Gardenig in city Jerusalem. Tips & Guides

The sunflower is one of the nation’s best-loved flowers. Although most sunflower varieties have yellow flowers, you can grow varieties with rusty red, green and even white flowers.

Fionuala Campion says in her article, Dazzling Deer-Resistant Perennials, “Though very graceful and delightful to behold in their native habitat, deer are a voracious force to reckon with in many Northern California gardens, particularly in summer and fall.” But these majestic creatures are not just an issue for gardeners on the west coast. There are populations of deer in all 50 states, and all are munching on the many different plants we’re growing across the country.

The arrival of some ulluco (Ulluco tuberosus) tubers from Incredible Vegetables left me pondering how best to store them until it’s time to plant them out (after the risk of frost has passed, in spring). Given that I also have mashua and oca tubers kicking around the kitchen, and that everyone will soon be receiving seed potatoes (if they haven’t already), then I thought it might be nice to have a general round-up of how to store tubers for planting. A lot of the advice will be relevant to all kinds of tubers, but each species is likely to have its own quirks. If you have advice, details for new species, or queries, then leave them in the comments – I can update this post later.

Some gardeners breathe a sigh of relief when the first frosts of winter arrive – the hard work of the season is over and they can tidy the garden up and leave it dormant until spring. There’s plenty to do inside, studying the seed catalogues and planning, in the dry and the warm. If, like me, your green fingers get itchy and want to keep on gardening then your vegetable plot may already be filled with wintry crops – Brussels sprouts for Christmas, winter cabbage and kale, leeks and over-wintering onions. They’ve all been in the ground for a while now, though, and you may be casting around for something else to plant. Planted the garlic? Sown the broad beans? Then it’s time to think about Jerusalem artichokes.

The political weather has been stormy of late, and as the sun has come out to play at last, the garden seems the safest place to be. There’s a lot to be done to get it ready for the growing season, so time spent outside is never wasted. A lot of what I’m doing at the moment could best be termed ungardening, clearing out the contents from last year’s containers, and reusing the potting compost in the bottom of new pots, or as a soil improving mulch.

Fresh from the excesses of Christmas, and with the urge to turn over a new leaf, now might be a good time to tackle getting the garden ready for the season ahead! If you need to make structural changes, such as building or moving beds, or adding/improving paths, then bright days are useful. But, of course, January tends to be cold and wet, and the short days mean gardening is usually confined to the weekends.

There’s something nice about the idea that there’s not much to do in the garden in November. That the gardener can potter around doing little bits and pieces, and justifiably spend the wet ones indoors. It’s like a holiday from the garden, after a long season of hard work.

A private 10-day mission to the International Space Station is due to launch in March 2022. SpaceX Axiom Space-1 (AX-1) will carry four private astronauts, including Eytan Stibbe, who will become the second Israeli in space. (The first Israeli in space, Ilan Ramon, sadly died in the Columbia disaster).

Zack Snipes reports, “It’s hot and humid in the Lowcountry. Fall tomato and watermelons are in the ground and enjoyed a week of mostly dry weather. Okra and sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes, are loving this heat. Except for those crops, there aren’t too many crops in the ground right now.  I am seeing lots of summer cover crops. I love the idea of using a mixed species of cover crop. One reason is that it spreads out the risk that one of the species in the mix won’t germinate or be eaten by deer. So by using multiple species, you can almost guarantee that something will be there covering the soil. Multi-species mixes also provide different benefits to the farm. Cowpeas may fix nitrogen while sorghum X Sudan hybrids may be a deer deterrent and shade out weeds.”

Growing up, my father loved growing vegetables. He was proud of his produce, always sharing the harvest with friends and neighbors. He would even encourage compliments at the dinner table by saying, “those green beans are really good, aren’t they?” Of course, we quickly responded to the affirmative, lest the question would be posed again. But I must say, the beans were always good, along with the squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and many other vegetables that came out of his garden.

