How do you know when it is time to harvest your crops? Here are a few indicators:

• Color. Many vegetables turn colors as they ripen--tomatoes and peppers are examples. Check the seed packet or look at the description for each crop listed here so that you know when to pick.

• Sheen. Vegetables ready for picking commonly have a shiny, healthy look. If the skin of the crop is dull, the peak time for harvest may have passed. (Watermelon is one exception.)

• Size. Most vegetables are ready for harvest when they reach a useable size. To check the tenderness and flavor of a vegetable bite into it. Don't delay the harvest simply to grow bigger crops--flavor will likely be lost.

Most vegetables can be harvested when they are just half-grown; this is when most vegetables are at their height of tenderness and flavor. Crops that mature in late summer and fall have a relatively lengthy harvest period--sometimes as long as two weeks or more. These crops can usually be stored for early winter use if you can't get them to the table right away. Early season usually require serving very close to harvest time.

Here are two succession cropping strategies:

• Plant a portion of a specific crop a little bit at a time; for example, plant a row of beans today and a second row three weeks from now. This will allow for a staggered or succession of harvests.

• Plant a crop today and after harvesting the crop, plant a second crop in the same place for a second harvest. For example, plant beets in the cool spring and follow with a crop of peppers during the warm summer.

The more sacs you see on the inside of a pepper the hotter the pepper will be. When a pepper is cut or handled roughly the sacs break and splash onto the pepper's seeds and inner walls. That's when you taste the hotness of a pepper.

The best known capsaicinoid is capsaicin. Capsaicin is so potent that the average person can detect its presence even when it is diluted in water to 10 parts per million.

The hotness or pungency of a pepper is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). American pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville invented this scale in 1912; it is basically a taste test. Scoville asked five people to taste diluted capsaicinoids from peppers; if the tasters could still taste the hotness of a pepper when 1 part of the pepper was diluted with say 10,000 parts water, then that pepper would be rated 10,000 on the SHU. A habañero pepper is rated up to 500,000 SHU.

The hotness of a pepper is determined by number of blisterlike sacs of capsaicinoids on the interior wall of the pepper. Capsaicinoids are organic chemicals. The more sacs of capsaicinoids the hotter the pepper.

Hot peppers go by several names. Most commonly hot peppers are called chili peppers in the United States. 'Chile' is Spanish for pepper. In Mexico chile dulce is a sweet pepper, chile jalapeño is a jalapeño pepper. When the name chile first came to the United States it was used to mean different kinds of peppers in different parts of the country. In time, the spelling "chile" was eventually corrupted to "chili" and the term came to be commonly used to describe any pepper that was hot flavored.

Here's how to get growing hot peppers:

Chinese vegetables can generally be broken into three groups: those easy to grow in temperate regions with cool and cold winters, those that require higher temperatures and long-growing seasons--sub-tropical plants, and, finally, a small group of water vegetables, tubers, and herbs.

Like other vegetable crops, Chinese vegetables can be divided into warm-season and cool-season growing crops. Here are common warm-season Chinese vegetables. For cool-season varieties see the article: Chinese Vegetables: Cool-Season Varieties

Warm-season Chinese vegetables:

Vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus for seed/ Amaranthus tricolor for leaf). Amaranthus tricolor also known as Chinese spinach, edible amaranth, hiyu, and callaloo. Cook greens like spinach. Sow in spring; can be grown in summer. Sensitive to frost; germinates best in warm soil. Sow ¼ inch, row 18 inches apart. Greens ready in 50 days; 100 days for seed. Try varieties: Red Stripe Leaf, Tender Leaf, All Red.

Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia). Also called Chinese arrowhead, swamp potato, and kuwai. The tubers of arrowhead are eaten; bitter when raw but full-flavored like a nutty sweet potato when cooked. Roast, or boil like a potato. Best grown in boggy soil set about 3 to 6 inches below the surface of the water; leave room for root to grow. Harvest tubers all season long. Store for winter in water garden that will not freeze.

Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis). Also know as aduki bean or red beans and in Japan as azuki. A sweeter flavor than most beans. Young beans can be served like snow peas after brief cooking. Puree after simmering dry beans. Cook dried beans like navy beans--just simmer about 40 minutes until tender. Sow ½ inch deep; sow 2 to 3 inches apart in rows 24 inches apart; no need to thin. For green beans harvest when beans just begin to show in pod; for dried beans allow to mature, about 120 days.

