Vegetable

Learn about potatoes, including how to plant and grow them. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript I still remember helping pick potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) on my grandfather's farm. It was hard work, but the rewards were tasty spuds all winter long. Since potatoes are also readily available in stores and relatively inexpensive, you may wonder, why grow your own. Well, like all vegetables, fresh potatoes dug from your own soil taste better and you can grow a wider variety of potatoes than you'll find in a grocery store. Some of these...

Learn about growing pumpkins including some unusual varieties. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript   Nothing says fall in the Northeast garden like orange pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo). I used to grow pumpkins for my daughter and I would carve her name in the skin pretending it was garden gnomes at work. As the pumpkins grew, so did her name. She was amazed. Pumpkins are not just orange any longer. There are white, red, and even blue-skinned varieties available. Some fruits look like Cinderella's carriage, while others are as small as a...

Learn about preserving vegetables and fruits, including canning and freezing. Listen to podcast: I'm greedy when it comes to vegetable gardening. Not only do I like eating fresh produce from the garden from spring until fall, I want it in winter, too. Although you can grow some vegetables all winter in Vermont with a little help from a greenhouse, an easier way is to preserve veggies for winter meals. Freezing, canning, drying, or storing are great ways to extend the tastes of summer. Here's a few of my tips. There's nothing better than...

If you're an impatient gardener, like me in the spring, you must grow radishes (Raphanus sativus). This root crop goes from seed to harvest in as little as 25 days. I'm always amazed at how fast they germinate and grow during our cool spring weather. They add crunch, color, and zip to any salad. As long as they're grown while the weather is cool, the flavor is pleasant and mild. However, with any kind of stress such as lack of water or hot temperatures, the flavors turns sharp and hot. I personally love a spicy radish, but others in my...

Learn about rhubarb, including varieties and how to plant and grow it. Listen to Podcast: podcast transcript How to Grow: Rhubarb When I was a kid, I remember picking stems from my grandfather's rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) plant, coating them with sugar and munching away. The juicy sourness was balanced by the sweet sugar. You don't need a ton of sugar to make rhubarb edible. Rhubarb makes a great sauce by itself with a sweetener (I now use honey), or combined with strawberries that are ripening about the same time rhubarb is ready to...