I’ll never forget the first time I saw a durian in person. A grower named Heng in Homestead, Florida, had been nursing his durian tree for over a decade. He invited me over when his … Read more
A friend of mine — let’s call her Priya — grows a massive jackfruit tree in her backyard in South Florida. She started it from seed about eight years ago. For the first few years, … Read more
My buddy Marcus grows tropical fruit trees in his backyard in South Florida. A few years back, he finally got his durian tree to fruit after nearly a decade of babying it through cold snaps … Read more
Last spring, my neighbor Doug walked over to my garden bed holding a mesh bag of onion sets and a confused look on his face. “I bought these at the feed store,” he said. “Now … Read more
Botanically, butternut squash is a fruit because it: However, culinarily it’s classified as a vegetable due to its savory taste and cooking uses. Both classifications are technically correct depending on context. What you’ll learn in … Read more
Last summer, my neighbor Karen knocked on my door holding a basket of tomatoes from her garden. Beautiful, deep red Brandywines. But she looked worried. “My sister told me these are nightshade vegetables,” she said. … Read more
Last summer, I brought in a basket of perfectly ripe tomatoes from my garden. Three days later, my kitchen looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Tiny flies swarmed every surface. They hovered over my … Read more
A woman at our community garden in South Florida brought in a bag of star fruit last fall. She had a tree in her backyard that was producing more than her family could handle. Probably … Read more
My uncle used to call lettuce “crunchy water.” Said it was pointless filler. Just something restaurants put on plates to make the food look bigger. He grew tomatoes, peppers, beans—anything with obvious substance. Lettuce? Waste … Read more
Last spring, I harvested about fifteen heads of lettuce in one week. My raised beds had gone wild after an unusually mild winter. I was drowning in greens. So I did what any reasonable person … Read more
I got into an argument at a garden club meeting last spring that I still think about. A newer member was explaining her raised bed layout. She pointed to her potato section and said she … Read more
The first time I saw a lotus bloom in person, I understood why entire religions formed around this plant. It was at a botanical garden in St. Louis. Mid-July. Hot as blazes. And there were … Read more