Chinese vegetables can generally be broken into three groups: those easy to grow in temperate regions with cool and cold winters, those that require higher temperatures and long-growing seasons--sub-tropical plants, and, finally, a small group of water vegetables, tubers, and herbs.

Like other vegetable crops, Chinese vegetables can be divided into warm-season and cool-season growing crops. Here are common cool-season Chinese vegetables. For warm-season varieties see the related article: Chinese Vegetables: Warm-Season Varieties

Cool-season Chinese vegetables:

Fava bean (Vicia faba). Also called broad bean. Young pods can be cooked as you would snow peas; young beans can be shelled and cooked; older beans can be shelled and cooked to make a puree or soup; dried beans can be cooked like navy beans. Sow in spring as soon as the soil can be worked; in warm-winter regions sow in fall for a spring crop. Sow 1 inch deep, 4 to 6 inches apart in rows 24 inches apart. For edible pods harvest as soon as pods begin to show outline of bean; for shelled beans allow beans to plump up; for dried beans harvest 65 to 90 days after sowing. Try varieties: Aquadulce, Broad Windsor, Precoce Violetto.

Chinese broccoli (Brassica oleracea Albogloabra Group). Also called white flowering broccoli. Traditional style cut the broccoli into 2-inch pieces and stir-fry for 1 minute. Also stir-fry or steam; leaves can be used in salad. Sow in early spring for late-spring crop. Sow ½ inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows 12 inches apart. Harvest 70 to 80 days after sowing. Try varieties: Thick Stem Winner, Blue Star, Hybrid Blue Wonder.

Other common seeds for sprouts include adzuki, cabbage, chives, red clover, fenugreek, garbanzo, lentil, mustard, peas, radish, and black sunflower.

Some sprouts are eaten fresh and raw, others including all grain and starchy bean sprouts should be cooked before eating. Sprouts are a source of vitamins B and C, iron,  fiber, folic acid, and phytonutrients.

Sprouting seeds requires no special equipment. You can buy a seed sprouter but you can also sprout seeds in a bamboo basket or a colander covered with a plastic bag or a wide-mouthed quart jar covered with cheesecloth or linen and secured with a rubber band. For a quart-sized jar you will need about 1½ tablespoon seeds.

Seeds sold for eating in a grocery store or health food store can be used for sprouting. Seeds that you have collected from plants can be used for sprouting, but the best practice is to use sanitized, uncontaminated seeds to avoid potential bacterial contamination. Do not use seeds sold for planting; those seeds may have been treated with chemicals.

Crop rotation will benefit vegetable crops in two ways: first, it will prevent the build-up of soil-borne pests and diseases; second, it will allow for the replenishment and efficient use of soil nutrients.

Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops, rather than the same vegetable or members of the same family of vegetables, in the same place each year.

To minimize pest and disease problems and to help renew soil nutrients, members of the same plant family should not be planted in the same part of the garden more than once every three or four years.

Vegetable insect pests tend to feed on similar plants and members of the same plant family. For example, an insect pest that attacks and eats cabbage will lay its eggs before it dies. If cabbage or a member of the cabbage family is planted in the same spot the next year, the eggs of the insect will hatch and the pests will find exactly the food they need to continue the pest life cycle. Soilborne diseases--fungi, bacteria, and viruses--also can be hosted by specific plants as well. Removing host plants or alternating unrelated plants into the garden can break the cycle of pests and disease.

Crop rotation also helps prevent soil nutrients from being depleted. Vegetables draw upon a wide range of soil nutrients for growth: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the key or major soil nutrients. Members of the same vegetable family usually draw the same nutrients from the soil.

Crop rotation will prevent the soil from wearing out: heavy nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium feeding crops such as tomatoes are rotated with soil-building crops such as beans which add nitrogen to the soil and then with light-feeding crops such as onions.

Because baby vegetables are harvested small they can be planted very close together. This makes baby vegetables well suited for small gardens or container growing.

For standard vegetables harvested at baby size, a succession of the same crop is possible:  first young plants are harvested as baby vegetables then the remaining plants are left to grow on to harvest at maturity--as fully developed vegetables.

Some baby vegetables are formed after the main crop has been harvested. For example, after full size artichokes are harvested smaller artichokes will form lower down the plant. The same is true for Brussels sprouts and broccoli spears.

