How to Grow Sweet Salad Turnips (with Recipes)

If you’ve never eaten a salad turnip, and you probably haven’t, it’s unlikely you think they sound very exciting. Back when the Organic Growers School was Saturday only, they did an experimental Sunday session in Burnsville, NC. Among skills like how to build hoop houses and grow through the winter, I mostly remember taste-testing the ‘Hakurei’ turnips that Patryk Battle…

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How to Grow and Use Achocha/Caigua (a Problem-Free Cucumber Substitute), with Recipes

Organic gardening often produces healthier, more easily grown vegetables and fruits than the same crops grown with “conventional” methods. There are, however, a few crops that have a pouty reputation for organic growers. The cucurbit family claims most of these weak-kneed plants. I count on summer squash and cucumbers to be riddled with squash vine borer, cucumber worms, and fungal…

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How to Grow and Use Amaranth Greens (w/Recipes & Sources)

You can have leafy summer salads in the hot southeast! Though “heat resistant” lettuce only gets you so far into the season before bitterness and bolting set in, you don’t have to go without greens until fall. Amaranth greens are by far my favorite lettuce substitute. The first time I tasted it I was trying too hard to compare it…

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How to Grow and Use Papalo (w/Recipes & Sources)

Once I got frustrated with cilantro’s reluctance to grow at the same time that I have piles of fresh tomatoes to turn into salsa, I started researching heat-loving substitutes for it. Papalo is a frequent recommendation and it certainly survives our hot summers. Papalo (Porophyllum ruderale) is also called papaloquelite, poreleaf, mampuito, summer cilantro, and Bolivian coriander. It doesn’t taste…

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How to Grow Peas as Quick Harvest Greens (and Use Up Old Seed Packets)

I am a seed hoarder. I still have packets from 2000 in my seed box because they might germinate whenever I get around to planting them. I don’t like to take risks with my vegetables though, so I make sure to have a fresh seed supply. Peas are not great seeds to save, the older they get the less vigor…

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How to Make Morel Pizza (With Photos of Last Saturday’s Harvest)

Okay, it’s just going to have to be morel month on this blog. I do have new seedlings coming up and spring greens in the garden but I seem to be tunnel visioned with the morels… two-hundred found on Saturday (April 3rd, 2010)! Which apparently is very early… at the SCUMS meeting last night we found out that other area…

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How to Find Edible Morel Mushrooms (With Recipes)

I promised! Here’s the morel hunting post. If you don’t want to hunt for your morels you can still use the recipes by buying fresh morels here, buying dried morels here, or by checking the dried mushroom section at your local grocery store. If you’re really lucky you might find them at your farmer’s market. If you just want to…

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How to (Easily) Grow Celery at Home (w/Recipes)

It’s not just tasty and easy — it’s pretty! For those of you who like to dress up your flower beds with some well-placed ornamental edibles (or who want show-stopping potagers) this is an oft-overlooked plant you can’t be without. For those of you who like to eat — it’s celery! Of course you should grow it. I don’t know…

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How to Make Homegrown Sun-dried Tomato, Feta, & Caramelized Onion Tart w/Arugula

My friends and I pull out all the stops for our annual pie party competition and this year I liked my tomato tart entry enough that I’ve made it several times since November. It is becoming a quick potluck favorite.  I make it either as a large tart or as mini tartlets. It’s delicious! The recipe calls for soaking the…

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How to Grow Yardlong Beans

Who needs fertilizer? Heat and humidity seem to be the recipe for lush, productive yard long bean vines. They’re tasty, too — this is one oddball veggie you won’t just try once for novelty’s sake. The elongated pods really can reach a yard in length, though they are best at around 18″ or less, when they are still thinner than…

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