How to Grow Collard Greens: The Toughest Green in the Garden
July 18, 2026 · 5 min read
Collards are the toughest, most forgiving brassica — they take summer heat that bolts kale and hard frost that sweetens them, cropping for months.
How to Grow Vegetables — Crop Guides A–Z
Every crop has its own rhythm — when to sow it, how far apart, how long to harvest. These guides cover the vegetables and herbs of the home garden one at a time, grouped by plant family so the relatives that share pests, timing, and soil needs sit together.
Add any of these crops to a garden plan and get spacing plus sow, transplant, and harvest dates computed for your ZIP code.
Plan your crops→Guides in this topic
How to Grow Swiss Chard: A Leafy Green for Heat and Frost
July 17, 2026 · 5 min read
Swiss chard may be the most underrated green for beginners — it shrugs off summer heat and light frost, so one sowing cuts from spring until the ground freezes.
How to Grow Chives: The Most Forgiving Herb in the Garden
July 16, 2026 · 5 min read
Chives are the most forgiving herb you can grow — a hardy perennial onion relative that returns every spring and feeds a kitchen for a decade.
How to Grow Sage: A Silvery Perennial for Sun and Sharp Drainage
July 15, 2026 · 5 min read
Sage anchors the herb garden — handsome, tough, and the defining flavor of autumn cooking. Give it sun, drainage, and airflow and it returns for years.
How to Grow Thyme: A Drought-Proof Mat of Flavor
July 14, 2026 · 5 min read
Thyme is the low, wiry, drought-proof workhorse of the herb garden — sun and sharp drainage, a yearly trim, and it thrives for years.
How to Grow Parsley: A Long Season From One Slow Start
July 13, 2026 · 5 min read
Parsley is the patient herb — slow to germinate, then productive for months. Start it cool, give it sun or part shade, and cut the outer stems all season.
How to Grow Cabbage: Heads That Store All Winter
July 11, 2026 · 5 min read
Cabbage is an old-fashioned, dependable crop that asks for cool weather, steady moisture, and protection from a short list of pests. Give it those and it forms big, heavy, storable heads.
How to Grow Tomatoes in Containers
July 5, 2026 · 6 min read
You don't need a yard to grow real tomatoes — a sunny balcony or patio will do. Container growing has its own rules, and nearly all come down to one thing: a pot dries out and runs out of food fast.
How to Grow Broccoli: It's All About Timing
July 4, 2026 · 6 min read
Broccoli rewards good timing more than almost any vegetable. The plant is easy; the catch is that the head only forms tight in cool weather. Hit the timing and you get firm, sweet heads.
How to Grow Kale: The Green That Keeps Giving
July 3, 2026 · 5 min read
Kale is about as tough and forgiving as a leafy green gets — it shrugs off cold, produces for months, and tastes better after a frost. If you want one green that keeps giving, this is it.
How to Grow Green Beans: Bush, Pole, and a Steady Harvest
June 29, 2026 · 5 min read
Green beans are the crop to hand a nervous beginner: big seed, fast germination, and plants that partly feed themselves. Pick bush or pole, then keep picking.
How to Grow Carrots: Get the First Three Weeks Right
June 28, 2026 · 6 min read
Almost everything that goes wrong with carrots happens at germination and thinning. Loose soil, a damp seedbed, and the thinning everyone skips are the whole game.
How to Grow Arugula: Peppery Salad Greens in Weeks
June 27, 2026 · 5 min read
Arugula is the fastest path from seed to salad — peppery leaves in three to four weeks. Grow it cool and succession-sow, because it bolts fast in heat.
How to Grow Rosemary: An Evergreen Shrub That Lives on Neglect
June 26, 2026 · 5 min read
Rosemary wants what a Mediterranean hillside offers — sun, sharp drainage, and lean soil. Get the drainage right and it asks for almost nothing for years.
Squash Bugs & Vine Borers: Saving Your Squash
June 19, 2026 · 6 min read
Few things are as demoralizing as a thriving squash plant that wilts and dies in days. Two pests are usually behind it — and both are easier to prevent than cure.
How to Grow Pumpkins & Winter Squash
May 13, 2026 · 6 min read
Unlike summer squash, these are grown to full maturity, cured, and stored — a butternut harvested in October can feed you past New Year's. The trade is space and patience: a long season and room to sprawl.
How to Grow Beets: Roots and Greens From One Crop
May 12, 2026 · 5 min read
Beets are two crops in one — sweet, earthy roots and a flush of tender greens — and they hide one quirk at sowing that, once you understand it, makes the rest straightforward.
How to Grow Radishes: The Fastest Crop in the Garden
May 11, 2026 · 5 min read
If you've never grown anything, grow radishes — seed to harvest in three to four weeks, the perfect first win. They barely have time to go wrong, as long as you thin them and don't let them get hot.
How to Grow Spinach: Beat the Bolt
May 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Spinach is a cold-weather crop pretending to be a salad green — fast and easy in spring and fall, but quick to bolt in heat. Work with its seasons and you'll have tender leaves in weeks.
How to Grow Cilantro: Work With the Bolt, Not Against It
May 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Cilantro bolts fast in heat, and that's the whole story. Treat it as a cool-season crop, sow a little every few weeks, and let it self-sow a free fall patch.
How to Grow Basil and Kitchen Herbs
May 8, 2026 · 6 min read
Herbs are the highest-value square foot in the garden. Basil leads — pinch it relentlessly — and the rest sort into two families that want opposite things.
How to Grow Garlic: Fall Planting to Harvest
May 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Garlic rewards patience: plant cloves in fall, walk away for winter, and harvest fat heads the following summer. The whole game is the timing.
How to Grow Onions: Day Length Is Everything
May 6, 2026 · 6 min read
Onions hide one quirk that trips up everyone: bulb size is set by day length and by how much leaf grows before bulbing starts. Match the type to your latitude and the rest is easy.
How to Grow Lettuce & Salad Greens All Season
May 5, 2026 · 7 min read
Lettuce is fast, forgiving, and happiest in cool weather. Work with that and a little succession sowing, and you can pull fresh salad for most of the year.
How to Grow Cucumbers: From Trellis to Pickle Jar
May 4, 2026 · 6 min read
Cucumbers are fast, thirsty, and productive almost to a fault. Grow them up a trellis, water steadily, pick constantly — and watch for the beetle that spreads a fatal wilt.
How to Grow Peppers: Sweet, Hot, and Everything Between
May 3, 2026 · 6 min read
Peppers are the crop that teaches patience — slow to start, then generous all summer. The secret is heat: when to start, when to wait, and why flowers drop.
How to Grow Tomatoes: Planting, Staking & Pruning
May 2, 2026 · 8 min read
The tomato is the reason most people start a garden, and a vine-ripened one is worth the fuss. Here's the whole arc, from planting deep to the first ripe slicer.
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