Vegetable

Learn about hot peppers, including how to plant and grow them. Listen to podcast: The top 10 vegetables grown by home gardeners hasn't really changed much in the last 20 years except for one. Hot peppers. They've become all the rage. Hot peppers originated in South and Central America. Portuguese and Spanish explorers brought them to Europe and Asia in the 15th century. There's a wide variety of hot peppers to grow in your garden. Here are some of my favorites. 'Black Pearl' features jet-black foliage and stems with purple turning to red...

Learn about some unusual Italian Vegetables to grow in your garden this spring. Listen to Podcast: "Mange" was a common word I heard when I was growing up in my Italian-American family. Italians love many things, especially good food. In particular, they love their vegetables. While most of us think of tomatoes, garlic, and eggplant when we say "Italian vegetables", there are some unusual vegetables you should try in your garden. Italians love wild greens. Agretti is a popular Italian green used in upscale restaurants. It has a salty, tart...

Learn about Jack O Lanterns, including how to plant and grow pumpkins. Listen to podcast: The leaves are dropping, the cold is coming, and it's time for carving pumpkin. But did you know that the first Jack-O'-Lantern was actually a turnip? The Irish story goes there was an unsavory character named Stingy Jack who tricked the devil into not claiming his soul. When Jack died the devil couldn't take him so he sent him off into the dark night to wander endlessly with only a piece of coal burning in a hollowed out turnip to light his way. He's...

Learn how to create a Jack O Lantern that you can plant, too. Listen to podcast: It was my daughter, Elena, living in Canada who turned me on to Jack O Planterns. We've all heard of Jack O Lanterns and now is a good time to get pumpkins for some traditional Halloween carving. But a Jack O Plantern? Elena saw them at a fall festival last year and I was intrigued. What's a Jack O Plantern? Well, it's a Jack O Lantern that you plant. Instead of just having the spooky glow of a candle or lights inside your Jack O Lantern, you have plants...

Learn about growing Jerusalem artichokes in your garden. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript This vegetable always puzzled me. It's not from Jerusalem, and not an artichoke. But what is great about Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), or sunchokes as they are now commonly called, is they're tall sunflower-like plants that produce tasty edible tubers that look like knobby potatoes. The tall stalks and small yellow sunflower make a great edible background plant in the back of the garden or against a wall or fence. The tubers have a...

Listen as I talk about new varieties of kale to grow in your garden. Listen to Podcast: podcast transcript How to Grow: Kale I never used to be a big kale (Brassica oleracea) fan, but that has changed. I woke up to kale when I started seeing some interesting looking varieties and started eating it in fall after the cool weather set in. That’s the key with kale. Eat mature leaves in the summer, and it’s like chewing cardboard. Eat kale in spring or fall, and it has a crisp texture and sweet flavor. Now, it’s one of the my favorite “plant it...