I AM ON THE ASPARAGUS DIET, because that’s what the garden has to offer at the moment: beautiful spears of tender asparagus. I like them tossed in olive oil and sea salt and roasted till nearly crispy, but sometimes I want not a side, but a meal, and here’s my favorite one: Easy Asparagus-Parmesan Bake, a fast concoction that’s not quite a quiche nor a frittata, but does involve a nice fresh egg or two. [read more…]
vegetables
A vegetarian for more than 30 years, I grow (and eat!) a lot of vegetables. Tips and techniques for an organic vegetable garden, varieties I recommend (both heirloom and some hybrids), timing of spring and succession plantings and much more.
in season: easy asparagus-parmesan bake
April 25, 2012 at 7:27 am
{ 26 Comments }
growing under cover: tips from paul gallione
April 4, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I PLAN TO GROW Crucifers and Cucurbits under cover this year, and the rampaging local woodchuck is the least of the reason why. But I wanted to get the details right from the sometimes-overwhelming catalog choices—the appropriate weight of fabric, and the gear to support the row cover and hold it in place, among other tips—so I called Paul Gallione of Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine for some advice. [read more…]
how to grow carrots, with dr. john navazio
March 15, 2012 at 8:10 am
WHEN THE MOST COMMON CHALLENGE readers confessed in a recent story on vegetable gardening was “I can’t grow carrots,” I knew whom to call: John Navazio, Ph.D. to the rescue. John, who these days serves in a joint role as Senior Scientist for the Organic Seed Alliance and the Washington State University Extension specialist for organic seed for his home state, has grown—and bred—more than a few carrots in his time. John, whose dramatic and delicious purple ‘Dragon’ carrot is bright orange inside, was reassuring as ever. First, don’t feel bad, he said. “Carrots are one of the harder vegetables to grow,” confirms John (with flowering carrots in an OSA photo, above), and for a few reasons: [read more…]
finally! my 2012 seed order (+ an afterthought)
March 13, 2012 at 11:56 am
I’M LATE ON THE ANNUAL TRADITION of posting my seed orders, but finally, here they are. Looking the list over now, weeks after the actual purchases and with a little distance, my reaction: That’s a lot of winter squash vines for your not-very-big vegetable garden, Margaret (five kinds in all). Why? [read more…]
refresher course: thinking about starting seeds
March 4, 2012 at 10:02 am
IT’S TOO EARLY HERE to start anything for the vegetable garden but leeks and onions, as I mentioned in the March chores, but it’s never too soon to brush up on seed-starting timing and tactics. To that end, a little refresher course: [read more…]
giveaway: growing wholeness at turtle tree seed
February 19, 2012 at 11:19 am
ONE SQUASH SLEPT ON THE WINDOWSILL, another in the cabinet beneath the sink. Both stayed firm (and presumably delicious) all winter long, and then some—far into the next year. Lia Babitch and Ian Robb, co-managers of Turtle Tree Seed in Copake, New York, may store their ‘Butternut’ differently, but the greater mission they’re part of is the same: to offer biodynamic, open-pollinated seed to gardeners and farmers that’s been selected to be the very best it can…which if you’re a winter squash means sticking around a good long while. Meet these gifted gardeners and more of their very special seed varieties, and maybe win one of two $20 Turtle Tree gift certificates I’ve bought to share with you. [read more…]
growing (or just eating!) heirloom dry beans
February 15, 2012 at 10:09 am
SOME YEARS MY ‘SCARLET RUNNER’ BEANS—a pole variety and hummingbird favorite I’d never be without—finally peter out and then dry right on their bamboo teepees, when the fall is neither too wet nor complicated with an early frost. I always grab some of the big, flat purple-and-black-mottled seeds for next season’s planting, leaving the rest for whatever furry creature comes along to cache them for their own winter use, but lately I’ve been thinking: Why not grow beans for drying (a.k.a. shelling beans)—or at least start experimenting with dry beans for cooking, and see if we can get you hooked? [read more…]
giveaway: vegetable-garden tips from c.r. lawn
February 1, 2012 at 8:31 am
CRAZY, BUT TRUE: I ALWAYS THOUGHT the quirky “voice” of the Fedco Seeds catalog, named C.R. Lawn—get it? Lawn?—was a fictitious character, the made-up but pervasive green spirit of the longtime seed cooperative’s brand. But he’s not make-believe. He’s the Maine-based Fedco’s founder, and an organic gardener, market grower and seedsman with more than 30 years’ experience, and he took the time to answer some of my questions on what to grow and how to grow it better. The result is a vegetable-gardening Q&A (from peas to potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, mineral dusts and more), with the very real C.R. Lawn—and the chance to win three $20 Fedco gift certificates I bought to share with you, and say thanks to him. Let’s jump right in: [read more…]
tongue depressors: plant labels on a budget
January 30, 2012 at 10:06 am
I AM A FOOL, but thanks to reader Debi, who added a tip to the site in a comment today, you don’t have to be. You don’t have to buy special wooden plants labels as I just did for far too high a price; you can buy non-sterile, 6-inch tongue depressors from your local pharmacy (or even Staple’s, apparently, or e-Bay or Amazon). In a quick survey they range from under $5 per hundred to $13 for 500 and everywhere between. (If you need wooden labels small enough to fit in a seedling cellpack, or foot-tall ones big enough to holler out to you from long rows in the large-scale vegetable garden, Johnny’s and Grow Organic have them, among other places, but the tongue depressors will work for most uses, and far more cheaply.) Where would I be without all of you and your unending cleverness? Keep it coming!
