How to Grow ‘Chet’s Italian Red’ Garlic

With its soft, green leaves and a gentle yet unmistakable scent, basil is a herb that simply begs to be used in the kitchen. Whether sprinkled on top of a fresh tomato salad or infused in a homemade pesto, basil leaves are a true delicacy for any food lover. Read on to learn all the Tips to Grow Bigger Basil Leaves.

The Brown Turkey fig, Ficus carica, produces large, sweet, juicy figs even in British conditions.

Garden designer Alison Jenkins in her Somerset smallholding

Last week I was making a grilled London broil and baked potatoes for dinner (Yum!). I was also planning to grill some seasoned zucchini as our vegetable with dinner. When it came time to prepare dinner, I decided I wanted something a little different from grilled zucchini. I looked at the ingredients that I had on hand and developed this recipe for Italian Zucchini and Tomato Gratin. It was fast and easy to prepare, and my family loved it. I can’t wait to make it again once I have some home-grown tomatoes and zucchini to use! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

I’ve never grown multiplier onions before, an oldtime favorite I pre-ordered in March from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, which offers them for fall arrival. I haven’t found much consistent information about growing the so-called potato onions, particularly in the North, except for Southern Exposure’s fact sheet, which says to save half the bulbs for springtime planting in case the winter’s too hard for them. Sounds a little ominous, but here I go.In my cold area, I’m meant to give them up to 5 inches of soil on top of their pointed ends (only 1 inch or 2 in warmer zones), then scrape some of it away come spring, as they prefer to be closer to the surface in the growing season. As with garlic, shallots and other alliums, the bulbs want fertile, well-drained soil and a sunny location to be happiest.I’d welcome any insights or war stories if you’ve grown multiplier onions, which are also sol

The listing for ‘Aunt Ada’s Italian’ in the catalog from Turtle Tree, a biodynamic seed company and just across “town” here from me, said that the variety came from Italy to Colorado around the turn of the 20th century, with a family called Botanelli. It’s likened to a “small, buttery snap lima” in flavor when steamed. I quickly steamed a bowlful for supper, and drizzled the beans with some olive oil and a dash of salt. Delicious (though admittedly a whole different texture than what you expect from a snap bean, whose seeds are rarely part of each mouthful)!My vines (supported on a bamboo tripod) are a couple of feet taller than the 6 feet predicted, and they started to bear in about 60 days. Pick them when they are not too big (maybe 3 inches long on average) and the seeds inside are starting to show. From the number of flowers on the plant yesterday despite the good haul of pods, I’d say there are plenty more to come.Want to use them for soup or another dry-bean recipe? Let the pods go all the way to withered and tan on the vine, and follow the dry-bean how-to here.This is the second new-to-me

I got both lessons from Don Tipping, a seed breeder and farmer who’s “been a samurai warrior for” some exceptional Allium varieties, along with a number of other crops with names like River Spirit Rainbow flour corn, and Alive Vates kale and ‘Mideast Peace’ cucumber. Don spearheads the Siskiyou Seeds effort from his home farm in southern Oregon (with help from the occasional sleepy assistant, above, working in the greenhouse).Read along as you listen to the Jan. 19, 2015 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. Come away with a new reverence for the contents of every seed packet, and as promised: Learn to grow onions from seed like an expert. No, bigger bulbs are not always better as a goal, it turns out, and planting on the traditional

Radicchio, with its long heritage in Northern Italy, isn’t the only crop with Italian roots that the Uprising team is crazy about, so today we’re going to meet leaf broccoli and cardoon, and some traditional Italian beans and beets, too, that would be just as at home in your vegetable garden.Brian Campbell, with his partner Crystine Goldberg, owns Uprising Seeds just north of Bellingham, Washington, which was the state’s first certified organic seed company and features an assortment of exceptional vege

One of the couple’s passions is unusual edibles, and now they’ve written a book about their favorites.“Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts” (affiliate link) profiles 50 easy-to-grow selections, and we talked recently about a few of those that are also native plants (including pawpaw, above, persimmon, Aralia, Aronia and more).Allyson and Sc

I did some virtual seed shopping with her to learn about some distinctive edibles and unusual seed sources you may not have tried.Lane, an agricultural researcher at Oregon State University, is founder of the Culinary Breeding Network, a collaborative community of plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, produce buyers, and chefs aiming together to improve quality in vegetables and grains by creatin

Even if you’re not an ideal plant grower, and you can plant these vining and climbing houseplants indoors in decorative vases and glasses in water without worrying about maintenance.

Echinaceas are real dazzlers in the late-summer border: sturdy daisies standing erect with flowers that resemble sets of spinning saucers. The colourful sun-ray petals surround bronzed, almost metallic cones. These prickly centres also give echinacea its name, for Ekhînos is Greek for hedgehog.