Renee's Blog
Summer Long Sunflowers
Sunflowers Have a Long History The ancient Incas first cultivated splendid sunflowers and carved enormous golden images of their blooms into their temples. Seeds were carried back to Europe where they were received with wide enthusiasm and described by Spanish...
Summer Long Sunflowers
Sunflowers Have a Long History The ancient Incas first cultivated splendid sunflowers and carved enormous golden images of their blooms into their temples. Seeds were carried back to Europe where they were received with wide enthusiasm and described by Spanish...
How to Grow the Biggest, Tallest Sunflowers
By guest author Alice Formiga To learn the secret of growing sunflowers to record-breaking sizes and heights, I turned to Dr. Tom Heaton, the world's foremost sunflower breeder and Renee's Garden sunflower seed supplier. Tom has been breeding sunflowers for...
How to Grow the Biggest, Tallest Sunflowers
By guest author Alice Formiga To learn the secret of growing sunflowers to record-breaking sizes and heights, I turned to Dr. Tom Heaton, the world's foremost sunflower breeder and Renee's Garden sunflower seed supplier. Tom has been breeding sunflowers for...
Celebrating Tomatoes
Nothing satisfies the gardening cook like the pleasure and satisfaction of harvesting big baskets of richly ripe, juicy tomatoes. Their tangy-sweet full flavor and jewel toned colors are one of the main reasons lots of us got started gardening. It...
Celebrating Tomatoes
Nothing satisfies the gardening cook like the pleasure and satisfaction of harvesting big baskets of richly ripe, juicy tomatoes. Their tangy-sweet full flavor and jewel toned colors are one of the main reasons lots of us got started gardening. It...
Growing Vertical Vegetables
One of the easiest ways to grow rambling or vining plants is to train them up trellises or supports. In a small garden, growing things upwards is a good solution because space is limited but you still want a lush...
Growing Vertical Vegetables
One of the easiest ways to grow rambling or vining plants is to train them up trellises or supports. In a small garden, growing things upwards is a good solution because space is limited but you still want a lush...
Bring the World to Your Garden
Growing and enjoying a diverse kitchen garden today is a real life way of hyperlinking to almost all the world's cultures. As we Americans broaden our food horizons, the seeds we grow in our gardens represent a truly multicultural diversity...
Bring the World to Your Garden
Growing and enjoying a diverse kitchen garden today is a real life way of hyperlinking to almost all the world's cultures. As we Americans broaden our food horizons, the seeds we grow in our gardens represent a truly multicultural diversity...
Center Stage Vegetable Meals
When summer harvests are at their peak, every kitchen gardener can relate to the happy challenge of putting all that great produce to good use. If you really have a surplus, give a call to local homeless shelters or ask...
Center Stage Vegetable Meals
When summer harvests are at their peak, every kitchen gardener can relate to the happy challenge of putting all that great produce to good use. If you really have a surplus, give a call to local homeless shelters or ask...
Cooking for the Holidays: Winter Squashes and More
When the days grow short and get dark early and blustery weather sets in, it's time to tuck in the garden beds, oil and store the tools, and generally take a break from outside chores. Even in my relatively mild...
Cooking for the Holidays: Winter Squashes and More
When the days grow short and get dark early and blustery weather sets in, it's time to tuck in the garden beds, oil and store the tools, and generally take a break from outside chores. Even in my relatively mild...
Cool Kale
One of my favorite fall greens is kale. This truly ancient vegetable has been cultivated for at least several thousand years, and it is probably one of the earliest forms of the huge group of cabbage family members that have...
Cool Kale
One of my favorite fall greens is kale. This truly ancient vegetable has been cultivated for at least several thousand years, and it is probably one of the earliest forms of the huge group of cabbage family members that have...
Cooking And Growing With Fennel
Renee highlights the differences between growing bulbing fennel, the vegetable, and using the butterfly attracting herb, bronze fennel, in flavoring. Moving to the kitchen, she demonstrates making a delicious Fresh Fennel Salad with Oranges and Cashews.
