I'm Charlie Nardozzi. I grew up in an Italian-American family. Italians love many things, especially good food. In particular, they love their vegetables. While most of us think of tomatoes, garlic, and eggplant when we say "Italian vegetables", there are some unusual vegetables you should try in your garden. Italians love wild greens. Agretti is a popular Italian green used in upscale restaurants. It has a salty, tart flavor, that's truly a unique taste sensation. It can grow in salt water, but also does fine in most gardeners. Plant in spring with cool weather and you'll be enjoying 8 to 12 inch tall greens in about 40 days. I've talked about eating dandelions before, but if you truly want to experience this green, try the Catalogna varieties such as puntarelle. Puntarelle has a milder dandelion flavor than its wild cousin with just a hint of bitter taste. The leaves are best thinly sliced then plunged in ice cold water to curl. It's great mixed with lettuce in salads. I remember every Easter eating fennel salad at my mother's house. Globe fennel has an anise flavor and it grows best with cool spring weather, plenty of moisture and proper thinning. Try it mixed with pink grapefruit sections and mint leaves for a sweet, refreshing salad. Finally, how about a root crop that tastes like a mix between asparagus and oysters? Scorzonero literally means "black bark". This thin rooted perennial plant has a black skin and a white root. Grow it in a raised bed on well-drained, loose soil and harvest in fall, being carefully not to break the brittle roots. Roast it or saute for the best flavor.

1. Vegetables from an Italian
Garden

2. The Cook Book

3. Italian Vegetables

4. Food
“By 2050 there will
be 9 billion
people on the
planet. We’ll
have to produce
more food in the
next 50 years
than all of
mankind has
produced in the
last 10,000 years
combined.”

5. Italians Love Food and other
things

6. Italians Love Eating

7. Italians Love Vegetables

8. Sun in your Italian Garden

9. Location, location, location

10. The Right Soil

11. “A poor gardener grows weeds. A mediocre
gardener grows crops. A good gardener
grows soil” --- Japanese proverb

12. Soil Drainage

13. Veggie Garden Design

14. Raised Bed Garden

15. On-Line Kitchen Garden
Planner

16. Design your Own Garden

17. Your Kitchen Garden

18. Square Foot Garden

19. Permanent Raised Beds

20. Advantages

21. Elevated Raised Bed

22. Temporary Raised Beds

23. Lasagna Gardening

24. Laying Newspaper

25. Adding Compost

26. Spring Italian Vegetables

27. Mesclun Greens

28. Wild Greens

29. Agretti

30. Agretti Cooked

31. Spring Salad

32. Asparagus

33. Asparagus Hedge

34. White Beans and Asparagus

35. Broad Beans

36. Crimson Fava Beans

37. Favas, artichokes & peas

38. Broccoli Raab

39. Summer Italian Vegetables

40. Artichoke

41. Costoluto Genovese tomato

42. Radiator Charlie's Mortgage
Lifter

43. Tomato & Nettle Ravioli

44. Corno di Toro Pepper

45. Carmen Hybrid Pepper

46. Rosa Bianca eggplant

47. Eggplant Parmigiano

48. Tony's Spread

49. Cocozelle Courgette

50. Mint, Courgette, & Almond
pesto

51. Florence Fennel

52. Fennel and Grapefruit Salad

53. Summer Garden Care

54. Organic Mulch

55. Animal Manures

56. Cow vs Horse

57. Fish Fertilizer

58. Worm Poop

59. Zoo Doo

60. Side Dressing Fertilizer

61. Succession Planting

62. Organic Insect & Disease Control

63. Diversity is Key

64. Crop Rotation

65. Encourage Beneficial Insects

66. Plant Resistant Plants

67. Mechanical Controls

68. Vegetable Garden Traps

69. Targeted Sprays

70. Fall Italian Vegetables

71. Brussels Sprouts

72. Brussels Sprouts and
Chestnuts

73. Cardoon

74. Celeriac

75. Celeriac Roots

76. Radicchio

77. Celeriac and Radicchio Salad

78. Leeks

79. Leek, Potato and Cheese
Bake

80. Scorzonero

81. Garlic

82. Ready to Mange!