Plant rhubarb in late winter or early spring. Rhubarb is a perennial so choose a spot where it can grow and thrive for up to 10 years. Three or four root crowns will produce all of the rhubarb you can eat. Bare-root rhubarb rhizomes are most readily available for sale in nurseries in late winter…
Stalk Vegetables
Asparagus Growing
Asparagus requires a carefully chosen site. It’s a perennial crop that is going to grow in the same spot for up to 20 years. To produce a crop that will give you plenty of spears each year, you need to plant a whole bed of asparagus at one time. (Plant ten plants for each person;…
How to Grow Florence Fennel
Florence fennel is a cool-weather perennial grown as an annual. Fennel can be sown in the garden as early as 2 to 3 weeks before the average last frost date in spring. Florence fennel, which is grown for its bulbous stalk, requires 90 to 115 frost-free days to reach harvest. For an autumn crops sow…
How to Grow Leeks
Leeks are grown for their thick, juicy stems. They are a mild-flavored alternative to the onion. Leeks require a long growing season—up to 170 days. They grow best in cool, mild weather. There are two types of leeks: short-season and long-season. Long-season leeks have thick, cylindrical stems. They take about 170 days to reach harvest….
How to Grow Rhubarb
Rhubarb is grown for its leaf stems (called petioles) which are thick and fleshy. The stems are colorful—cherry-red to deep red and sometimes green–and tart. They are used in jams and pies—with plenty of sugar added—and are often matched with the sweetness of strawberries. Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that requires a dedicated growing spot…
Celery Cooking and Serving Tips
Celery can be eaten raw or cooked. Celery brings texture and a mild flavor to salads, hors d’oeuvres, soups, stuffings, stews, and stock. It can be steamed, braised, or sautéed and served as a side dish. Celery tastes best when it comes to harvest in cool weather, late spring or in autumn. How to Choose…
Chard Cooking and Serving Tips
Swiss chard can be served raw or cooked. Swiss chard leaves have a hearty, yet mild spinach flavor. Swiss chard stalks have a delicate, celery-like taste and crunch. Serve chard greens raw alone or in a mixed green salad. You can also cook chard greens just like spinach. Swiss chard, chard, silverbeet, spinach beet, leaf…
How to Cook and Serve Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo shoots slowly simmered have a delicate, bitter flavor and earthy aroma. Fresh bamboo shoots can be sliced and boiled, sautéed or braised and served as an accompaniment to meat and fish. They can be slow-cooked with other vegetables or stir-fried. The crunchy texture of young, tender bamboo shoots makes them a great choice served…
Ten Ways to Cook Kohlrabi
Cook kohlrabi or eat it raw. Kohlrabi tastes like a mild, sweet turnip with a bit of radish tang. Young kohlrabi is juicy and crisp and delicate. The peak kohlrabi harvest season is mid-spring to mid-fall. How to Choose Kohlrabi Select kohlrabi that is firm and heavy for its size with crisp deeply colored leaves…
How to Prepare, Cook, and Serve Asparagus
Asparagus plants produce young edible shoots—called “spears”–for about six weeks each spring just as the days begin to lengthen and winter fades. The season for asparagus is late winter through late spring—the season’s peak depends upon where you live. How to Select Asparagus Select asparagus with firm, plump, straight, round spears. The tips should be…