Lens culinaria is said to be the oldest pulse in cultivation, and originated in the Middle East. I have never grown it, but a few catalogs, including Sand Hill Preservation, offer seed of various kinds. It is a cool-season crop, like peas.I smiled to see that the acclaimed restaurateur and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi (author of “Plenty” and “Jerusalem”) was in a similarly lentil-mad state this first month of the New Year, according to his latest column in “The Guardian” newspaper.  He calls them “the ultimate comfort food,” and shares two recipes – the hummus-like Crushed Puy Lentils with Tahini and Cumin, and also Lentils with Mushrooms and Preserved Lemon Ragout. (Get out your metric

The pre-Columbian Indians of the Andes domesticated more starchy root crops than any other culture, but only the potato caught on as a staple worldwide.“The others have seldom been tried outside South America, yet they are still found in the Andes and represent some of the most interesting of all root crops.…” said a 1989 report called “Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation” from the National Research Council.“They come in myriad colors, shapes, and sizes,” the report added. “T

‘WHAT GOES WITH WHAT?’ gardeners often ask, hungry for perfect perennial pairings, or the fodder of harmonious annual containers. Cooks putting together a menu are really asking what goes with what, too. In her latest reference-and-cookbook “Vegetable Literacy,” Deborah Madison asks—and answers—the question at multiple levels, including the intriguing taxonomic one, as in: Who’s a botanical cousin to whom (and how can that inform our cooking)? Get Madison’s recipe for one of my favorite pastas—with cauliflower and red pepper flakes—and maybe win one of two extra copies of this thoughtful work, just out this week, that I bought to share. Each chapter of this newest book by Madison, author of “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone,” is named for one of a dozen plant families—the carrot family, for sample, or Umbelliferae, with ingredients from cilantro to cumin, celery to fennel, parsley and parsnips and more.  We gardeners probably know the Brassicaceae (the cabbage family) and the Solanaceae (tomatoes and such) and of course the legumes or Fabaceae (peas and beans). But we don’t really talk about what cousins of sunflowers we eat (the family Asteraceae or Compositae), for instance.  (Jerusalem artichokes, lettuce, artichokes, tarragon, and chicories are examples.)

I CRAVE A SALAD—but one with something more substantial, not just greens. I’d also love an escape (too many garden chores screaming for attention—get me out of here!), but then I remember: I hate to travel.  Thankfully, I have found comforting solutions on both scores in a book I bought last fall, “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini, an intimate journey through a cultural fusion of traditions and tastes. I’m making fattoush for lunch–the recipe is on the jump–and offering you two “tickets” to “Jerusalem,” too, in the latest cookbook giveaway.

Dahlias aren’t for the shrinking violets of the world. They’re brash, bold, and loud.And of the many dahlia types, dinnerplates are p

If you ever grew potatoes, then you must have seen the infestation of small, extraterrestrial insects crawling on the surface of leaves and near the roots. They can be quite a mess for your potato plants. They are known as potato bugs, and if you have questions hovering in your mind, like What do Potato Bugs Eat and How to Get Rid of Potato Bugs, then you are at the right place!

If you love to eat artichokes, why not grow your own fresh supply? You can grow this highly ornamental plant in your garden or yard, where its silvery foliage can do double duty as a striking landscape feature.Even those of us with shorter growing seasons can grow these M

I like to use the analogy of cooks vs. bakers when providing advice on annual artichoke culture. The fact is that artichoke culture isn’t exactly easy, at least in the north where few, if any of us have been able to grow artichokes as they can in California, but things have changed given new methods and new varieties. It’s going to take some time to catch on, but expect your local farmer’s markets and farm stands to start featuring artichokes as more and more local growers are discovering the potential given new methods.

There are a couple of common misconceptions you should quickly forget when first adding this sunny and brilliant plant to your yard.A quick rundown: it’s not from Jerusalem, and it’s most definitely not a

Lungwort is a flowering perennial suited to cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 8.We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. I