Garden nerd Archives - Page 8 of 14

Is this a White Peacock? So beautiful.

Field Trip: Butterfly Pavilion

The Natural History Museum's Butterfly Pavilion is more than a place to see butterflies, it's a place to learn what to grow so you can attract them to your garden. I spent some time there last week taking in the beauty of the butterfly, and words just can't express it as well as a photograph. It's my first time using the "gallery" feature on this blog post, so forgive any formatting glitches when you try to click on the photos…

Post author:Christy
Post published:July 3, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Spicy Zucchini Soup

Zucchini Overload? Spicy Zucchini Soup to the Rescue

You know the drill: you go away for a weekend and come back to baseball-bat sized zucchini. After you've given away as many as you can and your neighbors have stopped talking to you, there's only one thing you can do--make Spicy Zucchini Soup. This recipe is the perfect solution for zucchini overload because it uses 2 POUNDS of chopped zucchini (you don't have to shred or even peel it). It comes together in about 30 minutes and is perfect…

Post author:Christy
Post published:July 2, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Hot weather crops get the sunniest part of the garden

Tiny But Mighty Venice Garden Makeover

Those who are familiar with Venice Beach, CA know that it's a great place to live, but the lots are tiny. Finding a place to garden is challenging and finding adequate sunlight can be even more of a challenge. Last month, Gardenerd helped one couple find the perfect solution to both issues. The homeowners were excited to take back control over their food sources, and wanted to grow as much as possible. The front yard was the only place that…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 26, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

Bee on a cardoon

Field Trip: Edible Garden at Natural History Museum

Amongst the dinosaur bones, fossils, and taxidermy, there is a beautiful reason to step outside at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, CA: the Edible Garden (or Home Garden as they like to call it). You can see the expanse of fragrant and colorful roses from across the fence, but only in the Edible garden can you catch, marvel, and release insects of all sorts as you browse tasty heirlooms growing in abundance. Each plant is carefully marked to…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 25, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Tassels can appear to be many shades, from purple to white

The Birds and the Bees: Corn Sex

It happens every day. Plants send up flowers, bees pollinate them and vegetables are born. But corn has its own way to doing things, bees not included. So how exactly does corn come to be? Let's explore: It all starts with a seed...but we'll skip that part and get to the juicy stuff. Jump ahead to when corn stalks are several feet high. Tassels start poking out from the top of the plant. The tassel floret - the male part…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 12, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Poona Kheera cucumbers start out green and spiky.

Growing Poona Kheera Cucumbers

With Monsanto's renegade GMO wheat in the news, the importance of growing and preserving heirloom and open pollinated seed is even more evident. Every year we plant and heirloom we've never grown, and this year it was the Poona Kheera cucumber. The Poona Kheera is an heirloom cucumber from India, where the fruit's heritage finds its origins. It's a light colored cucumber with skin that darkens to resemble a russet potato when ripe. How could any gardenerd resist something that…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 11, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:22 Comments

Finished product - shelf stable green onions

Preserving Green Onions

No matter how we try to use up green onions from the garden, we always end up either with too many in the fridge or overgrown, leek-sized onions taking up space in the garden. This week we did something about it. Now that the days are longer, we hauled out our trusty solar food dryer to put it to work for the season. In addition to making delicious flax chips again, we've christened the solar dryer this year with our…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 6, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:6 Comments

Gardenerds Evan Kleiman and Christy Wilhelmi

Gardenerd on Good Food

And now for a moment of shameless self-promotion... For those who missed it, I was a guest on 89.9 KCRW's Good Food with Evan Kleiman on June 1, 2013. It was a dream come true to sit across from Evan and chat about gardening and soil testing. There was more to the interview than what aired, of course, including a moment where I revealed that I'd never baked a fruit pie because my mother is so good at it, there's…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 4, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:3 Comments

Getty Central Garden

Gardens of the Getty

This week we have a guest post from Michael DeHart, the Getty Central Garden Supervisor, as an enticement to visit the Getty's new exhibit, Gardens of the Renaissance. Take it away Michael: The Getty Central Garden as an Ever Changing Eden With the opening of Gardens of the Renaissance in the North Pavilion of the Getty Center, visitors’ thoughts are directed to things horticultural and growing. In the exhibit many flowers are displayed in intricate detail with precise placement and…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 4, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:1 Comment

Finished honey ready for eating

First Honey Harvest – Part 2

A few weeks ago, we harvested a frame of honeycomb from our bee hive. We've enjoyed eating thin slices of comb and chewing on it to extract the honey. What you're left with is like chewing gum, but in this case you can either spit it out or swallow it (it's technically a fat, not a wax, so it's safe to ingest). Regardless of whether that grosses you out or not, it's a fascinating experience. Still, we wanted honey to…

Post author:Christy
Post published:May 29, 2013
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:1 Comment