Yard Long Beans This year while searching for a heat tolerant successor to plant after the potatoes were harvested, I discovered a gem. Yard long beans (aka: asparagus beans, Chinese long beans, snake beans) are a subspecies of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) making them siblings of the familiar southern staple blackeyed peas. The major difference being…
Planting Fall Vegetables *Giveaway Closed Fall is our favorite time of year to plant vegetables. Perhaps it’s because of our long, hot summers finally cooling, or because our family has a fondness for cool weather veggies like broccoli, greens, carrots and beets. Whatever the reason may be, we tend to have a more productive garden…
Okra is a traditional crop in the south for good reason: it is one of a handful of veggies that not only survives, but thrives in our long, hot summers. Plant seeds directly into the garden, or transplant seedlings when the daytime temperatures are consistently above 80 and nights above 60. Plant okra in the…
Cover Crops For excellent soil health in your vegetable garden, incorporating cover crops should be a high priority. One of the worst things you can do for the soil is to let it stand empty for long periods of time (like winter or the gap between spring and fall crops), because that is when…
Garden productivity starts and ends with the soil. Great soil produces the highest quality, best tasting crops. Poor soil is a key factor in crop failure, disease and insect infestations. The good news is that no one is “stuck where they are.” Soil building is a never ending job, and should be considered the primary job,…