Vegetable Gardening for Smarties (not Dummies)

Yes, yes, I know: “for dummies” is just a convenient code that means “for non-experts, in non-technical language,” but if I live to be a million I’ll never understand what’s dumb about wanting that.

In Kitchen and Garden has always been In Garden for Kitchen as much as anything else, so there’s a lot about growing vegetables tucked in among the posts about flowers and shrubs, preserves and pastries and architecture and wild mushrooms and coyotes and

where was I?

Giving pointers on food gardening, I think. Here are a few posts that may prove helpful as we teeter on the brink of the 2010 growing season:

The Seven Habits of Highly Successful Gardeners – just what it says… except of course it shouldn’t say “the,” implying as it does that there are only seven. This is just seven of the most important.

Planting a Delicious New Year, Favorite Sources for Seeds – Descriptions of and links to a few of the seed companies I buy from every year, along with a few words about heirlooms and hybrids

Tips for Success with Vegetable Seeds – or more accurately, success with vegetables like lettuce and carrots that are usually directly seeded, rather than grown from transplants.

High Return Vegetables – maximum bang for your (metaphorical; I’m not talking about money) buck when growing space, gardening time or both are limited

Concerning tomatoes: Cool Tomatoes (planting and mulching); Keeping Track of Your Tomatoes (labeling tips) ; Organic Tomatoes Triumphant (why organically grown tastes better and has more nutrients) Tomato Season Starts Now; It’s Time to Choose the Seeds – actually about making choices that (may) help avoid late blight.

Basil Time – harvesting guidance and late season care…I see where I should write something about planting the stuff; please stay tuned..

Delicious Home Grown Corn, and a Tasty Movie about the Industrial Kind – a giant love letter to Black Mexican aka Aztec Black heirloom sweet corn; why there’s no point in growing your own non-heirloom sweet corn and a friendly review of the now famous movie, King Corn.