Vegetable

Learn about gourds, including how to plant and grow them. Listen to podcast: It's one of the earliest plants domesticated by man and is grown around the world. We use it for a multitude of purposes, except eating. What is it? It's the gourd. Ornamental gourds originated in Asia thousands of years ago and have spread around the world. There are two types of this cucumber-family plant that are commonly grown; the decorative, or soft-shelled gourd and the larger, hard-shelled gourd. The soft-shelled gourds are those warty, odd-looking,...

Learn how to use greens to make healthful and delicious green smoothies. Listen to Podcast: Green shakes have gone viral. A few years back people would raise their eyebrows at the idea of drinking a kale or spinach shake for breakfast. Now, everyone is touting the benefits of green smoothies. It's become a gourmet trend. And why not? I find I have more energy starting the day with a green shake and it's a quick way to get some nutritious greens and fruits into my body. If you're new to this veggie and fruit shake phenomena, here are a few...

Learn how to grow groundnuts in your landscape Listen to Podcast: When is a potato also a bean and a nut? When it's a groundnut or the potato bean. Apios americana is a Native american vine that grows from the Gulf of Mexico through New England. It's been growing in eastern North America for 9000 years. The bean seeds and the potato-like tubers are both edible. Native American and early European settlers gathered them for food and it probably was served at the first Thanksgiving. The tubers range in size from a walnut to a small avocado...

Growing vegetables and edibles in containers is fun and rewarding. But container growing does require special attention. Use potting soil and maybe some compost, add fertilizer regularly and keep up with watering to get a the best yields. There are some tricks to container gardening with edibles that may help. Here are more ideas for maintaining your container edible garden. -Most vegetable and herbs grow best in full sun in a protected area from wind and cold. That being said, leafy greens and root crops can grow in part shade and still...