I force many of my greens to give me a second and third harvest. I never pick only the outside leaves of my lettuce, spinach, chard, or mustard. They’re the oldest and toughest on a plant. Instead, I give the row a clean cut, slicing the plants about 1 inch above the ground. This encourages the plants to send up new tender growth and to try again to develop seedpods. For the harvest, I have a pleasing combination of young, tender leaves from the center of the plant mixed with the older ones. Read the rest of this entry »
A few summers ago I taught a short course on gardening for the University of Vermont. The classes were held at my test gardens. During a discussion about root crops, Willie, one of the students, said, “Dick, I grow real nice carrots, but I don’t like them too much. I can hardly eat them; they seem so woody.”
“How big do you grow them?” I asked.
Willie smiled, “Oh, they get real good size. I’ve got nice loose soil for them.” Read the rest of this entry »
For my grandchildren, fall means pumpkins
If you fertilize pumpkins they’ll get very big and take up a lot of garden space—but they’re worth every inch I give them.
We grow a lot of pumpkins for our grandchildren—they like them big—plus plenty for making pumpkin pies. The smaller varieties have better flavor than the big ones, so we use them for pies.
The bigger jack-o’-lantern types, such as Big Max, can be used for pies but I don’t think they’re as good.
There’s no secret to growing a super-sized pumpkin that might win a ribbon at the fair. Here are the steps: Read the rest of this entry »
Most herbs are easy to grow. The following selection provides a variety of flavours to complement home-grown vegetables and enhance everyday food. Site the herb patch in a sunny well-drained spot near the kitchen. Some of these herbs will also grow well in containers.
