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After a long winter in the Northeast, spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a welcome site. It's one of the first greens to appear in spring and I've actually overwintered it from a fall planting to have it available as early as April in my Vermont garden. Not only is spinach a great green for salads, it's versatile too. You can steam it, toss it in stews and soups, and simply saute it with garlic and olive oil. Not only will with cool weather loving veggie satisfy your cravings for fresh greens in early spring, it's loaded with nutrients such as...

Learn about growing summer squash and the best organics controls for the squash vine borer insect. Listen to podcast: podcast transcript How to Grow: Summer Squash You've got to watch out when growing summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) and zucchini. When it's ready to harvest, you'll get so many fruits so fast you'll be begging neighbors to take it away. I've even heard of people dropping extra zucchinis through opened windows in unattended cars just to move the stuff. Yes, summer squash and zucchini has a reputation for being prolific. That's...

One of the most attractive plants in my garden has nothing to do with flowers, it's 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris cicla). 'Bright Lights' has multi-colored stems and leaf ribs in yellow, pink, red, orange and white, with dark green leaves. Because it's so attractive, I've started growing it among the flowers. Plus, it's an easy green to grow and versatile in the kitchen. The young leaves are good in salads. Older leaves can be sauteed in stir fries, or tossed in stews and soups. Unlike other spring greens, such as spinach,...

This tomato relative is an essential ingredient in Mexican cooking. It's also known as the husk tomato, because the 2- to 3-foot tall bushy plants produce 2-inch diameter green or purple-colored fruits with a papery husk around them. They're cool to look at, easy to grow, and the fruits have a sweet, tart, citrus-like flavor. Use tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) when making salsa, chili, kebabs, salads, and other Mexican dishes. Tomatillos are prolific and unless you're making tons of salsa and Mexican food, you'll probably only need a few...

I got turned on to turnips (Brassica rapa) rather late in life. I was visiting a farm in New Hampshire when the farmer pulled a 'Hakurei' white turnip from the ground and bit into it like an apple. The only turnips I had known up to that point were the mashed ones at Thanksgiving dinner. I tried it and was hooked. The texture was juicy and crunchy and the flavor sweet and mild. While Southerns have enjoyed turnips as part of their traditional cooking, we Northeners are just getting turned on, too. Turnips are an efficient crop. You can eat...

It's tough to pigeon-hole winter squash (Cucurbita maxima, C. pepo, and C. moschata). There are so many shapes, colors, and sizes, they can turn your garden into a cornucopia of fruits. They take all season to produce and most take up lots of space. But if you have the room, they're worth growing. I love going into my basement in December and pulling out a buttercup squash from storage to eat for dinner. The flesh is sweet and flavor satisfying on a cold winter day. Pumpkins are a type of winter squash, but they're so special I talk about...