How To Grow

This feathery annual is also known as Love-in-a-Mist, Fennel flower, Wild fennel, and Devil-in-a-Bush.Nigella performs best in cooler growing areas, in ordinary, well-drained pH neutral soil. Fertilize and deadhead regularly, and water in long dry spells. It is easy to plant and grow Nigella seeds. Nigella may self sow, depending on conditions. Latin Nigella damascena Family: Ranunculaceae Difficulty Easy Season & Zone Exposure: Full sun Zone: 2-10 Timing Try sowing indoors, in peat or coir pots, 6-8 weeks before planting out after last frost. Better luck may come from direct sowing outdoors 1-2 weeks before last frost (mid-March on the...

An essential addition to the perennial vegetable bed, rhubarb will produce year after year, and it’s easy to grow from seed. Just be patient for the first year and a half after sowing, as plants need to become established prior to harvest.  Follow along with this handy How to Grow Rhubarb from seeds Guide and grow some pies. Latin Rheum rhabarbarum Family: Polygonaceae Difficulty Easy Season & Zone Season: Cool season Exposure: Full sun Zone: Hardy in zones 2 – 9 Timing Sow indoors in April and transplant or direct sow in mid-May where plants are to grow permanently. Optimal soil temperature: 16-25°C (60-75°F)....

No organic kitchen garden is complete without parsley. Both curly and flat-leaf parsley are loaded with flavour and productive over a long period in your organic herb garden. Parsley is cold hardy and can even be harvested for much of the winter. Grow parsley in a deeply dug bed. Add a generous amount of rotted manure or finished compost to the bed several weeks in advance, or the previous fall. For summer crops, aim to grow plants in a place where they will receive some shade during the day.  Follow along with this handy How to Grow Parsley Guide and grow kitchen flavour....

Also known as Finocchio. The wonderful fresh flavour of this easy-to-grow vegetable is prized in European cooking. The swollen leaf bases have a distinctive anise flavour which enlivens salads and sandwiches. Cooked, the flavour stands out in casseroles or simply braised as a unique side dish. The seeds and fronds are also a culinary delight, and beneficial insects love the flower heads. Fennel, as well as anise, star anise, and some other plants, contains the compound anethole, which is widely used as a licorice flavouring. Anethole is thought to be 13 times sweeter than sugar. Follow along with this handy How...

Easy to grow, versatile in the kitchen, and packed with vitamins and minerals, these plants produce edible leaves and stalks and many can be grown year round. It’s worth getting to know these varieties better! Follow along with this handy how to grow mustards guide and grow food. Latin Brassica juncea & Brassica rapa Family: Brassicaceae Difficulty Easy We Recommend: Tokyo Bekana (MU554) is a relatively unknown, but sensational mustard green. It’s mild like spinach or lettuce, so it makes a perfect salad base, and the leaves stay tender even at larger sizes. We recommend this variety with enthusiasm. For Urban Gardeners:...