Hot peppers are most easily grown from transplants. Grow hot chili peppers in the warmest, frost-free time of the year. Start hot pepper seed indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the date you intend to set peppers into the garden. Peppers can be seeded in the garden or transplanted out 2 to 3 weeks after […] More
Do heirloom tomatoes (or other heirloom vegetables, for that matter) have benefits or advantages when compared to hybrid tomatoes? The answer is not simple. Natural selection of tomatoes Most of the crops we eat today, including tomatoes, have evolved from less desirable wild plants. Over generations and generations, humans have selectively created many plant varieties […] More
How do you choose which tomatoes to grow in your garden? Here’s a suggestion: Make a list of how you and those in your household enjoy tomatoes. Consider the 5-S’s— salads, sandwiches, sauces, soups., and salsa. There are tomatoes perfect for each of these uses. Plant 1 to 3 tomato plants for each household member […] More
Early-season tomatoes ripen fruit 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 late-season tomatoes (which require 80 […] More
Melons grow best when summers are hot, dry, and almost always sunny. The best-flavored melons will come from the hottest-growing regions. Both cloudy and rainy weather will slow and all but stop melon growth. Melons grow best when both the soil and air temperature are at least 70°F (21°C). You can sow seeds directly in […] More
Pumpkins are a warm-season annual that requires from 90 to 120 frost-free days to reach harvest. Grow pumpkins in the warmest, frost-free part of the year. Sow pumpkin seed or set out transplants about 2 weeks after the last expected frost in spring. Sow or plant a successive crop 4 weeks later. Sow pumpkin seeds […] More
Chayote is a warm-season, tender perennial. Plant the whole fruit 3 to 4 weeks after the last average frost date in spring when the weather has warmed. Chayote grows best where summer temperatures are very warm to hot, in tropical or subtropical regions. Chayote requires 120 to 150 frost-free days to reach harvest. Here is […] More
Winter squashes are the most plentiful from early autumn until late winter. Unlike the summer squashes, the winter squashes must be cooked before they are eaten. Add winter squash to soups, stews, couscous, and curries. Use winter squash to make pies, cakes, muffins, cookies, pudding, soufflés, and cream desserts. Choose a winter squash—such as the […] More
To get a bumper crop from your pepper plants, you must dedicate yourself to helping the plants thrive. Pepper plants are more temperamental than tomatoes—they demand warm temperatures, even soil moisture, feeding, and support—literally. Here are 10 steps that will all but guarantee sweet and hot pepper growing success. (But don’t turn your back on […] More
Peppers are tropical plants and can be temperamental–especially the further they grow away from the tropics. They demand warm temperatures—not too cool and not too hot, organically rich soil, and even soil moisture—not too little and not too much. Give peppers these optimal conditions and they will produce until the first frost in autumn. Good […] More
Tomatoes can come to harvest in early summer, mid-summer, or late summer depending on the variety. Early-summer harvest tomatoes are ready to be picked in 70 days or less after seedlings are planted. Mid-summer harvest tomato varieties come to harvest in 70 to 80 days after seedlings are planted. Late-summer harvest varieties come to harvest […] More
Young and tender chayote can be served finely sliced raw in salads, or it can be served puréed, or diced in soups or stews, or sautéed, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, deep-fried, and baked. Chayote has a mild cucumber- to apple-like flavor and crunch and can be prepared just as you would a summer squash. The mild […] More
Stephen Albert