Cooking And Growing With Fennel
Renee highlights the differences between growing bulbing fennel, the vegetable, and using the butterfly attracting herb, bronze fennel, in flavoring. Moving to the kitchen, she demonstrates making a delicious Fresh Fennel Salad with Oranges and Cashews.
Renee's Garden Gifts
Besides providing wonderful fresh vegetables and herbs during the growing season, the kitchen garden is the source for great gifts you'll enjoy making and giving to friends and family. Here are some of my favorites for easy cooking and crafting...
Renee's Garden Gifts
Besides providing wonderful fresh vegetables and herbs during the growing season, the kitchen garden is the source for great gifts you'll enjoy making and giving to friends and family. Here are some of my favorites for easy cooking and crafting...
Grow Great Greens
In both early spring and early fall I relish planting diverse crops of crispy flavorful greens to harvest from prepared garden beds. These fast-growing, really nutritious varieties are a delicious way to get my body and spirit awakened and toned...
Grow Great Greens
In both early spring and early fall I relish planting diverse crops of crispy flavorful greens to harvest from prepared garden beds. These fast-growing, really nutritious varieties are a delicious way to get my body and spirit awakened and toned...
Exploring Asian Vegetables
More tasty and nutritious Asian vegetable favorites are showing up in supermarkets and farmers markets nationwide every spring. If you have relegated these tasty veggies to the category of tasty exotics mostly encountered in restaurants, you’ll find adding easy to...
Exploring Asian Vegetables
More tasty and nutritious Asian vegetable favorites are showing up in supermarkets and farmers markets nationwide every spring. If you have relegated these tasty veggies to the category of tasty exotics mostly encountered in restaurants, you’ll find adding easy to...
When the Time Is Ripe: Harvesting for Best Flavor
By guest author Alice Formiga All fruits and vegetables have ways of telling us exactly when they taste best, even before we’ve picked them. As I was picking blackberries this morning, I found myself explaining to my 2-year-old how to...
When the Time Is Ripe: Harvesting for Best Flavor
By guest author Alice Formiga All fruits and vegetables have ways of telling us exactly when they taste best, even before we’ve picked them. As I was picking blackberries this morning, I found myself explaining to my 2-year-old how to...
Cool Kohlrabi
My memories of kohlrabi are full of fond nostalgia. When I was a little girl in suburban Cleveland, weekly visits to my grandmother's wonderful garden were a highlight of summer. I couldn't wait to go look at all the growing...
Cool Kohlrabi
My memories of kohlrabi are full of fond nostalgia. When I was a little girl in suburban Cleveland, weekly visits to my grandmother's wonderful garden were a highlight of summer. I couldn't wait to go look at all the growing...
Lettuce Heads Up
Growing heading lettuces, with their mosaic of colors, textures and leafy rosette shapes is one of the most rewarding aspects of having your own kitchen garden. Unfortunately, many of us have grown up identifying head lettuce only with the rock...
Lettuce Heads Up
Growing heading lettuces, with their mosaic of colors, textures and leafy rosette shapes is one of the most rewarding aspects of having your own kitchen garden. Unfortunately, many of us have grown up identifying head lettuce only with the rock...
Growing Delicious Mesclun Mixes
Nothing can surpass the delicious tastes, textures and pretty colors of tender baby salad lettuces freshly harvested, simply dressed, and enjoyed just minutes after they are cut. These luscious salads are called Mesclun today, a French term that originally meant...
Growing Delicious Mesclun Mixes
Nothing can surpass the delicious tastes, textures and pretty colors of tender baby salad lettuces freshly harvested, simply dressed, and enjoyed just minutes after they are cut. These luscious salads are called Mesclun today, a French term that originally meant...
Make A Mouthwatering Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad has gained an incredible degree of popularity these days. Both in fancy restaurants and franchised coffee shops, you can order one easily and even make it into your entree with the addition of cooked chicken or shrimp. Just...
