Harvest to Table

Fresh and quick, serve raw or cooked asparagus in salads or as a side dish during spring. Cut fresh raw asparagus into one-inch lengths with the kitchen scissors. Then add them to the greens salad to add a bit of substance. Choose firm, plump, straight, round asparagus spears with tips that are tight and compact. [...]

Cabbage matures best in cool weather. Sow cabbage in early spring for an early summer harvest. You can also sow cabbage in late summer for autumn harvest. Cabbage matures in 70 to 120 days. Green cabbage is an old-time favorite. Red cabbage is often found in salads and excellent cooked and served as a hot [...]

A kitchen garden is—as its name suggests–a garden that is as close to the kitchen as it can be. A kitchen garden provides the cook ingredients that are fresh-picked and at their peak of ripeness—fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Plan to use the produce from your kitchen garden immediately, at the very next meal. [...]

When the soil in your garden warms to 45ºF (7ºC), you can plant peas—snap, snow, and shell. Peas are tasty shelled from the pods and used raw in salads. You can steam peas as a vegetable, or cook them in soups and stews. Peas prefer cool weather. They mature in about 60 days. So time [...]

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 [...]

Planting vegetables in their right season will greatly enhance your harvest. Most vegetables belong to one of two seasonal groups: cool-season crops and warm-season crops. The planting date for each vegetable depends upon the weather that the vegetable can best tolerate. Cool-season vegetables grow best in early spring or in late summer and autumn when [...]

Spring has not come to most parts of the far north—zones 3-6, but you can still get some work done before spring-like weather arrives. Here is a checklist of things to do in the kitchen garden during March in the cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere: Plan and design. Map where snow melts first in [...]

The best way to plan your kitchen garden is to give some thought to what you eat or would like to eat and how much. Note all of the fruits and vegetables that you bring to the table or pack for lunch. These fruits and vegetables can become the starter crops for your kitchen garden. [...]

Spring-like weather has arrived in most of the mild-winter regions of the northern hemisphere from zones 7 through 9. So now is the time to get growing in the kitchen garden. Your kitchen garden is a place where you can enjoy the garden as both a gardener and a cook. Make your kitchen garden as [...]

Serve guava slices on pancakes or waffles in the morning. In the evening, pair guava slices with a mild white cheese for dessert. You can even put guava slices in a baggy and send them to school or work in place of a candy bar. The guava has the sweet flavor of a strawberry or [...]