Vegetables, herbs, sowing, harvest, food-growing methods and home food preservation.
Quick answer: A greenhouse earns its keep growing what genuinely needs the extra heat and a longer season – tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, peppers, aubergines and melons. Heat-sensitive herbs like basil, coriander and lemongrass also do far better under cover than outdoors. Lettuce, spinach and radishes are ideal for the shoulder seasons, filling the space before…
Quick answer: Basil usually dies from overwatering and root rot, too little light, cold below about 50°F (10°C), or from being sold as a dozen crowded seedlings in one small pot. Check the soil and roots before doing anything else, move the plant somewhere brighter and warmer, and separate an overcrowded pot immediately. If the…
Quick answer: Sow parsley seed about 1/4 inch (6 mm) deep in rich, well-drained soil from early spring through midsummer. Germination takes 3–4 weeks and needs consistently moist soil the entire time. Keep the soil evenly damp, harvest the outer stems first, and feed container plants lightly. Parsley is biennial but almost always grown as…
Quick answer: Sow dill directly where it will grow, about 1/2 inch (1 cm) deep, in well-drained soil from mid-spring through midsummer. Dill dislikes transplanting because of its taproot, and it bolts easily under heat, drought or other stress. Sow in batches every 2–3 weeks for a steady leaf harvest, and pinch off flower buds…
Quick answer: Sow coriander directly where it will grow, about 1/2 inch (1–1.5 cm) deep, in well-drained soil from late spring through midsummer. It forms a taproot and dislikes transplanting, and it bolts fast under heat, drought or stress — often faster than dill or parsley. Sow in batches every 2–3 weeks, look for a…
Quick answer: Mint is easy to grow and hardy in USDA zones 3–9, but it spreads fast through underground runners and can overtake a bed within a season. Grow it in a pot, or sink a bottomless container into the ground with the rim 2–4 in (5–10 cm) above soil level. Give it sun to…
Quick answer: Rosemary is only reliably hardy in USDA zones 8–10, so in zones 3–7 it’s grown as a container plant. Give it full sun, gritty well-drained soil, and water sparingly — rosemary is far more likely to die from overwatering than from underwatering. Overwinter it somewhere bright and cool, around 40–50°F (5–10°C), and it…
Quick answer: Growing herbs starts with one question – is the herb annual, biennial or perennial? Mediterranean herbs like rosemary and thyme want lean soil with 25 percent grit and water only once the pot has dried out. Leafy herbs like basil, parsley and dill want fertile soil and steady moisture. The two groups can…
Quick answer: Grow lights for seedlings should deliver about 200 µmol/m²/s across the whole tray for 14–16 hours a day, which works out to roughly 30 W of modern LED per square metre (11 sq ft) and a daily light integral of 10–15 mol. Buy on photon efficacy in µmol/J – 2.5 or better –…
Quick answer: Leggy seedlings are almost always caused by too little light combined with too much warmth — the seedling stretches toward light it isn’t getting instead of growing thick and sturdy. Move seedlings somewhere cooler and brighter right away, hang a grow light 6–12 in (15–30 cm) above the tops for 14–16 hours a…