Harvest to Table

Cabbage can be harvested nearly all year round as long as the weather stays cool. Plant cabbage in early to mid spring for harvest mid summer onwards. Plant autumn cabbage in late spring for harvest in fall. Plant winter cabbage in late spring for harvest in winter. Plant spring cabbage in summer for harvest next [...]

Broccoli can be served raw as an appetizer or in salads. Cook broccoli until it is just tender, still firm and crunchy. Broccoli needs cool weather to grow–warm weather will cause the buds to “rice” or open as flowers. Broccoli is suited for springs that are long and cool or autumns where there is no [...]

Cauliflower can be expensive at the produce counter, but it can be a staple of the kitchen garden with cool weather and regular water. Cauliflower requires two months of cool weather to reach harvest. Protected from frost it is a good choice in the spring and autumn gardens. (Tips on cooking cauliflower, click here.) Planting [...]

When harvest comes for each crop, be thorough. The best specimens will go right to the table. All crops need to be harvested. What you can’t use fresh, store for later use. Crops that are damaged should still be picked and sent to the compost pile. Harvest varies from crop to crop and also with [...]

Brussels sprouts can be served as a side dish alone or with a sauce. Add Brussels sprouts to soups, stews, and stir-fries. Planting Calendar. Brussels sprouts are best grown in cool weather, usually in early spring or autumn. Sprouts require from 80 to 110 days with daylight temperatures below 80ºF (27ºC) and nighttime temperatures even [...]

Beets roots can be eaten raw or cooked and added to salads and soups. Beet greens and thinnings can be eaten raw in salads or cooked much like spinach. Planting Calendar. Beets grow best in cool weather, in early spring or autumn. Beets grown in cool weather will be sweet and crisp. The temperature during [...]

The prickly pear is a cactus fruit that is actually a berry. The pulp of the prickly pear is sweet and moist with an aroma and flavor similar to a combination of the tastiest tropical and subtropical fruits, strawberry, watermelon, honeydew melon, fig, and banana. The salmon or pink to magenta colored flesh of the [...]

Patty pan or scallop squash is a small, saucer-shaped warm-season squash that usually grows to no more than 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Patty pan squashes look something like a toy top. They can be white to creamy colored or various shades of green or yellow. Patty pans are less moist than other summer [...]

Costata Romanesca is an heirloom Italian squash often considered the best tasting and best textured summer squash. It is sometimes called cocozelle or ribbed Roman zucchini. It is also called courgette, marrow squash, and vegetable marrow. Costata Romanesca is an elongated squash with a dark green skin marked by greenish-yellow stripes that run its length. [...]

  ‘Zephyr’ is a straightneck summer squash. ‘Zephyr’ has a yellow stem end and is pale green at the blossom end. Faint white stripes run the length of this squash. Zephyr is a hybrid of a yellow crookneck with a squash that is a cross between the Delicata and yellow Acorn squashes. It has a [...]