Growing your own food is a delicious experience. There is nothing quite like slicing into that first summer tomato, still warm from the sun, or cutting some fresh herbs to add to a dish. A kitchen garden makes for great meals, a sense of joy, and a modicum of food security. Don鈥檛 overthink it: now that spring is here, find the sunniest spot where you live鈥搈aybe in the yard, a raised bed, a big pot on the patio, or a sunny kitchen window鈥攁nd plant some seeds or seedlings from your local nursery in good, organic soil. With at least five hours of sun per day, the right plants, and a few tips, it鈥檚 about that simple.

The two of us run a small urban farm in Los Angeles and a company called Edible Gardens LA that has designed, built, and maintained vegetable gardens for countless families over the past 16 years. Here are the five best things for beginners to grow.

Herbs

Herbs are a perfect starting point, because you can grow them year-round: outdoors in warm climates and on an indoor windowsill in regions where winters are cold.

First, buy some organic seeds. Some of our favorite online sites that sell seeds are ,听,听and . You can also purchase seedlings at your local garden nursery for a faster and easier start. Get the basic ones that you use regularly in your kitchen: rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, and basil. All are easy to grow.

Find a terra-cotta pot at least six inches deep or, if space allows, 18 inches deep so you can grow multiple plants in one pot. (Tip: mint needs its own pot, as it鈥檚 super invasive.) Never grow food in plastic or fiberglass or treated wood, because聽the toxins from those materials will leech into the soil and into your food.

Fill the pot with organic potting soil, and sow the seeds following the instructions on the packet. If your plants are indoors, put a plastic tray under them to catch any water that runs through. If you鈥檙e growing outdoors in the ground or in a raised wooden bed, water deeply three to four times per week, depending on the weather. (Check out our book, , for blueprints and instructions on building raised beds.) On the hottest days of summer, your garden will need it daily. If you are growing in pots, water deeply every day. Be sure to feed your plants by using seaweed extract every couple of weeks to replenish the nutrients in the soil. Chives can be harvested by cutting straight across, at the base of the plant, but for all other herbs, cut just what you need, taking a few leaves or a few stems, and they will keep growing and you can enjoy them all season.

Tomatoes

Yes, we all love that big heirloom tomato, but do yourself a favor and grow cherry tomatoes instead. The Sun Gold or Sweet 100 varieties mature faster, and you鈥檒l be eating delicious tomatoes all summer instead of waiting until late August or September. Buy these seeds and start them indoors now. Yes, now! You can use seed-starter trays or a good ol鈥� cut-off cardboard milk carton full of fresh soil. Give each seed a couple inches of space. After about six weeks, they鈥檙e ready to transplant. (Important: Tomatoes and the other vegetables mentioned here, except the herbs, cannot continue to grow indoors. Eventually, they will fizzle; they need that summer sun.)

To figure out when to transplant your tomatoes, consult a planting online to determine what growing zone you鈥檙e in: this sounds complicated, but it鈥檚 not. At the right time, move them to a big pot (at least 18 inches deep) or raised bed or the ground. If you鈥檙e using a pot or raised bed, be careful not to put too much weight on a balcony or roof. If you鈥檙e planting in the ground, turn the soil and mix in plenty of compost.

Even a big pot dries out fast, so you鈥檒l need to water daily; in a raised bed or the ground, however, you can water every few days. Don鈥檛 forget a little seaweed extract for nutrition every couple months. You鈥檒l be eating cherry tomatoes in three months; others take longer. But they鈥檙e all worth it!

Beans

Beans come as snap varieties (such as the classic green bean) and shelling beans (think black beans) and are either bush or climbing varieties鈥攃limbers require a trellis or fence or porch post to climb; bush beans do not. Good ones to try include haricot vert, Blue Lake, Hidatsa red, or dragon tongue.

Whether in a pot, raised bed, or the ground, plant these directly in the soil; no seed starting is necessary. Water and feed them as we described with the tomatoes.

Bush beans come into harvest faster, after about three months, and once they begin producing, be sure to pick them three or more times per week: the more you harvest, the more the plant will produce.

Cucumbers

These are so easy to grow that they鈥檙e going to crowd your fridge. Some of our favorite varieties that offer sweet flavor for slicing and eating fresh are Armenian, Suyo long, salt and pepper, and telegraph.

Like beans, follow the seed-packet instructions and put them directly in the soil, no seed starting necessary, whether in a big pot or raised bed. To save space, give them a trellis of some kind to climb, otherwise the vines wander all over the place.

Water and feed your cucumbers the same way you do with tomatoes and the other veggies listed here. In about 70 days you鈥檒l be chopping these for salads or juicing them to enjoy over ice or in a summer cocktail.

