Bitter greens bring a wonderful depth of flavor to the garden and kitchen. From the pleasantly sharp bite of radicchio to the delicate bitterness of endive, escarole, and other traditional leafy greens, these vegetables offer a refreshing change from ordinary lettuce. Many develop their best flavor in cool weather, making them excellent choices for spring and fall gardens. Enjoy them fresh in salads, or try sautéing, roasting, or grilling to mellow their bitterness and bring out a delicious natural sweetness. Explore our collection of bitter greens and discover the rich flavors that have made these vegetables staples of Mediterranean cooking for generations.
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A parasitic wasp and a zombie-making virus team up to hijack a caterpillar's behavior, turning it into a bodyguard for the very creatures that have been feeding on it. Sound too crazy to be true? It isn't. This week, we're wrapping up our series on tomato hornworms and their archnemesis, the braconid wasp. And in some of the creepiest science yet, we'll discover how this tiny wasp manages to manipulate a creature many times its size.
Halloween is almost here, so this week we're sharing a little garden science that's part nature documentary, part horror film. Tiny wasps laying eggs inside living caterpillars, larvae feeding on their hosts from the inside out, and a virus that helps orchestrate the whole gruesome affair. Fortunately, this horror story has a happy ending—at least for you and your tomatoes.
As this season wraps up, we’re taking some time to reflect on the garden—what worked, what didn’t, and the lessons we learned along the way. And this year, one lesson came in the form of a very large, very hungry green caterpillar. The tomato hornworm can be astonishingly destructive, and yet it's also an important pollinator. Join us as we share the results of our (mostly) hands-off experiment in natural pest control.
