Chicken Update: Blanche, You’re a Woman Now

Continue ReadingChicken Update: Blanche, You’re a Woman Now

Many readers have asked that we post regular updates about our new chickens, and since Blanche - our Barnevelder - recently reached a milestone, it felt like a good time to send one out. Yes, Blanche started laying, and we were there to witness her first day.

It's not something that you read in books. In fact, it is often not even implied, but what we saw Blanche endure that day was nothing less than a rite of ...

Cabbage and Caramelized Onion Soup

Continue ReadingCabbage and Caramelized Onion Soup

'Tis the season to harvest cabbage, and we've been on a campaign to find tasty uses for it this month. Our crop consists of Vertus Savoy cabbage (with seeds from Bountiful Gardens). It grew well in Southern California, and it was a delight to finally be able to grow an open-pollinated variety of savoy cabbage (hard to find).  

Here is another savory and delicious way to incorporate this healthy brassica ...

New Edible Landscape for a Cottage

Continue ReadingNew Edible Landscape for a Cottage

Back in November, I got a call from a woman who wanted to turn her front and back yard into an edible landscape. She had seen me on Food For Thought with Claire Thomas, and felt instinctively that Gardenerd was the right hire for the job.

We worked together to come up with ideas: moving existing baby fruit trees to permanent homes in the front yard, adding a vegetable garden and more fruit trees in the backyard. She ...

Spring Garden Planning Workshop This Saturday

Continue ReadingSpring Garden Planning Workshop This Saturday

You've riffled through all of those seed catalogs, you've taken a survey of your seed collection and filled in the blanks. Now what? 

Where will everything go this season?  How will you find enough room?  What about crop rotation and companion planting? 


With all these things to think about, planning your spring garden may feel overwhelming. It's supposed to be fun. We can help.
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Fried Green Tomatoes – in Winter?

Continue ReadingFried Green Tomatoes – in Winter?

Yes, Dorothy, there still are tomatoes in February - if you live in Los Angeles. It's one of the many oddities of living in a warm winter climate. Up until last week, we were picking tomatoes from a volunteer tomato that had entwined itself through a giant Cecil Brunner rose, but with recent pruning, it all came to a delicious end.

The vine had ...

Chickens – Part 1: Building the Coop

Continue ReadingChickens – Part 1: Building the Coop

In an effort to expand our garden ecosystem, we've gone the way of the farmer, adding backyard chickens to our list of on-site resources. This is the story of how we got started. We intend to share the process in hopes of making it easier for others who plan to do the same.

We spent two years researching and being skittish about getting them, while everyone with chickens kept saying, "Just get them!"  2012 rolled around, as did ...

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