Harvest to Table

Broccoli is easy to grow and offers not one harvest but several. Each plant grows two to three feet tall with a thick central stalk and several lateral branches. The central stalk is the first to bear a large cluster of tiny, dark green flower buds—the plant’s first harvest. After the central flower cluster is [...]

Vegetable stocks draw their flavor entirely from vegetables and water and, sometimes, herbs and spices, and wine. Vegetable stock can be served alone or used to flavor soups, sauces, meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables. Use vegetable stock for light, healthy dishes. Vegetable stock—also called vegetable broth–is a clear, thin flavored liquid—the flavor is determined by [...]

A microclimate is a small area with slightly different temperature or climate than the surrounding larger area. Every garden has microclimates; microclimates can be created by hills and low spots, structures and fences, and even the shade of trees or tall plants. You can use the microclimates in your garden to help vegetables produce a [...]

Plant sets of garlic, onions, and shallots early in spring to get large bulbs at harvest. Start indoors garlic, onions and shallots where snow or too much rain keeps you out of the garden early in the season. Garlic, onion, and shallot transplants started indoors are the quickest way to produce a crop. Garlic, onions, [...]

A no-dig, no-till garden bed can be made by laying down layer-upon-layer of organic materials that will decompose themselves into a nutrient rich planting bed for vegetables. This no-dig, no-till method has been the basis of Chinese vegetable gardening for thousands of years; it is known as sheet composting and more recently has been dubbed [...]

Wood ash from a fireplace or woodstove can be a good source of plant nutrients calcium, potassium, and phosphorus in the garden. Wood ash is alkaline—about half as alkaline as lime—so it can be used to balance acid soil, but it should not be used on alkaline soils—as found in most of the western United [...]

Garden raised beds can help you grow better, tastier, and bigger vegetables. Raised beds filled with rich soil and organic amendments will warm faster in spring for an earlier start and an earlier harvest. Use raised bed when the soil is poor—heavy clay or too loose sandy soil. Raised beds of rich, organic soil will [...]

The secret to getting a good strawberry harvest in hot summer climates—where daytime temperatures are consistently greater than 85°F–is to have strawberries ready for picking in mid-winter, not in late spring or early summer as in cooler summer regions. Early spring is the traditional time to set out strawberries but where summers are hot, a [...]

Plan your vegetable garden on sticky backed plant photos or plant sketches on Post-It Notes set on grid paper. This easy method will allow you to plan both initial vegetable crop sowings and plantings and succession crops before the weather warms and you get busy preparing and planting garden beds. Here’s what to do: 1. [...]

Parsnip roots can be used in soups, stews, and side dishes. (Learn more about cooking and serving parsnips, click here.) The parsnip is a root crop that can be planted in spring and autumn in all regions and winter in mild-winter regions. Parsnips require 95 to 120 days to mature and reach harvest. The parsnip [...]