The zucchini is treated as a vegetable in the culinary context, meaning it is usually prepared as a savory dish or accompaniment. In a botanical sense, the zucchini is really an immature fruit - the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower.

If you’re new to growing zucchini at home, don’t worry. They’re pretty easy to grow, occupy little space, and are very productive throughout the growing season. 

Climate & Growing Conditions

Zucchini is a warm weather crop and is very sensitive to both frost and cold. It can and will grow nearly anywhere, but be advised that the growing period will be shorter in colder areas. Being a warm weather crop the zucchini will grow best if you sow it where it will receive full sun. However, it will tolerate partially shaded areas as well.

Preparing the Garden Soil

As with any crop, you may want to know your current benchmark for minerals and nutrients in your soil. Grab a test kit at your local hardware store, or bring a soil sample to your county extension office. You want the pH near 6.0, with a good-draining soil mixture. 

Unlike leafy greens, zucchini prefers to grow on a mound of soil. Build 2 ft diameter hills of soil, after you have added any amendments or fertilizer. Create a large indention at the top, which will catch some water.

Planting Your Zucchini Seeds

Into each of the mounds you’ve created, plant 3-4 seeds about 6 inches apart and water generously once a week. You need to space properly because when the vines begin to grow they will need room to really stretch out and run. Once growth has begun, thin them down to 2-3 plants per mound. Do not thin by pulling the plant up by its roots as it will disturb nearby plants. Simply use a pair of scissors to cut the unwanted plants at their base.

If you live in a frost zone, start your seeds indoors in a room that stays above 60 degrees F. Place the seeds 4” apart, moving the growing container to a full sun location. Within 10 days you’ll see the first signs of seedlings sprouting. Transplant these when they reach 3 inches tall. If you’re starting your zucchini gardening with seedlings, give them at least 12” space between the plants and the rows for adequate growth.

If you reside in a cooler climate, placing black plastic bags over the garden area before sowing your seeds or transplanting seedlings can help warm the soil. After a few days of sun, the black bags will absorb the sunlight and transfer the heat to the soil, as well as trapping that warm air right near the ground. Look for a soil temperature of about 70° degrees. Once the soil foundation has warmed up, add some dark-colored mulch. This helps maintain and insulate the warmth much in the same way your black bags do.

The Harvest

Zucchini plants, on average, mature in about 7 weeks. When you see the plants blooming keep a watchful eye on them. The small zucchini are the most tender and tastiest. Additionally, picking the young vegetables inspires more production so you have a season-long supply. After the first harvest, wait for the long squash to reach about 6 inches long and round squash to reach 4 inches in diameter. Larger squashes are best utilized for bread or can be used as a decorative serving container.

Just what is a leek? It’s technically a relative of the onion, but it isn’t a bulb. In fact, it’s quite different than most of its root vegetable relatives. Rather than eating the root or bulb portion of the plant, with leeks we eat the stem of the plant, more in the manner of a green onion. The stem grows up to 10 inches in length, with about a 2 inch diameter. At the end of the thick stem, flat and tubular leaves, much like a huge green onion, radiate outwards. 

Different types of leeks exist to grow in almost all seasons, with vastly different times to maturity, but of course the most common is the summer variety. Thankfully you can also find winter leeks, which are planted at the end of summer and harvested in spring. 

How To Grow Leeks

Growing leeks is not any more complex than growing any other garden vegetable. Leeks are very easy to start from seed and should be started about 8 weeks before planting outside. Prior to planting your leek seeds in your garden, you should harden them off by placing them inside a cold frame or moving them from inside to a well-protected outside spot.

Because leeks require 2.5-4 months to grow, they’re normally planted as seedlings in the above method, letting you get a headstart on the warm weather by growing indoors. But it’s also feasible to plant the seeds directly into your garden. 

Leek Soil Preparation

One of the main things to remember about leeks is that they are a cool season crop. Although they are tolerant of hot summers, you may sacrifice some quality and may not get the same result as you would in a cool summer climate.

To prepare your soil you will need to fertilize it with a lot of compost, with ½ to ¼ cup of complete organic fertilizer worked into each 6” furrow. Leeks are light to medium feeders, and you should side-dress them in late May or June using a high nitrogen fertilizer e.g. cottonseed meal or nitrate of soda.

Planting Instructions For Your Leek Seeds

Once your soil is properly prepared you will be ready to plant your seeds. Hold off until early to mid-spring to begin sowing leek seed, depending on the type of weather in your area. The seeds can be sown in a seed bed for transplanting in summer, or they can be sown in their permanent positions. If you sow in a seed bed, you will have the extra job of transplanting. Just remember this method is balanced by the fact that when sown in their permanent position the seeds will take up a lot of space before they produce results.

