Cucumbers for the home garden can be divided into four popular cucumber types: (1) slicing, (2) pickling, (3) burpless, and (4) space savers for small gardens and container. Here are 20 sure-fired cucumber varieties to grow in your garden. Slicing Cucumbers Varieties: • Dasher II. 55-60 days. CMV, DM, PM, S. Cool, crisp flesh and…
How to Grow
Bean Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow
Need top-choice, sure-bet, best-pick, easy-to-grow bean varieties? Here are 25 top-performers for the home garden divided into 5 popular bean types: (1) snap-bush green, (2) snap-pole green, (3) bush yellow, (4) lima, and (5) dried and shell beans. Keep reading to the bottom of this post for my tips for sure-fired bean growing success. Also…
Summer Squash Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow
Need top-choice, sure-bet, best-pick, easy-to-grow summer squash varieties? Here are 15 top-performers for the home garden divided into the 3 most popular summer squash types: (1) scallop or patty pan, (2) yellow straight or crook neck, and (3) zucchini. Keep reading to the bottom of this post and I will give you my tips for…
Sweet Potatoes: Short-Summer Varieties
Sweet potatoes in 100 days! Sweet potatoes started from slips–rooted sprouts–purchased at the garden center or from a seed catalog can be harvested in about 100 days, even less. Short-season sweet potato varieties include ‘Beauregard’, ‘Centennial’, and ‘Georgia Jet.’ These three planted from slips will be ready for harvest in 80 to 90 days. Varieties…
Watermelons for Home Garden: Top 10 Varieties
Watermelons need warmth, water, sun, and space. But if you are short on warmth–you live in a short-summer region–or space, not much yard, you can still grow delicious, sweet watermelons in a home garden. Large watermelons require 4 months of frost-free, very warm weather to come to harvest and that they can gobble up as…
Vegetable Garden Quality, Yield, Savings Comparisons
How do you put a value on your vegetable garden and the crops you grow? It depends upon what you want in return for the time you spend and the space your garden requires. Fresh vegetables. If you want a steady supply of fresh vegetables for the table, make small successive planting over several weeks…
How to Grow Cress
Garden cress also called broadleaf cress–and other cresses: curly cress and watercress–are quick growing cool-weather vegetables. Sow cress in the garden early in spring, as early as 4 or 6 before the last frost, or grow cress indoors year round. Cress is quick growing from seed; it will be ready for harvest 15 to 20…
How to Grow Lemon Balm
You can learn how to grow lemon balm in a few minutes. Lemon balm is a perennial herb that grows best in cool weather. It has lemon-scented, mint-like leaves that are often used to make refreshing, lemony hot and cold drinks. The leaves also add a tart lemony flavor to green and fruit salads as…
How to Grow Anise
Anise is a small herb with lacy leaves. It’s a member of the parsley family. Its leaves and seed have a sweet, licorice-like flavor. Both leaves and seeds can be used to flavor soups, salads, and sausage. They are used in bread, cookies, and candy. Get to Know Anise Botanical name and family: Pimpinella anisum…
How to Grow Caraway
Caraway is often grown for its thin, crescent-shaped seeds but all parts of the caraway plant are edible—leaves, stems, seeds, and roots. Caraway is a biennial that produces carrot-like leaves the first year and flower heads and seeds the second year. The flavor of caraway leaves and seeds is earthy, with a hint of citrus…
