New Year, New Law
The State of California just passed a new law that protects apartment dwellers from having to remove edible gardens from their patios and balconies.
Fresh picked eggplant, dill and parsley form the base of this meal.
Recipe: Crisp Fried Eggplant with Parsley Sauce
If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll have noticed by now that Rose Elliot is one of my favorite cookbook authors. She excels at combining minimal ingredients for maximum flavor. With its promise of "30 minutes or less," her Vegetarian Fast Food cookbook has been my go-to reference for quick meals since the early 90s. Since we recently harvested Listada di Gandia eggplant from the winter garden, we wanted to showcase it, rather than blend it into a…
Soil builder cover crop
New Year’s Garden Resolutions 2015
Happy New Year, fellow Gardenerds! 2015 is here, the days are growing longer each day, and seed catalogs have arrived. We've been poring over them during breakfast, marking off new heirloom discoveries to try this year. This exploration leads to New Year's garden resolutions every time. Here's what we're thinking: 1) Give Tomatoes a Little More Room We've always planted our tomatoes very close together, and for many years it worked great. But lately, with what seems like an undefeatable…
Trash Can Root Cellar
Learn how to make a root cellar out of a trash can
A Compostable Christmas
Make your holidays as light on the planet as possible with these tricks: use last year’s seed catalogs to wrap presents.
Dr. Mercola's Sprout Doctor Sprouting Kit. Get 3 with our giveaway!
Giveaway: Sprouting Seeds for Greens All Winter
It's holiday time, which means thoughtful gifts and good cheer with loved ones. It also means, for many people, a winter without fresh greens in the garden. Thankfully, we can sprout seeds indoors for snipping into salads, soups and more all winter long. Our regular readers may recall that we attempted to sprout seeds in a Mason jar not too long ago. It was a lot of work for a few dollars-worth of sprouts. If only it were easier... Imagine…
Photo by Andrew Cheeseman
Scoring Big with the Rain Barrel Rebate
We try to write blog posts with a nationwide focus, but every once in a while, something with a local flare is in order. This is one of those times: Los Angeles is finally seeing some rain, and our rain barrels are full once again. We just wish we could get more rain barrels for a decent price. How about free? Yea, that would be great. Well, if you live in the Metropolitan Water District area of Los Angeles, you…
Winter Foods
Winter may not official start until later this month, but fall offers great seasonal ingredients for hearty winter meals.
Yours truly and Will Allen of Growing Power
Field Trip: Ocean View Farms and Will Allen
I had the pleasure of arranging a visit to Ocean View Farms organic community garden for a group of innovative folks who are working to solve several issues at once: food waste, food deserts, soil fertility, and carbon loss. What's the solution? Compost, of course. Will Allen, of Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, led the group and the discussions that followed the tour. The event was sponsored and organized by The Community and Regional Food Systems Project, The Growing Experience,…
New bioswale captures and sinks water deep into the ground for fruit trees to enjoy.
Big Changes for a Big Front Yard
Our largest Turf Removal Rebate project to date involved eliminating 3,000 square feet of lawn in a big front yard and parkway in Beverlywood. The owners wanted to reduce their water bill and make their front yard an inviting place for kids to play, while providing native habitat for birds and pollinators. These were big changes for the neighborhood, as a quick drive around the block would prove. Every house had a lawn. This was going to be big. This…