Fruit Flies in the Kitchen
This week's Tip of the Week will look at a few techniques to keep fruit flies from taking over your fruit basket.
Culver City Garden Show Review
This past Saturday I wandered through the 58th Annual Culver City Garden Show. I had never been there before, and what a fun time it was. Gardenerds abounded with booths selling plants and plant-related items. Master Gardeners were present to answer gardening questions. The California Native Plant Society was on hand to talk about native plants and plant care. But my favorite part, of course, was the vegetable and fruit display.
There were contests for the best fruits and most obscure vegetables. This table below featured ...
Solar Flax Chips
We're constantly trying to replicate store-bought treats in the Gardenerd kitchen, and this week we successfully tackled raw flax chips/crackers. We did it all in the solar food dryer too - so the entire experiment was carbon neutral!
If you are looking for a substitute for potato chips or any other salty snack, you've got to try these flax chips. They are nutritious and delicious - it's hard to eat just one. Here's how we did it:
The Recipe - ...
Eclectic Meal Choices in Mar Vista
The weekly Farmers' Market wrap up is available for your perusal on the Gardenerd Blog. You'll get hungry just reading about all the options you have:
In the Market for a Meal?
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Fall Garden Planning
It’s August, which means that it’s time to start thinking about your fall garden. This week's Tip of the Week will give you tips to get you started!
Ask Gardenerd: When do I harvest my root crops?
A question came into Ask Gardenerd this week that I've been hearing for the past month or so. Seems like a good time to address it:
"When do you know when to pull out things that grow underground like radishes, green onions, even carrots? I'm either too early or too late. - Rochelle"
Well Rochelle, the answer is in your hands. More specifically, it's your index finger. When growing root crops, the foliage will put on a pretty show above ground, but the real magic is happening underground. In order ...
Harvesting Triticale (and other grains)
August means harvest time, and even in a small garden there's plenty of work to do to bring garden treasures in for the season. Harvesting grains can be a bit time consuming, but it is particularly satisfying when the process is over. After all the chaff is removed, you have a finished product that can be used to make cereals, breads, pie crusts, and other baked goods through winter.
We grew triticale this spring and just harvested it this week. Now it's time to prepare it for the ...
Melons and Tomatoes – Flavors of Summer
Check out the latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter. Get some great ideas for no-cook recipes for melons and tomatoes:
Savor the Fruits of Summer with Melons and Tomatoes
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Mid-Summer Task List
From tomatoes to blackberries, you're probably experiencing peak summer growth. Now is the time to give your garden a little extra TLC to ensure the same (or better) harvest next year.
Cucumbers Become Mom Jo’s Dill Pickles
Last week's Tip of the Week podcast introduced you to my mother's delicious dill pickle recipe. This week we tried our hands at making them with home grown Lemon Cucumbers. Tension mounted at the thought of doing it for the first time without Mom there to guide, but a few phone calls along the way made it easy.
We started with freshly picked Lemon Cucumbers (and an Early Russian straggler). We soaked them over night in cold water.
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