Make A Mouthwatering Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad has gained an incredible degree of popularity these days. Both in fancy restaurants and franchised coffee shops, you can order one easily and even make it into your entree with the addition of cooked chicken or shrimp. Just...
Easy, Colorful Edible Nasturtiums
Colorful, edible, butterfly-like nasturtium blossoms have delighted gardeners and cooks alike for centuries. At different times in their history, they’ve been considered a vegetable, an herb, a flower, and even a fruit! The name nasturtium comes from the Latin words...
Easy, Colorful Edible Nasturtiums
Colorful, edible, butterfly-like nasturtium blossoms have delighted gardeners and cooks alike for centuries. At different times in their history, they’ve been considered a vegetable, an herb, a flower, and even a fruit! The name nasturtium comes from the Latin words...
October Treats
October is the time of year to begin preparing your favorite foods for the fall and winter months ahead. Happily, the last summer garden crops can provide a wealth of raw ingredients for scrumptious desserts and holiday sweet treats. With...
October Treats
October is the time of year to begin preparing your favorite foods for the fall and winter months ahead. Happily, the last summer garden crops can provide a wealth of raw ingredients for scrumptious desserts and holiday sweet treats. With...
Soups from the Portuguese Kitchen
I'm so pleased to have a guest post from Joy Albright-Souza, part of the earliest Renee's Garden team, who left us to start her own landscape design business. Her company specializes in edible landscaping and her designs grace many fine...
Soups from the Portuguese Kitchen
I'm so pleased to have a guest post from Joy Albright-Souza, part of the earliest Renee's Garden team, who left us to start her own landscape design business. Her company specializes in edible landscaping and her designs grace many fine...
Container Gardening
Even though the company has large outdoor trial gardens, I really enjoy planting a cheerful profusion of flowers and savory herbs in containers of all sizes and shapes on the patio outside my kitchen door. For many urban gardeners, container...
Container Gardening
Even though the company has large outdoor trial gardens, I really enjoy planting a cheerful profusion of flowers and savory herbs in containers of all sizes and shapes on the patio outside my kitchen door. For many urban gardeners, container...
Summer Entertaining in the Garden
Sharing my garden with friends and family is one of the most enjoyable parts of summer for me. This year, we've had beautiful warm evenings, so I invited some new friends over to dinner. I planned a simple flavorful meal...
Summer Entertaining in the Garden
Sharing my garden with friends and family is one of the most enjoyable parts of summer for me. This year, we've had beautiful warm evenings, so I invited some new friends over to dinner. I planned a simple flavorful meal...
Easy and Delicious Dried Tomatoes
Rich tasting "sundried" tomatoes are a kitchen gardener's treat, easy to make from your own fresh tomato harvests. Unless you live in a very hot and dry summer climate, it's better and easier to dry them indoors, so the name...
Easy and Delicious Dried Tomatoes
Rich tasting "sundried" tomatoes are a kitchen gardener's treat, easy to make from your own fresh tomato harvests. Unless you live in a very hot and dry summer climate, it's better and easier to dry them indoors, so the name...
My Favorite Herbs
Having lots of fresh herbs is a source of continuing delight for me every season. Most culinary herbs are both easy and reliable to grow. Using them in abundance for everyday cooking is a delicious luxury every gardening cook will...
My Favorite Herbs
Having lots of fresh herbs is a source of continuing delight for me every season. Most culinary herbs are both easy and reliable to grow. Using them in abundance for everyday cooking is a delicious luxury every gardening cook will...
Delicious Lavender
I've always felt a special affinity for lavender. Its heady sweet scent is my favorite floral perfume, and the soft color of the blossoms and the gray-green of the foliage are highlights in my garden. I indulged my lavender fantasies...
Delicious Lavender
I've always felt a special affinity for lavender. Its heady sweet scent is my favorite floral perfume, and the soft color of the blossoms and the gray-green of the foliage are highlights in my garden. I indulged my lavender fantasies...
Herbal Teas and Vinegars
The end of the summer gardening season is bittersweet, but has its own rewards. This is the month that almost all kitchen herbs are producing in abundance, ready to snip in big bunches whenever you feel like enjoying them in...
