Growing Guides

Green Leaf is a fast, frilly bright-green loose-leaf lettuce of the Grand Rapids or Black Seeded Simpson type, and it is about as easy as lettuce gets. It germinates quickly, grows fast, and is endlessly productive when picked leaf by...

Bibb is the gourmet butterhead prized by cooks, forming a small, loose head of soft, sweet, buttery leaves. It grows quickly, stays compact enough for containers and tight spaces, and rewards you with delicate leaves perfect for elegant salads and...

Imperator 58 is the long, slender carrot you know from the supermarket, a bright-orange root that tapers to a point and reaches 8 to 10 inches. It matures in about 70 to 75 days and needs deep, loose soil to...

Collards are one of the most forgiving and generous greens you can grow, and a single planting can hand you tender leaves for months. This guide covers how to grow collards from seed, from direct sowing and thinning to the...

Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) are a patient gardener's reward, a long-season root whose sweet, nutty flavor only deepens after a hard frost. You direct-sow them in spring using fresh seed, keep the bed constantly moist through their slow two to three...

The Sweet Red Cherry pepper is a small, round, cherry-shaped pepper that ripens to a glossy bright red. Do not confuse it with the hot cherry pepper: this sweet type carries zero heat, so it is all crisp, juicy sweetness....

Garden peas (Pisum sativum) are one of the first crops you can sow each year, and there is nothing like eating them sweet and raw straight from the pod. They are a cool-season legume that you direct-sow in early spring,...

Turnips (Brassica rapa) are one of the fastest, most forgiving crops you can grow, giving you both a crisp root and a pot of peppery greens from a single sowing. They are a cool-season vegetable that you direct-sow in spring...

Leeks are grown much like onions but instead of a bulb they build a long, tender white shank with a sweet, mild flavor far gentler than an onion. They need a long season and a simple hilling trick to blanch...