Harvest Time: Tomato Edition

From my great-aunts amazing vegetable garden, she sent me home with quite a bounty of vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh basil. My solution (and one of my favorite summer time/anytime meals) was my pesto green been salad.

Pesto:

Toast Pine Nuts and Garlic, put through food processor

Add Parmesan, pulse again

Add Basil, pulse one more time

Done.

Par boil and drain beans. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Mix all together with pesto that is conveniently warm from the pine nuts and garlic, and makes it easier to mix. Voila! Tasty garden salad.

Harvest Time: Apples Edition

Handpicked from my stepmother's orchard, these apples were so good right off the tree. At home they were put into a pie and the remainder went to brandied applesauce (canned myself!).  The pie was good but the applesauce was better. I am waiting for that self-indulgent evening to have it warmed over vanilla ice cream.

The applesauce was pretty easy to make. I rinsed, cored and cubed the fruit. I put the apples into a pan over medium high heat. I added equal parts water and brandy (no judging, it was about a cup or more of each) and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, until the apple had broken down. After, I put it through a food mill to get rid of the skins and it was ready to eat. This is definitely not meant to be your morning's applesauce (unless say it is a weekend brunch) but is good as a dessert.

Poppy Weekend

Just a sweet picture of Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy) to send you off for a beautiful weekend.

A Pair of Pots

Just a little something something for a business downtown. The client wanted 'fresh' and architectural' for a morning sun/afternoon shade store front condition. She picked out the pots and made my afternoon when I was given free reign of the nursery.

Plant List:
Juncus effusus (Rush) a nice blue-green one, very straight and structured.
Asplenium bulbiferum (Mother Fern) lacy and bright green, provided much of the body for the planting.
Ipomea batatas (Bronze Sweet Potato Vine) a dark purplish trailer, good foil to the other plants.
Satureja douglasii (Yerba Buena) great shade/part sun loving native to Northern California. Has a minty/medicinal scent and sweet little white flowers. Also a good trailer.
Echeveria 'Afterglow' (Succulent) my focal point. This is a beautiful gray-purple that seems to have a magenta glow, good form and provided the "flower" for the planting.

Moss Lampshades

So the other day I was at work, reorganizing a display for hanging baskets and the only way I could fit them all was to hang some upside down. I loved the shape and suddenly had a fantasy about stringing them with some bare light bulbs (preferably Edison, just to be a bit snooty) and using a collection of them as a chandelier. How cool would it be to sitting at dinner, outside, under the stars and these lamps?  So me, being a bit nerdy, thought it'd be kind of cool to do a mock up in Photoshop... and this is what was produced (for any potential employers, this is a rather crude example of my photoshop skills).

I really want to see this carried out, now I only need a place for installation. 

Fort Mason Garden Creatures

As promised, more of my continuing series of amazing garden creatures. This time from the Fort Mason Community Garden in SF.

Yay for Friday!

Thought this was a perfect image for a Friday. Hope you have a great weekend!

Day Trip

This time to Fort Mason Community Garden. I've never been to Fort Mason, I've been around, but I played tag-a-long on Mr. C's trip to the Nautical Museum (can we say super cool Cartography!) and then the library that was closed, but conveniently located across the street from the Friends of the SF Library Bookstore...you should go. BUT, the community garden was definitely the highlight for me, Mr. C practiced his patience.

As you can tell, I am continuing my obsession with Dahlias and this Garden had an amazing assortment. There is definitely more to come from this excursion, including a fabulous collection of Garden Creatures. How can that not make you happy?

ps- I love the use of the old tree stump as a succulent planter!

P is for Anemone?

Pulsatilla vulgaris formerly Anemone pulsatilla, common name Pasque Flower


This image is of the seed pod that comes out later in the Spring after the flowers have gone. The flowers themselves are as showy as the seed pods (though don't look quite as alien) and emerge as an early sign of Spring, providing the name Pasque as associated with Easter.  After doing a little research on this species, I am more inclined towards the seed bud than the actual flower itself though both are attractive. The plants themselves stay pretty low, about 6", with the seed pods reaching up to 18". 

P is also for Poppies

...all the different types and another of my favorites.

Most, if not all, varieties are charactized by graceful and slender stems with delicate petals, some feathered like Papavar and some more ruffled like Eschscholzia (aka California Poppy and the state flower of the Golden State). In all, the common name Poppy is applied to eleven different varietals in the family Papaveraceae.

From Left: Papavar, Romneya coulteri, Eschscholzia californica, and Papavar varietals (sorry, didn't get the exact species for all of them).

It's been awhile

But I went back to my alma mater (GO TRITONS!) during this last pass through Southern California and was excited to see all the additions (and that they have left Camp Snoopi alone) that I had only ever seen the drawings for during my tenure in the Planning Office. By far the coolest thing was the Boulder Teddy Bear in the Engineering Quad for the Stewart Art Collection, the campus' installations of awesome randomness.

