The sweet potato is the jewel of fall and winter. This year we grew our own, and now it's time to serve them up in a savory recipe. There are far too many recipes which add sugar or maple syrup to sweet potatoes, which IMHO is a disservice to the tuber. Why not enjoy them in their natural state? Here's our favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes. Aren't they gorgeous!? They cook up beautifully too. We used our one and…
As you may know, bees are responsible for pollinating 1 out of every 4 bites of food we eat, so attracting bees to your garden is a really good idea. One way to do it is to put up a swarm box. Swarm boxes give bees an attractive place to call home. When their hive grows too large, the queen will take some of the bees and leave in search of new digs. If they choose to inhabit your swarm…
As Autumn sets in, it's time to harvest sweet potatoes. They have spent the last three or four months growing in warm weather, but before frost hits (or as soon as it does) those sweet potatoes have to come out. We planting a sampler pack of three different varieties in May. It was a first for the Gardenerd Test Garden. The sampler featured two slips each of All Purple, North Carolina White, and Ginseng. They look pretty sad to start…
While up in Santa Cruz, we visited an amazing farm near the ocean. The reason why it's so amazing goes beyond its glorious rows of dahlias, kale and salad greens. It's the farm's mission to give homeless people a new life. Natural Bridges Farm is a certified organic, U-pick farm with a CSA component for local residents. It is run by the Homeless Garden Project, which offers "job training, a safe and beautiful community space, and delicious, local, organic produce."…
They look like tiny watermelons, but taste like cucumbers. What the heck are they? That's what most people say when they lay eyes on a Mexican Sour Gherkin cucumber. It's an heirloom variety that keeps gardeners from getting bored. We first saw them at the Culver City Garden Show, where fellow gardenerd Elizabeth Camp was showing them off. One look and we knew they were a garden must. We grew them this summer in our Test Garden, so here's the…
This is exciting. The folks at Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply (PVF) have asked Gardenerd to participate in their Garlic Planting Party this week, and you reap the benefits. One lucky Gardenerd reader will win a Garlic Party Prize Package (details below) to enhance your garlic growing experience this fall. But first, a little about the subject at hand. Here in Southern California, we typically grow softneck varieties, though I know someone who grows hardnecks because he didn't know…
The latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter is ready for your perusal on Patch.com. Check out a new mushroom vendor at the Farmers' Market and find out how you can win a box of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms: Smiling New Vendor Holds Mushroom Contest at Mar Vista Farmers' Market
It's harvest time, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the recent Harvest Moon than to feature one of the best farmers' markets in California. A visit to Santa Cruz led to the discovery of this beautiful experience, where most of the vendors were organic farmers, and the selection was tremendous. Take a gander: There were several items for sale that we just don't have here: I would love to be able to buy brown rice and…
With fall coming on, it's time to crack open a new gardening book or two. I recently finished reading these new additions to my library and wanted to share my findings: First, William Moss' Any Size, Anywhere Edible Gardening, which focuses on growing in containers, community gardens, and in small spaces. Moss' personality comes through in the book, and his lyrical narration really gives the reader a sense of the rich, cultural gardening experience he had growing up in South…
Awhile back, we started planting a special blend of legumes, grasses and greens from Peaceful Valley Farm for our hens to forage, and we wrote about it in June. The day of truth came when the mix had grown tall enough to give to the ladies. Would the chickens like it? Would they eat it? Would they ignore it? Here's what we found out: The seed mix didn't germinate as thickly as we would have liked. But that didn't stop…