Bell Peppers
Peppers are native to Central America and so they should grow pretty well here. But with all the centuries of inbreeding them to create a bigger and tastier vegetable, food plants will often lose their natural defenses against pests, disease, etc, becoming more fragile. The large peppers shown here are susceptible to fungus, and […]
Italian Parsley
This parsley (perejil) has grown well in our worst soil, which we bought a truckload of, and turned out to be nearly solid clay. Few things would grow well in it because of the lack of drainage. Parsley is a superfood, with very high levels of phytochemicals and other nutrients. It has a strong taste […]
Brussel Sprouts
Lots of kids hate brussel sprouts, but we love them here. Shown in the photo are our starters, grown in our home-made soil.
Egyptian Spinach
This spinach is one of the easiest to grow, and we have so far found that no bugs seem to touch it. Apparently this plant is the primary green leaf food in Egypt, and is used in many recipes. It has very unique leaves, with each having long “antennae” at the base. Harvesting enough quantity […]
Malabar Spinach – A Vine You Can Eat
Malabar Spinach grows easily in the tropics of Costa Rica even though its native to Asia. The texture of the leaves is a but mushy, so it should be used in cooking with that in mind. We will be working on some recipes that consider this well. We are using Malabar spinach as a climbing […]
Amazing Fast-Growing Costa Rica Spinach
All of these (bags in the foreground and background) were grown from a few leafless spinach stem scraps, about 3mm wide and 4cm long, leftover from a meal with my friends Jeremy and Andrea, the owners of La Escuela del Sol in Montezuma. I first started the four small stems in four bags, which grew […]
Zucchinis galore!
Our first harvest from our new zucchini seeds, showing a great variety in these heirloom species. We also learned from chef Giuseppe Morisco that we can eat the flowers.
How to Harvest Loofah
This Valentine’s Day, say I “loofyah.” Loofahs, the spongy skincare product we recognize from drugstore beauty isles actually come from your own subtropical backyard vines (not the sea!). They grow like cucumbers and indeed they’re part of the cucumber – Cucurbitaceae – family. Ideally harvest them once the skin becomes a crispy brown shell. Because […]
