Vegetable

Learn how to grow carrots including information on good varieties to try. Listen to Podcast: podcast transcript When I first traveled to northern India 20 years ago, I was amazed to see red, yellow, white, and purple colored carrots (Daucus carota), but no orange carrots. In fact, those are the native colors of carrots and it was the Dutch in the 1700s that popularized the color orange (after their national flag) as the modern color of carrots. We've been eating orange carrots ever since, but now those old colors have returned. Carrots may...

Learn how to grow cauliflower including information on varieties. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript I love the taste of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea), but now I love the look of it, too. I grew a purple-headed variety, 'Graffiti' a few years ago and the neon colors in the garden blew me away. There are now green and orange colored varieties as well. What used to be a boring, white, cool season vegetable, has gotten a fashion overhaul. The colors also mean a nuttier flavor and higher nutrition. Serve cauliflower raw in salads. I like...

I love the taste of celery, but not the fussing required to grow it. That's why I was excited to discover celeriac (Apium graveolens) a number of year ago. Celeriac, or celery root, is grown not for the leaves, but the brown, round, knobby root. Inside the root is a moist, white flesh that tastes just like celery. Celeriac is great roasted with other root vegetables, mashed, sauteed, added to soups, or shredded raw in salads. Celeriac is much more tolerant of the vagaries of the weather than celery and much easier to grow for the novice....

If you're up for a challenge, try growing celery (Apium graveolens dulce). It's worth the effort. Home grown celery has a stronger, full flavor and each crunch is loaded with juiciness. Although not the easiest of vegetable to grow at home, you just need a long (up to four months) growing season, cool temperatures, and moist soil. That sounds like a lot of places in the Northeast to me. Beside eating celery raw in salads and for dips, it's great in soups, stews, and sauces. Since it's mostly water and fiber, it's low in calories, too. When...

When I talk about growing collards (Brassica oleracea) in Vermont, people think I'm a transplanted southerner. While collards are known as a southern green, there's no reason you can't grow them in the North, too. You might win over some southern friends if you invite them over for diner and serve collards greens and bacon. Think of the collard as a headless cabbage. You grow them the same way, but instead of waiting for a head to form, you eat the large, flat, green leaves. Unlike other greens, though, this one needs to be cooked to taste...