There's a new member of our garden's ecosystem, and her name is Mittens. This little black and white cat arrived to our neighborhood in November, and has been courting us ever since. She won us over with her gentle regard and loving disposition, and the fact that she'd sit in my lap all day if I let her. Mittens investigated our back yard, watching our chickens but not attacking. That was the big test. If they could get along, she…
This holiday season we gave gifts from the garden, which came primarily from our citrus trees. Sunset Magazine featured an easy home made gift idea that struck a chord: citrus salt. Sprinkle it on salads, meats, and in soups to brighten flavors just before serving. Here's how we did it. Ingredients 1 cup course flake salt (we used Penzeys - our favorite spice company) 3 Tbsp. citrus zest, any kind (we used lemon, lime and orange, divided) How-to: Combine salt…
Looking for a delicious way to cook up those winter vegetables? Look no further. This recipe from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine cooks up a savory, satisfying jambalaya that rivals any meat version. Smoked paprika, cayenne and chili powder make it spicy, but not too hot. Roasted Winter Vegetable Jamabalaya -Serves 6 1 cup long-grain brown rice (we used short grain - worked fine) 2 large carrots, diced 2 medium parsnips, diced 1 small sweet potato, diced…
With each new year, gardeners vow to make changes or try new techniques (or remember old ones). 2013 shall be no different, and so we bring you Gardenerd's Gardening Resolutions for the new year. 1) De-Clutter - haven't used that stack of plastic pots in three years? It's time to let them go. Donate them to a school or recycle them through Freecycle or Craigslist. I'm cleaning out shredded bird netting, old balls of wire (collected from Christmas wreaths of…
Interesting things come in the monthly produce exchange, and last month it included one chayote squash. As it sat on the counter, it became more interesting. It sprouted. I've never eaten chayote squash before. It's usually cooked like summer squash, but the roots, leaves and stems are also edible. A quick glance at Wikipedia yields an abundance of ideas for using it in different ethnic cuisines: Uses for chayote squash But wait, there's more... Perhaps the most interesting part about…
There's something special about sneaking outside in your bathrobe into the crisp, cool, fall air to pick a citrus breakfast off a tree: a fresh orange dripping with new fallen rain. December is when navel oranges really hits their stride, and lemons fall abundantly from the tree. Instead of installing a front lawn four years ago, we opted for a mini orchard of five trees. This week the navel orange and Meyer lemon have finally turned color and are ready…
This week we have a great guest blog post from Kami McBride, author of The Herbal Kitchen. I met Kami at the Heirloom Expo, where she was sharing her knowledge of healing remedies from the garden. Today Kami presents an interesting twist on the Christmas tree. Take it away Kami... Healing Qualities of the Evergreen Trees Decorating the Christmas tree is an ancient tradition from a time when various trees and plants were honored at different times of the year.…
A call came in from a Santa Monica homeowner who had been wanting to put in a small herb garden for years. She had a busy life, and participated in a monthly CSA (community supported agriculture), so a full-sized vegetable garden wasn't necessary. She dreamed, though, of walking out her back door to harvest fresh herbs. With most of the back yard relegated for volleyball, we chose a corner of the yard for the herb garden. The homeowner wanted to…
The latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter is ready for your perusal. Find out more about Silver Lake Farms and how they're going "greens": New Vendor Features Organic Micro-greens for Mar Vistans
Did you know that most pumpkin puree sold in a can is not actually pumpkin? It's some other kind of squash masquerading as pumpkin. There's only one way to know for sure that you have the genuine article, and that's to make it yourself. It's easy, and not very time consuming. We harvested 2 pumpkins this year (sad, but still something to show for the season). One of those beauties was massacred in the street on Halloween night. The other…