Herbal Teas and Vinegars
The end of the summer gardening season is bittersweet, but has its own rewards. This is the month that almost all kitchen herbs are producing in abundance, ready to snip in big bunches whenever you feel like enjoying them in...
Cooking With Fresh Basil
There are many different kinds of basil you can grow and enjoy from seed. Renee shares some of her fresh basil recipes: Pesto Basil Salad Dressing and Basil Leaf Vinegar.
Cooking With Fresh Basil
There are many different kinds of basil you can grow and enjoy from seed. Renee shares some of her fresh basil recipes: Pesto Basil Salad Dressing and Basil Leaf Vinegar.
Lavender and Roses from Seed
Lavender and roses have been beloved garden plants throughout their long history of cultivation and their timeless beauty is easily adaptable to changing gardening fashions. In the formal gardens of the Romans, who bathed in lavender and rose-scented waters, in...
Lavender and Roses from Seed
Lavender and roses have been beloved garden plants throughout their long history of cultivation and their timeless beauty is easily adaptable to changing gardening fashions. In the formal gardens of the Romans, who bathed in lavender and rose-scented waters, in...
When to Plant in Texas
Information courtesy of Aggie Horticulture, a service of the Texas A&M University System Horticulture program.
When to Plant in Texas
Information courtesy of Aggie Horticulture, a service of the Texas A&M University System Horticulture program.
Luxury from the Garden: Alpine Strawberries
The jewel-like fruits of Alpine strawberries (Fragaria Vesca Sempervirens) are a special delicacy you can enjoy every summer. To me their flavor combines the essence of strawberries, roses and pineapples. Also known by their romantic French name, Fraises des Bois,...
Luxury from the Garden: Alpine Strawberries
The jewel-like fruits of Alpine strawberries (Fragaria Vesca Sempervirens) are a special delicacy you can enjoy every summer. To me their flavor combines the essence of strawberries, roses and pineapples. Also known by their romantic French name, Fraises des Bois,...
Herbal Remedies from the Garden
Relaxing with aromatic teas or enjoying body care products from herbs you’ve grown and dried yourself is both therapeutic and satisfying. Preparing herbal remedies is also a wonderful way to become better acquainted with your plants — their fragrances and...
Herbal Remedies from the Garden
Relaxing with aromatic teas or enjoying body care products from herbs you’ve grown and dried yourself is both therapeutic and satisfying. Preparing herbal remedies is also a wonderful way to become better acquainted with your plants — their fragrances and...
Harvesting and Saving Seeds
P. Allen Smith and Renee discuss saving seeds so you can enjoy them season after season.
Harvesting and Saving Seeds
P. Allen Smith and Renee discuss saving seeds so you can enjoy them season after season.
Harvest and Prepare Loofah Sponges
Lindsay demonstrates how to harvest and prepare homegrown loofah sponges.
Harvest and Prepare Loofah Sponges
Lindsay demonstrates how to harvest and prepare homegrown loofah sponges.
Grow "Cut and Come Again" Mesclun Lettuce
Renee demonstrates how to plant your bountiful cut-and-come-again lettuce harvest. It's easy to grow your own diverse and delicious salads from seeds.
Grow "Cut and Come Again" Mesclun Lettuce
Renee demonstrates how to plant your bountiful cut-and-come-again lettuce harvest. It's easy to grow your own diverse and delicious salads from seeds.
6 Dos and 1 Don't for a Good Garden
#1: Don't Sow Your Seeds or Set out Seedlings Too Early! Be strong: resist the temptation to sow your garden on the first warm spring weekend! Heat- loving summer annuals will not thrive and grow well until the soil has...
6 Dos and 1 Don't for a Good Garden
#1: Don't Sow Your Seeds or Set out Seedlings Too Early! Be strong: resist the temptation to sow your garden on the first warm spring weekend! Heat- loving summer annuals will not thrive and grow well until the soil has...