The trick to making sure that carrot seeds germinate at all is keeping them moist after they’re planted. That means not letting those little sprouts dry out before you put them in the ground.

You can grow onions from seed rather than sets or plants, but they’ll take three to four months to mature. Plant in them in the early spring for fall harvest.

The key to growing juicy celery—a third of the mirepoix base at the heart of so many fall stews and soups—is to plant the seeds in rich, well-drained soil.

Eggplants thrive in rich soil. Add mulch, and compost routinely.

Cauliflower should be grown in a spot that gets full sun (that means six to eight hours of sunlight per day).

Plant garlic between late September and November, and you’ll have a mature crop next year. It takes nearly nine months to fully mature for harvest.

Beets can tolerate a little frost and near-freezing temperatures, so plant them right at the turn of spring to harvest in the fall.

Plant fava bean seeds in a row with plenty of room on either side—this plant loves to spread out.

Plant radish seeds in full sun. If radishes are planted in too much shade, or even where neighboring vegetable plants shade them, they will put all their energy into producing larger leaves rather than delicious bulbs.

Standard broccoli prefers cooler temperatures and grows best in the spring and fall. Long periods of hot weather can cause heat stress.

Pumpkin plants need a bunch of water to thrive—we mean daily watering, especially throughout July and into August.

Give your native soil a nutrient boost by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter for the best-tasting crop of squash.

Growing Brussels sprouts is a long, slow process. Plants should go in the ground in the early spring or mid to late summer for a crop that matures in the fall.