Put the seeds just under the soil surface, just a quarter inch deep, and place some loose soil on top of each seed. You’ll see sprouts in 2 or 3 weeks, and after another 4-6 weeks they’ll be thin stems, and you can start thinning them out. Start with 2 inches, and later thin to 4 inches.

Harvesting Your Leek

Once the bottom of the leek is about 1.5 to 2 inches across, you can think about harvesting your crop. You’ll remove the entire plant, so loosen up the dirt near the base with a garden fork by digging the fork into the ground vertically, then pulling back to push the soil up around the plant. Do this around the plant until you can pull it up by its leaves.

Leeks have large root systems, so digging is often the preferred method when it’s time to harvest. Their varieties can vary in their maturity times. Leek plants can be harvested in as early as 60 days after planting, but generally require 100-110 days to really mature.

Because it can be used in a number of ways at the dinner table, knowing how to grow celery in your garden at home can be a useful and tasty skill. Celery is used in many soups and stews, chicken or tuna salads,and fresh vegetable salads, and it makes a great snacking food for youngsters and adults, particularly with cream cheese or peanut butter and raisins. Celery has a super crispy and succulent texture, with a hint of its own salty flavor.

Celery is a unique vegetable, as we actually can use the majority parts of the plant. The stalks can of course be eaten raw, while the leaves and roots are used for celery powder or celery spice. It's a biennial plant, meaning it naturally dies two years from planting it. Don't worry, though, as you can have celery for your kitchen in a matter of months.

Types of Celery

The variety of celery that was first grown in the US, and still remains the most well-known, is Pascal celery, generally known as just "green celery", from Kalamazoo, Michigan. But you can find other varieties to try in your garden.

Utah celery is a thicker version, and Golden Heart is an heirloom variety. There is also the French Dinant, which has an earthy flavor and aromatic stalks, which is why it's used in soups and has also gained the name "soup celery". There are also some varieties with red or yellow stalks, such as "trench celery" and "rosso di torino" ("rosso" means "red" in Italian), and Gilded Celery, which has a yellowish color.

Growing Celery

Beginning with the soil, it should have a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. It's also very important to have high levels of calcium to fend off "black heart", which we'll look at later. So prior to growing, treat it with a 16-16-8 fertilizer, half a pound per 25 square feet, as well as a sprinkling of bone meal or another source of calcium. Celery roots are very shallow, so you need to make sure that the upper soil levels have plenty of nutrients.

While celery prefers to be cool, it can't handle frosts (due to its very high water content), and it dislikes very high temperatures. So it's best to start celery seeds indoors at the end of winter, which you can then transplant once the soil warms up and you get past the last frost. After planting the seeds, wait 2-4 weeks, until they grow about 4 leaves. Then plant them in the soil so that only the leaves showing above ground, and put them at one plant every foot.

To care for your celery, think about adding a layer of dark mulch to the surface near the plants. The dark mulch absorbs the sun's energy, heating up the soil, while at the same time offering another layer of insulation to keep the soil warm longer and preserve moisture. This is crucial, as celery is very sensitive to frost damage, as it has a high water content. Make sure you are well past any frosts before planting.

Give your celery about 1-2 inches of water per week. Since celery is very sensitive to the water it receives, you need to stay on top of this. If it doesn't receive enough water, the consistency will be very stringy, with a strong flavor. Apply another round of fertilizer about 6-8 weeks after putting the seedlings in the ground, as well as additional bonemeal or calcium supplement. 

Your celery will be ready to harvest in 2-4 months, depending on the variety you planted. The base should be around 3 inches in diameter. To harvest, simply chop off the stalks right at ground level. Use the outer stalks for cooking, and the more tender, inner stalks for eating raw. Celery can keep in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Celery Problems

The principal celery pests are aphids. You'll notice curled leaves, indicating aphids have been around. To remedy this, apply a solution of soapy water and alcohol.

If you see white spots on your celery's leaves, this is a sign of mildew. Physically remove or clip the affected areas and keep an eye out for a resurgence. You can try not to get water on the leaves or stalk of the plant, or try to improve the air circulation so that the mildew doesn't get an opportunity to grow.

Lastly, black heart develops when the soil is deficient in calcium, as mentioned above. Prevention is the best medicine here, which is why applying bone meal to the soil is a good precaution. Black heart starts at the leaves, leaving them black and wilted, and may spread quickly through to the heart, which will kill the whole plant.

If you're growing spinach in your garden, you already know it's a really flexible vegetable with many uses in the kitchen. And on top of that, it's one of the heaIthiest vegetables to eat! Spinach grows best in cooler weather, so plant some to keep gardening and eating fresh produce into the cooler months. One of the nice things about growing spinach is that it doesn't require much time to reach harvest. In fact, you can eat the leaves at any time, so it's ready to be harvested whenever you want a spinach dish.

