Tools for Gardeners

Plant library

Vegetable growing guides

Vegetables are the largest group in the plant library, from quick cool-season greens to long-season crops that need weeks indoors before transplanting. Each page covers spacing, sun, water, soil pH, and days to maturity, plus the mistakes that cost gardeners a crop. Where a crop has a timing rule, the page's timing card computes real dates for your ZIP code.

Illustration of a tomato plant stem with leaves and two round red fruits

Vegetable

Tomatoes

Warm-season plants with practical planting, spacing, sun, soil, and harvest guidance.

Illustration of a pepper plant stem with leaves and one hanging bell pepper

Vegetable

Peppers

A guide to starting peppers, choosing a warm site, and keeping plants productive through summer.

Illustration of a carrot root below the soil line with green fronds above

Vegetable

Carrots

Practical guidance for sowing carrots directly, preparing loose soil, and timing successive crops.

Illustration of a lettuce head with layered rounded leaves

Vegetable

Lettuce

Cool-season planting and harvest guidance for crisp lettuce in beds and containers.

Illustration of a cucumber vine with lobed leaves and one long fruit

Vegetable

Cucumbers

Learn when to sow cucumbers, how much room vines need, and how to keep harvests steady.

Illustration of a bean plant stem with leaves and hanging pods

Vegetable

Beans

Warm-season legumes that fix much of their own nitrogen and start producing pods about two months after sowing.

Illustration of a pea vine with leaves and hanging pods

Vegetable

Peas

A cool-season crop for early spring and fall, grown up a trellis or as a self-supporting bush type.

Illustration of a spinach plant with dark green rounded leaves

Vegetable

Spinach

A fast cool-season leafy green for spring and fall beds, containers, and repeated small sowings.

Illustration of a broccoli head made of tight green florets

Vegetable

Broccoli

A cool-season brassica grown for its central head and the smaller side shoots that follow it.

Illustration of a zucchini vine with lobed leaves and one oblong fruit

Vegetable

Zucchini

A fast warm-season squash that produces heavily, so one or two plants are usually enough for a household.

Illustration of a kale plant with dark ruffled leaves

Vegetable

Kale

A hardy leafy green that tolerates frost, improves after cold nights, and keeps producing for months.

Illustration of a round red radish root below the soil line with leaves above

Vegetable

Radishes

One of the fastest crops in the garden, ready in under a month in cool weather.

Illustration of an onion bulb below the soil line with flat leaves above

Vegetable

Onions

A long-season bulb crop whose size depends on daylight, so the right type for your latitude matters most.

Illustration of a garlic bulb below the soil line with flat leaves above

Vegetable

Garlic

A fall-planted bulb that spends winter rooting and sizes up fast in spring.

Illustration of potato tubers below the soil line with leafy growth above

Vegetable

Potatoes

A cool-season staple grown from seed potatoes and hilled up as stems grow.

Illustration of a dark red beetroot below the soil line with leaves above

Vegetable

Beets

A two-for-one cool crop with sweet roots and edible greens, ready fast in spring and fall.

Illustration of an eggplant plant with one hanging purple fruit

Vegetable

Eggplants

A heat-loving nightshade that produces glossy fruit through the hottest part of summer.

Illustration of a corn stalk with two ears and a tassel

Vegetable

Sweet corn

A block-planted warm-season grass that needs numbers, not a single row, for good pollination.

Illustration of an arugula plant with a small rosette of leaves

Vegetable

Arugula

A peppery cool-season green ready for baby leaves in about three weeks.

Illustration of three asparagus spears emerging from the soil

Vegetable

Asparagus

A perennial crop that produces spring spears for 15 or more years once established.

Illustration of a brussels sprouts stalk lined with small round buds

Vegetable

Brussels sprouts

A long-season brassica that rewards patience with sweet sprouts after autumn frosts.

Illustration of a squash vine with lobed leaves and a pear shaped butternut fruit

Vegetable

Butternut squash

A long warm-season vine whose hard-skinned fruit cures for months of winter storage.

Illustration of a round cabbage head wrapped in outer leaves

Vegetable

Cabbage

A cool-season brassica grown for dense heads that keep well in storage.

Illustration of a pale cauliflower head made of tight florets

Vegetable

Cauliflower

The fussiest common brassica, rewarding steady cool growth with tight white curds.

Illustration of a bundle of pale green celery stalks

Vegetable

Celery

A long, thirsty cool-season crop that needs an early indoor start and constant moisture.

Illustration of three thick leek stalks

Vegetable

Leeks

A slow cool-season allium grown for long white stems that sweeten with frost.

Illustration of an okra plant with upright ribbed pods

Vegetable

Okra

A heat-loving crop that produces pods daily once summer temperatures climb.

Illustration of a pale parsnip root below the soil line with leaves above

Vegetable

Parsnips

A slow root crop that sweetens after frost and keeps in the ground into winter.

Illustration of sweet potato tubers below the soil line with leafy growth above

Vegetable

Sweet potatoes

A sprawling warm-season vine grown from slips, with roots that cure into sweeter storage.

Illustration of a swiss chard plant with broad upright leaves

Vegetable

Swiss chard

A forgiving leafy green that tolerates both frost and summer heat and harvests for months.

Illustration of a peanut plant with leafy growth above and pods below the soil line

Vegetable

Peanut

Peanut planting, hilling, and harvest guidance for home gardens, including why the yellow flowers dive underground to make pods.

Illustration of a sesame stalk lined with upright seed capsules

Vegetable

Sesame

Sesame planting, watering, and harvest guidance for home gardens, including how to beat the pods' habit of splitting open.

Illustration of a yuca plant with a cane stem topped by hand-shaped leaves

Vegetable

Yuca

Yuca (cassava) planting, cutting, and harvest guidance for warm home gardens, including the cooking step that makes the roots safe.

Illustration of rice plants with arching grain heads

Vegetable

Rice

A warm-season grain for adventurous gardens: no paddy required, but a long season and steady moisture are.