Category Archives: What’s Growin’ On

Chicken Update: Blanche, You’re a Woman Now

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Christy

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 …
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Back to the Roots with Mushrooms

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Christy

You’ve probably seen them at Whole Foods, or maybe they’ve crossed your path online, but even if you’ve never seen them, the idea is familiar
to you: growing mushrooms in a box. Over the past month or so, we’ve been testing out the Back to the Roots
Oyster Mushroom kit, and we’re eating the results.

It’s simple, the guys from Back to the Roots wanted …
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Cabbage and Caramelized Onion Soup

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Christy

‘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 …
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2012 Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Christy

Spring is less than a month away, and that means that garden tours will soon be populating our calendars. Garden tours are a great way to “fill
the well”, to get ideas for your own garden, re-awaken the dormant gardener that has been sleeping all winter, and even solve problems with your landscaping.

The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, on April 21, 2012, is a free tour that features not only amazing gardens,
but …
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New Edible Landscape for a Cottage

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Christy

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 …
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Spring Garden Planning Workshop This Saturday

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Christy

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?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Christy

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 …
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Chickens – Part 2: The Arrival

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Christy

[Cue movie voice over guy]

It’s been two years in the making…

But now they’ve come…

And No One knows what to expect…It’s…

[Cue percussive orchestral filler music]

Chicken Invasion

Already exhibiting personality…

Our story continues from last week’s post.

Our pullets arrived late …
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Meet the Milk Man

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Christy

The latest edition of Mar Vista’s Bounty Hunter is live and ready for your cheese-y delight:  This week you’ll learn about Milk Man Cheese
Services and find out where to get local artisan cheeses in Southern California.

The Milk Man Cometh
 …
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Chickens – Part 1: Building the Coop

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Christy

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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