To My Subscribers:

Since the President has shown his middle finger to those around the world who admired this country, as well as seriously damaged the institutions that have made America a source of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation, I’ve decided to take Voltaire’s maxim to heart. At the end of Candide, he wrote: “We must take care of our garden.”

In an era of large-scale political chaos, Voltaire suggests focusing our energy on our immediate surroundings, especially our gardens—even if they are just a few pots on a city balcony. Staying busy and productive shields people from boredom and despair.

As some of you know, I was an editor and writer for Organic Gardening magazine in the 1970s and have written over 20 books on food, wine, and gardening in the years since. To gather all the gardening know-how in my books would take years if you started from scratch.

In order to give everyone a running start as we all follow Voltaire’s advice, on the last Sunday of each month I will use my Substack post to share what knowledge I have about the vegetables we grow in our gardens, including which varieties are the most nutritious and tastiest, which are pest resistant, which are reliable producers of good crops, and how to store them and use them. Including recipes.

Starting Sunday, June 28, I will post my first Substack on vegetables, starting with asparagus. Each last Sunday of the month afterwards, I’ll cover another vegetable, until all the common produce in our markets has been covered. It may take a couple of years.

If you find these articles worthy, I suggest you dedicate a file on your computer to store them as I post them, and in a while you will have—I guarantee—the most in-depth, interesting, and useful articles on growing life-sustaining foods. It will be a reference that will not go out of style.

See you in the garden on the last Sunday of each month! –Jeff Cox