Spinach Nutrition

Although best well-known for its iron content, spinach has many other good vitamins and minerals. It's got a lot of Vitamins A, C, and K, plus folate (Vitamin B), so it's one of the healthiest vegetables to eat.

Growing Spinach

As usual, the first thing to prepare is the soil. Spinach doesn't like acidity, so make sure your soil has a pH of about 6.5. Remember that 7.0 is neutral, less than 7 is acidic, and above 7 is basic. Besides acidity, make sure that your soil has a high amount of nitrogen. Spinach likes a loamy soil, so make sure you have a good blend that's not predominantly clay or predominantly sand. In addition, to make the best loam, make sure you have loaded it with lots of compost prior to planting. Once your soil is prepared, ensure the temperature is right. Spinach can grow at much cooler temperatures than many other vegetables, so 50 degrees F is when you can get started.

Next, take a look at your seeds to verify that they're not too old. Although they can stay viable for a couple years, for highest germination probability, don't use seeds that are more than one year old. Seeds from a plant permitted to bolt from last season's plants are preferred. To plant the seeds in the soil, put them about 1/2 inch deep, spaced at 5 inches, and about a foot between rows. Spinach seedlings have very delicate roots, so you want to keep handling and transplanting to an absolute minimum. Having adequate space for each seedling ensures you won't have to do any thinning or handling of the young plants. Spinach requires more than 3/4 inch of rain per week. So be ready to water if you don't receive enough rainfall.

Issues

There are 2 common issues to understand when growing spinach. The first issue concerns molds and fungi. Spinach prefers cool and damp environments, but so does fungus and mold. Take the proper precautions to make sure that water doesn't stay longer than needed. This includes ensuring that the area is well ventilated (the spacing should help with this) and well drained. You can also do your manual watering in the late morning, to encourage evaporation. Secondly, if your spinach grows slowly and shows signs of yellowing leaves, you may be using a soil that's too acidic, as mentioned above. Prevention is the best solution here, so you may want to get your soil analyzed before growing.

Harvesting

Once your spinach has grown enough, you can start harvesting. Just cut the outer leaves off with a knife, a few inches from the ground. Leave the inner leaves to continue growing. Spinach is great in this regard, as you can just pull as much as you need at a time, and let it continue growing for later.

Parsnips have a subtle flavor, slightly sweet, and a smooth and firm texture. It's actually a root vegetable, so think of a carrot or potato. Parsnips are also connected to fennel and parsley. Since parsnips are very starchy in nature, they are great in hearty soups and stews, which are coincidentally useful during the cold winter months.

Nutritionally, parsnips are low in calories, like most vegetables. They shine in their fiber, folate (natural B9), Vitamin C, and many minerals like Manganese and Potassium. It's really not surprising that a vegetable is good for you.

Parsnips can be tracked back to the Mediterranean, and were first used medicinally to help with indigestion. In Roman records, carrots and parsnips were substituted for each other, or were so similar that it was challenging to tell them apart. Today it is much easier, as we have had hundreds of years of selective breeding to grow carrots and parsnips away from each other. Due to the high carbohydrate content of parsnips, they were used as a sweetener during the middle ages, to be ultimately replaced by sugar beets, and sugar once the new world was explored.

It's pretty easy to learn how to grow parsnips. Of course, have a reasonably nutrient-rich soil to begin with. Put the seeds into the ground 1/2 to 1 inch deep. You may want to sow a few seeds per hole to increase your chances of germination, as parsnip seeds can be tricky to get started. Space each grouping at 6 inches from one another. Once you see seedlings, you should transplant any seedlings growing on top of each other, or just remove all but the strongest-looking seedling per group. Space transplanted seedlings again at 6 inches separation.

Parsnips will need water at least once per week. They'll have to be refertilized at 1.5 months and 2.5 months. You should also keep your weeds in check, to discourage insects and caterpillars that may enjoy a parsnip snack. Think about mulching heavily with a dark mulch to provide a nice insulating layer to keep that soil warm, and to help with the weeds.

At 3.5-4 months, you'll be able to harvest your parsnips. When you see that they are roughly 2 or 3 inches in diameter at the base, then they're ready. Ideally you'll harvest immediately after a frost that gives the parsnips extra sweet flavor. To pull them out of the ground, spend some energy to loosen the soil so you can pull the parsnip out by its top and avoid damaging the root.

They do great in colder environments, so don't expect to see them in very tropical areas. This makes them great for keeping your garden going throughout winter, or at least in spring and fall, in many parts of the United States. What's more, parsnips actually taste best if you harvest them right after a light frost. The coldness seems to draw out the best flavor. If you live in a warmer climate, then growing parsnips in winter can vary or balance the nutrients in your soil for the coming summer season.