Peppers

Growing your own hot peppers will change your cooking. They produce from early summer until the weather cools, and we use them in everything from guacamole to curries to pickling. You can start peppers from seed, but our favorites are easier to grow if you buy them as seedlings at your local nursery. We especially like jalape帽o, serrano, habanero and Thai hot peppers. For less spice, try mild habanadas, shishitos, and baby bell peppers, which are much easier to grow than the standard-size bell varieties.

If you live in a place with real seasons, start your peppers indoors just like you would with tomatoes, then transplant them聽after six to eight weeks into your big pot, bed, or in-ground garden. They need water and food just like the other vegetables mentioned here.

Get Cooking

Now that you know how to grow, let鈥檚 talk cooking. Suzanne Goin, the James Beard Award鈥搘inning chef whose restaurants A.O.C., Caldo Verde, and Cara Cara are standouts in the Los Angeles dining scene, says her favorite ingredients to grab straight out of the kitchen garden include tomatoes, fava beans, peas, and herbs, especially rosemary, basil, cilantro, parsley, and sage. She also likes cutting fresh greens, such arugula, lettuce, Swiss chard, and kale. These plants require a little more space in the garden but can keep on producing all summer.

鈥淭hose greens and other garden harvests go into everything,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 love arugula salad with eggs for breakfast. Or Swiss chard and mustard greens saut茅ed with garlic and olive oil with grilled fish and lemon, or in pasta with bread crumbs. The best is to make a big salad for dinner, sometimes a giant Nicoise-style salad with Spanish tuna in olive oil.鈥�

Goin adds that having these ingredients right in your backyard adds a level of freshness and brightness that鈥檚 just hard to duplicate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also inspiring,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭he garden will lead you to decide what to cook and eat. I think fresh herbs in particular just give your cooking another layer.鈥�

The bottom line is: it鈥檚 not hard to grow some great tastes. The time to start seeds indoors is now. Get out there and get growing.

The post How to Grow an Easy Kitchen Garden appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It makes perfect sense that the pandemic has seen a . We all want to bring more life to our homes, to feel the beauty and hope of another intelligence. Plants remind us that we are part of nature and, despite all we鈥檝e done, that nature still works. Or can work, with a little care.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a total relationship,鈥� says Mickey Hargitay, Los Angeles鈥� go-to expert, whose shop, Mickey Hargitay Plants, has been booming unlike any other period during in its 42 years in business. 鈥淚n the last couple years, it鈥檚 been refreshing to see so many people experiencing it. Once you get to know your plant, you can definitely learn to speak the language.鈥�

As a couple of urban farmers, we鈥檝e found that our relationships with plants, both outdoors and indoors, has helped us maintain our sanity over the last couple years. But there鈥檚 something special about living with a plant in the home. It鈥檚 easy, inexpensive (even fancy shops sell small plants in 6-inch pots for about $20), and it really does make you feel good to be in daily communication with another living creature.

Much like the plants we grow outdoors, the basic elements聽 you need for indoor houseplant care are sun, water, and food. Hargitay says the place to start planning your indoor garden is with the sun. Most popular houseplants are jungle dwellers that grow in the understory, adapted to dappled or filtered light, which means they want plenty of sun but not direct sun. So start by thinking about where your new companion will live. Will it be front-and-center in a sunny kitchen window? Hanging from a hook in the bathroom? Standing tall in a dim corner?

Here are some of the easiest and most popular plants for different scenarios. Charissa Seloadji, a houseplant specialist at Sunset Nursery in Los Angeles, also helped us select some of the tropical beauties on this list. They are sold all over the U.S. and can thrive in anybody鈥檚 house.

Houseplant Care: How Much Sunlight Does Your Plant Need?

For placement in a sunny window or in bright reflected light:

Wax plant (Hoya carnosa)

鈥淭hey are gaining a lot in popularity, but they do need decent light and have beautiful blooms,鈥� says Hargitay. These make great hanging vines near a bright window, where they will erupt with loads of star-shaped flowers.

Snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata)

Clean and elegant, this plant features clumps of upright, swordlike leaves up to three feet tall that first became popular in mid-century modern homes. These do great in the sun but can also tolerate a move to the interior of the room, so long as it鈥檚 not deep darkness.

Lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans)

A beautiful vine with short, pointed leaves and gorgeous bright red blooms, this one loves good light and won鈥檛 do well in a dark corner.

Monstera

This genus of shrubs and vines have huge leaves with deep lobes and fascinating fenestrations, or holes, in them. They can be small table-top plants or large outdoor trees that bear fruit, where they will need a lot more water.

For placement in lower light, away from a window and in shade some of the day:

ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)

The ultimate beginner plant, they adapt to light or dark. 鈥淵ou can put them anywhere in your home,鈥� says Seloadji. 鈥淚f you have them in a really dark area, we tell people to only water about every three to four or weeks.鈥�

Philodendrons and Pothos

These are two different genera of vines with heart-shaped leaves that make great hanging plants, and can tolerate being further from a window. Golden and green pothos are good for low light, and the popular light-colored marble queen variety wants to be in brighter light.

