store-bought greens. Read the rest of this entry »

My southern friends are crazy about collards. These nutritious, flavorful greens can be grown anywhere, even way up North where I live.

Unlike most greens, collards will survive the cool spells of spring and fall weather, as well as the intense heat of summer. Read the rest of this entry »

The Garden Plants

Once you have decided where you would like to have plants, consider the amount of sunlight that particular spot receives. There are several possibilities: morning sun, afternoon sun, sun all day, dappled sunlight (an obstruction of some sort is letting through rays of light) or shade. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

Endive is a cool-weather salad green with a distinct clean, sharp taste. A handful of endive leaves mixed into your salad bowl adds a wonderful touch.

Endive doesn’t like hot weather, but it can take a few hard frosts. I grow it as a fall crop only, and sow it directly into the garden. You also can start endive indoors like head lettuce. Either way, plants should stand 6 to 7 inches apart. Read the rest of this entry »

Too many people think head lettuce or Iceberg lettuce has to be bought at the market.

I grow wonderful crops of head lettuce and yet every year some new visitor looks at my bright green rows and says, “Hmmmm. I didn’t know you could grow that here.” Well, you can and it’s easy.

All you need is some cool weather in spring or fall. Get started early; head lettuce needs as much time as possible developing in cool weather, so the earlier you can set out some plants, the better. They will have the best chance to head up before the scorching days of summer.

Great Lakes, Iceberg, and Ithacavarieties have all done well in my garden. I start them indoors in shallow flats or pyramid planters about 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost date.

The most important step in early planting is to harden off the plants very well before setting them into the garden. After they are about 4 weeks old, I start giving them some time outdoors. That way they can handle unexpected cold snaps and even a light frost. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever grown spinach, you know it doesn’t take many leaves to fill a basket. But when you cook them, a lot turns to a little.

To get an abundance of spinach from a small space, I plant in wide rows. If you harvest 6 pounds of spinach from a single row, you can get 20 pounds from a wide row the same length. That’s important when it’s time to freeze spinach.

Because spinach thrives in cool weather, I often plant it on the first day I can work the soil in spring, and again in late summer for a fall harvest. Spinach takes about 10 days to germinate when the soil is still cool. Read the rest of this entry »

Okra likes hot weather, so plant it after the last frost when the ground is warm. I cheat a little in Vermont and plant it early under a grow tunnel to catch extra heat. (I shape my tunnels so they are quite tall and I can leave them on for 2 or 3 weeks.)

To help the seeds sprout, soak them in water for a few hours before planting or put them in the freezer overnight. Either step will help soften or crack the seed coat. Read the rest of this entry »

Nine years ago I planted one packet of white bunching onion seeds, and I’m still eating from the row. Each year I get the tastiest, earliest scallions you can imagine. I don’t do a thing all season except pull a few weeds now and then.

It’s important to plant a “bunching” onion variety because these onions will not form a bulb. The bottoms stay thin all year long. Plant them where you won’t be tilling, such as next door to a perennial planting. I have mine near my black raspberries.

Plant the seeds thickly in early spring. Thin them a little with a rake when they come up, then let them grow. Harvest some of them when the stems are as big as a pencil, but leave plenty alone. Let them go right into the fall and winter. Don’t mulch them—they don’t need it. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to grow a lot of them in wide rows. And their flavors— from the strong yellow keeping onions to the subtle shallots—go with almost everything. How can you cook without them?

Onions, garlic, and shallots will store for many months, and you don’t need a root cellar either. Leeks won’t hold out like the others but they can be kept in my “perennial patch” in the garden or for a week or two in the refrigerator. The onion family is with us 12 months a year. Jan and I never have to buy any.

There are lots of fun ways to grow these crops in the garden. How about a multiplying shallot patch so you never have to buy expensive shallots again? Or a no-work “Eternal Yield” square of bunching onions to get the earliest scallions every spring? Or a big row of giant sweet onions? Read the rest of this entry »

Pull your storage onions when the plants are dead. The tops will lose their green color, turn brown, and start to wither. That’s the time they should be harvested. Don’t let them stay in the ground once they are dead.

A warm, sunny day is ideal for pulling onions. Leave them bottom side up in the garden for 2 or 3 days until they are dry.

Keep roots away from the ground. The drying kills the roots—they look like little brittle wires. When thoroughly dry, they’ll break off easily with a swipe of your hand. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never had as much fun and satisfaction growing onions as I have since I began using home-grown sets. I grow about 45 pounds of sets each year in an area 3 feet by 5 feet and it takes only 1 ounce of seeds. The seeds cost about $3, but the sets I get are worth 20 times that!

You probably can’t use 45 pounds of sets in your garden, of course, but I bet you have neighbors and friends who would gladly buy some from you in the spring.

Here’s how I get such a big, money-saving harvest from a 3- by 5-foot area: Read the rest of this entry »

Garlic: Break into doves to plant

I can’t imagine spaghetti sauce without garlic, and I can’t imagine my garden without it either. There’s nothing better than fresh garlic from the garden—it’s a must for our pickles.

Buy a few garlic bulbs from a garden store or supermarket and break each one into individual cloves.

Plant each clove 3 or 4 inches from the next one in a wide row. Push them in to their full depth, pointed end up. Plant them as early as you can, like onion sets, and give them two or three side- dressings during the season. Keep the soil loose around them, and don’t let them get dry. Read the rest of this entry »

Early Spanish variety grows well in my garden

You can’t plant peanuts from the stores if they’ve been roasted. To find a seed source, look in the mail order catalogs. If you live in the South, a garden store should have them.

Most peanut varieties need 4 or 5 months of warm growing time. If your season is shorter, try

Early Spanish peanuts. They take less time and bear very well. Read the rest of this entry »

Peas are the ultimate crop for the lazy gardener. Using my wide row method, you can plant them in minutes and come back weeks later to harvest them. There’s no weeding, side-dressing, staking，or hilling. . .there’s just no work at all to growing tasty fresh peas anywhere in any climate.

People in the South often complain to me, “Dick, it’s just too hot down here to grow English peas. They start growing okay when the weather is cool but then it gets hot and the peas don’t produce.” My wide row method solves this problem.

I once brought 2 bushels of fresh-picked peas from my Florida test garden to a class I was giving nearby. I set the peas down in the middle of the crowd and said, “Taste for yourself.” These Florida gardeners sampled the peas and said, “They’re great!” Read the rest of this entry »