mustard

Mustard greens are easy to grow and remarkably healthy for you, even containing anti-cancer compounds. Though it’s not as cold-hardy as kale or collards, mustard will stand quite a bit of frost before dying, down into the mid-twenties. In fact, they’ll bolt if planted in warm weather. In central FL, you can plant them around November and harvest…

beet

Post is germinating Classification Alternate names Latin name Family Related species Cultivars ‘Detroit Dark Red’ is best dark-red variety. ‘Burpee’s Golden’ is a beautiful deep gold. ‘Chioggia’ is striped red and white when cut across the root. Great for salads but turns solid red when cooked. Other good varieties for FL include ‘Cylindrica,’ ‘Early Wonder’,…

culantro

This attractive dark green biennial herb grown throughout the Caribbean and Central America is a key ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking as well as dishes of other nationalities. It belongs to the same plant family as cilantro and smells similar but has long bladed leaves and a sharper taste. I will use this pretty herb a…

candlestick senna

The first thing sustainability-minded people usually say about candlestick plant is, “Yay, it’s a host plant for sulphur butterflies to lay their eggs” (of which we in FL are blessed with species ranging from the tiniest sulphur species, the size of a fingernail, to a giant floating flower the size of a tiger swallowtail.) But…