Dracaena

These are from a vast genus of trees and succulent shrubs like Dr. Seuss trees with palm-like trunks and long, pointed leaves. Hargitay says, 鈥淭hey’re very forgiving and pretty bulletproof. They take a lot of abuse. In low-light, they don’t like a lot of water; they will take a drink every other week.鈥�

Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema)

These feature wonderful, variegated swordlike leaves growing off of a central stem. Seloadji adds, 鈥淎gs just want to dry out completely, so that’s another one that you don’t need to water very often, and they’ll do well.鈥�

Not for Beginners

Choosing a plant is a matter of aesthetics. But notice that we did not put the super-popular fiddle-leaf fig tree on the list. That鈥檚 because they鈥檙e finicky about the sun, and hard to care for. We also left prayer plants off the list, despite their mesmerizing leaves, because they require closer monitoring to make sure they are getting enough water.

After optimizing your plant鈥檚 sunlight, you need to provide appropriate water and food. Here鈥檚 our best advice on how to do that.

Houseplant Care: Water 101

Here鈥檚 the thing: most of us kill our houseplants by overwatering them.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the biggest thing with house plants, generally, is letting them dry out,鈥� Seloadji adds, meaning that you should let the plant use up all the water before adding more. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 true for most house plants. There are a few exceptions like ferns, and some plants like prayer-plants; they like to stay moist.鈥�

A ZZ plant in a dim room, for instance, will only need water every three to four weeks. Most of us can hardly stand to wait that long鈥攚e want to do something! If the plant wilts noticeably, water it. But if the leaves turn yellow or the stems turn black, you鈥檙e overdoing it. You can check the soil by sticking a finger in, or, if the pot is deep, use a chopstick. If you want to get techy, grab the Mosser Lee Soil Master ($17: all prices from Sunset Nursery), which will tell you dry from wet.

Another clue about sun and water: the lighter-colored your plant鈥檚 leaves are, the more sun and water it will probably need. Dark green indicates chlorophyll, the active food-making part of the plant, so if the leaves are more emerald, they are better-equipped to live in low light and normal water. That Marble Queen Pothos, parts of which are white, has less chlorophyll so it needs more light and, since more light means it dries out faster, more water.

Houseplant Care: Food 101

Most of us never feed our plants, and that鈥檚 why they eventually start looking sickly. Our plant friends need food, or fertilizer, applied to the soil every couple weeks. Every plant will have its own specific regimen. Good liquid fertilizers include Espoma Organic Indoor! (8 oz,, $11) and Agrothrive Organic (32 oz., $22). Dry pellet fertilizers release food every time you water, and a good organic one is Osmocote Plus (1 lb., $11). Again, don鈥檛 overfeed. Adding more food won鈥檛 make your plant grow more, but might actually burn the plant with too much nitrogen.

Additional Tips for Houseplant Care

Don鈥檛 let your kids or your pets chew the houseplants. None of them are safe for people to eat, and most will make your dog sick, too.

Bugs, however, love to eat your plants. You鈥檙e likely to get a few. Some of the most common ones are fungus gnats, spider mites, mealy bugs, and a tiny but oddly prehistoric-looking armored insect called scale. Fungus gnats are about the size of a fruit fly鈥攖o deal with these, Seloadji says her customers buy a lot of a product called Mosquito Bits (8 oz., $15), which is a beneficial bacteria that kills the larvae in the soil. There are many organic or natural remedies for mealy bugs and spider mites, including neem oil and pyrethrin, and one of the most effective ways to get rid of scale is to simply wipe your plants with a cotton ball or Q-tip full of rubbing alcohol, and then rub them off.

Hargitay recommends that you regularly spend a little time wiping your plants down anyway, to keep them free of dust and grime.

Lots of people feel the need to transplant their new plants out of the plastic nursery pots they came in, because they think the plastic pots are ugly and they want to put them in something nicer. Resist this urge, as its stressful for the plants. We like to put the plants, inside their original nursery containers, in a favorite pot that we have lined with a plastic insert (available at nurseries and hardware stores) that catches the water so it won鈥檛 drain through the pot, causing water stains and puddles in the home.

Remember that plants are living things and like us, they will respond to good care.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something I think about a lot,鈥� says Hargitay. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e just all living in this world that鈥檚 so plastic and fake and we want to get back to nature, get back to things that are real. Bringing a live plant into the house is one way to do that. Providing care is fulfilling. It gives people a lot of good feedback, you know?鈥�

Maybe a new relationship is just what you need, and there鈥檚 a plant out there waiting for you, with its own story to tell.

The post The Ultimate Beginner鈥檚 Guide to Houseplant Care appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.