Baby vegetables bred for harvest small are dwarf varieties. Dwarf varieties include 'Little Finger' carrots which grow to just 3 inches long at maturity and 'Parmex' carrots that grow to 1½ inches long and 2 inches wide when mature. 'Red Currant' and 'Yellow Currant' are cherry-type tomatoes that are full-flavored at just ½ inch across.

Late season tomatoes generally bear the largest fruits and are commonly the tastiest tomatoes because they have been on the vine the longest and have ripened in the heat of summer.

For the longest tomato harvest set out late-season tomatoes at the same time you set out early-season tomatoes and mid-season tomatoes, that way you will have a succession of tomato harvests.

Here is a checklist of popular late season tomato varieties: included in each entry is the type of tomato, the color, size, and flavor; also listed are the average days to maturity, whether the tomato is determinate or indeterminate and whether it is disease resistant.

For more articles on tomatoes visit the Tomato Category.

And see these related articles:

How to Grow Tomatoes

How to Choose a Tomato for Your Garden

Tomato Types

Early Season Tomato Checklist

Mid Season Tomato Checklist

Click to the next page for the Early-Season Tomato Checklist:

Early-season tomatoes are often smaller and firmer than mid- and late-season varieties which stay on the vine longer and are exposed to more hot weather.

Early-season tomatoes are the best choice for regions where the growing season is short or where the gardener wants to have more than one tomato harvest in a season. In cold regions, the early-season tomato may be the main crop for the season, but in warm regions an early-season tomato can be planted early in spring or late in summer--as successions to the main-season tomato crop.

Here is a checklist of popular early-season tomato varieties: included in this list is the type of tomato, the color, size, and flavor; also listed are the average days to maturity, whether the tomato is determinate or indeterminate and whether it is disease resistant. For more articles on tomatoes visit the Tomato Archive.

And see these related articles:

How to Grow Tomatoes

How to Choose a Tomato for Your Garden

Tomato Types

Mid Season Tomato Checklist

Late Season Tomato Checklist

Click to the next page for the Early-Season Tomato Checklist

Taro grows to 3 feet tall (1m) or taller and has light green, elongated, heart-shaped leaves on long stalks. Taro tubers are rounded, about the size of a tennis ball; each plant grows one large tuber often surrounded by several smaller tubers.

How to Grow. Taro is a tropical or subtropical plant that requires very warm temperatures--77° to 95°F (25-35°C)--and consistent moisture to thrive. Taro grows best in USDA zones 9-11. Taro can be grown for its tubers only where summers are long--at least 200 frost-free, warm days. Taro can be grown for its leaves in a greenhouse. 

1. Sunlight. Tomatoes require a minimum of 8 hours of continuous sunlight each day.

2. Temperature. Tomatoes need 3 to 4 months of warm, clear, fairly dry weather to produce best. Tomatoes need consistent night temperatures between 55°F and 75°F to set fruit. (A few varieties will set fruit at lower or higher temperatures.) Fruit will not color properly when night temperatures stay above 85°F, and plants will quit growing when temperatures go above 95°F.

3. Continuous and even watering. Keep the soil evenly moist--not too wet and not too dry. Too much water will drown the plant; too little water will stop fruit production. Test soil moisture by sticking your finger into the soil--if it comes out dry, it's time to water; if it comes out wet, hold off. During periods of drought deep water tomatoes once a week. A constant, even supply of water can prevent blossom end rot, but too much water will cause it.

Continue reading Tomato Success at the next page:

If you know the average date of the last spring frost in your garden or region, you can make a schedule for starting vegetable crops indoors and get growing weeks before the outdoors temperatures warm. (Check at your local library or the county cooperative extension if you are unsure of the average last frost date.)

Here is a list of vegetables that are commonly started indoors and later transplanted to the garden:

For more articles on seed starting: click to the next page.

The Kitchen Garden Almanac for March: Cool and Cold Regions

The Kitchen Garden Almanac for March: Warm Regions

If you are looking for a vegetable garden calendar of tasks and planting suggestions for the year, here it is:

Vegetable Garden Calendar

And if you are struggling with very cold weather, do not forget the cold frame to get the spring garden started:

Cold Frame Calendar

As well, now is the time to visit the Seed Starting Category for articles on getting your crops growing.