By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Summer is here and fall will be knocking on the screen door before we know it.

Planting fall crops has always been a favorite of mine since many of the fall crops can also be planted in early spring.

So these cold crops or cool season vegetables sort of sandwich the summer crops between them like a great sandwich.

But depending on what planting zone you live in will depend on what you can plant. So explore the cold crops or cool season vegetables that grow in your area.

Below are some of my favorites cold crops or cool season vegetables and tricks on growing them.

Peas

Sugar Snap or hulling peas are great in early spring and fall. Just remember these plants will need a trellis to grow upon. Also make sure you mark which is which because nothing ruins a stir-fry like using hulling peas instead of edible pea pods.

Brussel Sprouts

These little cabbages are a Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

I am always looking for bargains in all aspects of my life and one that I seem to have specialized in is planting plants that serve 2 purposes.

Flowering kale, ornamental cabbage and pansies fit this bill.

Early spring always makes my gardening elbow itch with excitement and anticipation of a new year of gardening. To treat my ailment I go to my favorite seed store and drool over my choices.

What to get, what to get I keep asking myself but my frugal lifestyle always leads me to plants with a double life that is flowering kale, ornamental cabbage, and pansies.

Flowering Kale and Ornamental Cabbage

These plants provide rosy and /or white ornamental foliage to a drab early spring and a splash of color in the fall. They go from seed to mature plant in about 11-14 weeks. Cool weather either spring or fall is needed fro the brightest color and planted in mass or as an edging enhances this color. But visual stimulation is not the only use for these plants they also address the palate.

Greens, Grits, and Country Ham with Red-eyed Gravy

Ingredients for greens dish Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

As I proudly proclaimed to everyone, I’m a garden geek.

There are so many cool facts you can learn about the plant world that are quite surprising.

I think it makes gardening itself much more fun.

One of my favorite facts:

What do broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale and kohlrabi have in common?

They are all the same species.

How can that be possible, you ask? All of these plants are too similar, as far as genetics go, to be sorted out into their own species.

Botanists sort out all the different plants according to how closely they are related. It starts with the Kingdom (which includes all plants) and gets more specific, down to the individual plant level of the Species. The levels of classification for these vegetables are all:

• Kingdom (Plantae)
• Phylum (Magnoliophyta)
• Class (Magnoliopsida) Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

The summer garden season is in full swing.

The plants are huge and lush, and you collect produce daily.

You wish the summer wouldn’t come to an end so your garden could keep thriving.

Never fear! It’s actually time to start planting seeds for your fall vegetable garden.

That’s right – you can still grow some vegetables even into the autumn months. The key is to choose the right ones.

Vegetables are divided into two different categories – cool season and warm season. Warm season vegetables are ones that grow best during Read the rest of this entry »