Harvest to Table

Bush snap beans are mild flavored and from seed are ready for harvest in as few as 40 days. Plant bush beans every 10 days or so for a continuous harvest throughout the season, or plant bush beans early in the season for a harvest before pole beans are ready or late in the season [...]

Cabbage soup is earthy with a subtle sweetness. With a few aromatic vegetables or some meat or lentils added, it makes an inexpensive yet flavorful and filling one-dish meal. Common green cabbage from the spring, fall, or winter garden is ideal for cabbage soup. Ratio. The ratio of liquid to solids can vary from 1:1 [...]

Choose the carrots you want to grow by the carrot flavor you most enjoy. There are three common carrot flavor descriptors: sugary, pine-parsley, and woody. Carrot flavor is genetically determined—some carrots will simply be sweeter than others. Growing carrots when days are warm and nights cool and growing carrots in loose, organic soil can enhance [...]

A garden site that receives as few as two hours of direct sunlight a day can grow vegetables. A garden that gets only dappled sunlight during the day can grow vegetables. Vegetable grown for their leaves and roots are the best choices for shady gardens. Salad greens such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and celery can [...]

Split pea soup and lentil soup are robust, hearty soups that require little preparation time—less than an hour. Unlike dried beans, dried peas and lentils and also black-eyed peas do not require soaking before cooking. They can be combined with aromatic vegetables or meat to make a one-pot meal or matched with a seasonal green [...]

Early season tomatoes ripen fruit in 55 to 70 days after being transplanted to the garden as 6 week old plants. Because great tomato flavor comes with just the right combination of sugars and acids that are the product of sunlight and photosynthesis, early season tomatoes are often dismissed as less tasty than mid- and [...]

Succession cropping is the planting of two or more crops in the same space at different times: a second crop succeeds a first as soon as possible after harvest and in some regions a third crop can succeed the second after harvest. Each crop in succession planting must come to harvest during its optimal harvest [...]

Dried bean soups are hearty and perfect for chilly days. Black beans, navy beans, kidney beans, lima beans may be used. For a velvety, smooth soup, purée or whir the beans in a blender after cooking; for a soup with texture, purée only half the beans. Water is the common liquid ingredient for dried bean [...]

Hardy is a term used to describe a plant’s ability to survive in a specific climate zone—even through the cold of winter. Commonly gardeners use the term “hardy” to describe a plant that can survive a freeze, frost, or a cold snap. Half-hardy is a term used describes plants that can survive only limited or [...]

Potatoes are easy to grow in holes, trenches, under mulch or landscape fabric, or in containers. Grow potatoes in full sun and well-drained soil or mulch. Plant potatoes when the soil temperature is at least 50°F. Potatoes grow best when the air temperature is between 60 and 65°F. Grow potatoes from seed potatoes—small tubers grown [...]