Carve a Pumpkin
It's almost Halloween, which means it's time for roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin carving, pumpkin bread and bags and bags of Twix. Okay, maybe not that last part...
Home Grown Culver City
If you live in the Los Angeles area, and you want to venture out after the rain stops, head to the first ever Home Grown Culver City this
Saturday, October 23 from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. at Media Park in Culver City. Gardenerd will be there offering discounts on all our Gardenerd Store products and we'll be standing by to answer your
gardening questions.
Growing Christmas Lima Beans
At the end of the LA Garden show earlier this spring, my booth neighbor and fellow Gardenerd, Nysha Dalgren of Ardenwoods Edibles let me choose a plant or two to take home. I couldn't resist the opportunity to try something new, and a the tiny tendrils of a Christmas Lima Bean plant were calling out to me.
When I got home, I tucked the plant in behind a ...
My First Chile Relleno
It might seem crazy to grow something in the garden specifically for one dish, but when it comes down to it, there's something to be said for seeing a meal
through from start - as in seedling - to finish. This is the case of our poblano peppers.
We grew poblanos for one reason and one reason only - to make chile rellenos. Not that I even knew how to make them, but it was about time to learn.
...
Bagrada Bug
Harlequin Bugs – Not Funny!
They look kind of funny, maybe even cute, but harlequin bugs are no laughing matter. If left to their own devices, they'll mutilate a plant
within an inch of its life. They like brassicas - a lot - and this year they found my kale.
The Harlequin Bug (murgantia histrionica) is a True bug, and a stink bug - which you only find out when you squish them. They are black and orange and are often ...
Preserving Leeks – High and Dry
Now that summer has come to a close (not that you could tell with all the hot weather we've been having lately), harvest season is upon us.
As part of our harvest plan, we built a solar food dryer in order to alleviate some
congestion in the freezer.
We've over our heads in leeks right now. The fridge is full, and the freezer is already full of batches ...
Growing Garbanzo Beans (that’s chickpeas to you, darling)
You'll find them in Indian food, hearty soups, and as a ubiquitous staple of the salad bar at Soup Plantation, but you might not know how good they really are until you've cooked them yourself.
Garbanzo beans, also known as chick peas, are usually undercooked when you buy them canned, and certainly don't hold a lot of flavor on their own (kind of like tofu), but they are a great base for
many dishes and very satisfying to grow.
We experimented with growing garbanzo beans in our test ...
Building a Solar Food Dryer
Okay, so you've got a ton of leeks and you've already made a gigantic batch of potato and leek soup that's completely filled up the freezer. Now what do you do with the rest of the leeks (about 10 pounds or so)? One options is to dehydrate them. Dried fruits and vegetables require no freezer space, no refrigerator space, and no electricity to keep them at the ready for use in the kitchen. In fact, it ...
The Green of Mexico
We recently took some time off this summer to vacation in Michoacan, Mexico. The goal was to relax deeply and to see what the areas of
indigenous Mexico had to offer. We were enveloped by the beauty of the land during this rainy season, and felt like we saw the real Mexico, rather than the tourist versions.
Our home base was in Lake Zirahuen, a small town around one of the purest lakes in the world. It rained ...
Pure Joy in the Garden
Recently I finished teaching another round of classes at Santa Monica College's Continuing Education Program, during which the students planted a few seeds in plastic pots to take home with them. They planted either carrots, green onions or radishes (small plants that would do well in 6" pots). They eagerly awaited for the first signs of sprouting and enthusiastically reported back in the third or fourth week of class, "I have carrot sprouts!" I love seeing ...