Have a rockin' weekend!

N is for Nerium

....Oleander that is but I am being slightly snobby and trying to adhere to the botanical names. Trying.

So I have many ideas of what Oleanders look like in my mind. As stated before in a previous post, I grew up driving 99 and am familiar with the scrubbinous of those Oleanders, but also the well established and stately ladies lining the road to my grandfather's house.  All are poisonous (do you remember the book or the Michelle Pfeiffer movie?) but tolerant of extreme conditions like drought, heat and intense sun.  Despite some drawbacks I think these are beautiful specimens either ignored or pampered.

L is for...

lame?

I didn't manage to set up a post for today but I will have a very cool "L" plant for you soon. Until then, a cool succulent design with rusty bits.

Summer Fun

Who's ready?

I have been on the looking for a croquet set for a very, very long time. I grew up playing an extremely competitive version with my family and I missed those games. My search started last summer while I was still in New York, I had dreams of picnics and croquet tournaments (everyone must wear white) in Central or McCarren Parks, but I never found the right set. Fast forward a little over a year and my stepmother surprised me with this set. I am totally excited to finally have my picnic and croquet. This is what summer is to me.

K is for Kerria

Happy Bastille Day!

To celebrate, a plant from Japan? I know, but at least the blooms kind of resemble fireworks.

Kerria is an airy prostrate shrub of attractive habit. Once mature, the shrub will take more of an arching form.  It is deciduous, but comes back in Spring with these gorgeous little yellow blooms of about two inches in diameter.

How can you not be happy when looking at this little flower?

J is for Juncus

Juncus effusus

also known as Soft Rush or Corkscrew Grass. I was first introduced to this by my stepmother who planted it in an urn at the center of a pond. It was/is such a novel sculptural specimen.

Juncus is kind of a really cool genus, with species that thrive with wet feet and brackish water. They were definitely a plant of choice for my Ecological Restoration class. J. patens is a native to California and Oregon and is more drought tolerant than other species...it just doesn't get the crazy spiral stems.

Buddha in the Garden

In my continuing documentation of the lovely and novel garden ornamentation people put in their yards, I bring you the Buddha of Red Hook.

Found a few years ago in Brooklyn while traipsing around for some site analysis, I came across this Buddha in a side yard. I was impressed with the curation of the view through the outside gate, not sure if it was purposeful or not, but it provided a good picture.

I is for Ipomea

and I really find myself wanting to say Ipanema and be on a beach in Brazil.

 The flower belongs to I. indica and the vine leaves are I. batatas.

In particular Ipomea batatas, commonly Sweet Potato Vine, or Ipomea indica, commonly Blue Dawn Flower, but the genus has upwards of 500 species including many morning glories. The ornamental trailing vine I am writing about has leaves ranging from a vibrant chartreuse to a deep bronzy purple. Good in full sun to partial shade. I have been using these in a lot of the planters at work because of the size/shape/colors of the leaves and their tolerance of sun conditions.

Helpful (and amusing) lessons from the Jepson Guide

The question happens with some frequency: How do you say this? or Am I saying this correctly? Many botanical names are difficult to articulate. I have trouble enough with small words sometimes, so when faced with a multi-syllable word with runs of letters that seem very foreign to me, I get nervous. It doesn't help the cause when you are corrected by someone who presumes to know all.  Awhile ago I was given a helpful tip and I have been searching for this list and the quote ever since.  I love the quote and the list because I find them to be rather irreverent towards those fussy types who take things a bit too seriously sometimes.

"Botanical Latin is essentially a written language, but the scientific names of plants often occur in speech. How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned" (William T. Stearn, Botanical Latin)

Jepson Guide: Pronunciation of Scientific Names
1. Divide the word carefully into syllables
2. Pronounce each syllable
3. Listen to others and practice what sounds good to your ear; conviction is important.
4. Attempt to accent all syllables equally, this is likely to show where the accents fall.
5. Develop your own standards for pronouncing the common endings and commit to them.
6. Retain pronunciation of proper names used in scientific names
...and the best of all
7. When someone presumes to correct your pronunciation, a knowing smile is an appropriate response.

I wonder if Ms. Emily Post helped with the wording of the last rule?

H is Heuchera

These shade tolerant, evergreen clumps come in a rainbow of colors, deep greens and purples to light shades of apricot and have a characteristic wisp of a stem providing support to airy clusters of little flowers. Also known as Coral Bells, their foliage is particularly suited for bringing bright color to areas of shade.

G is for Gilia

Gilia capitata (Blue Thimble Flower)

Native to California, this flower reminds me of a firework display. Which is why it is getting the Fourth of July Spot. Last year I had made some vanilla and strawberry cupcakes (white and red) and all I needed was a little blue. I looked through much of New York and not a Bachelor Button or Thimble Flower was to be found, strange to me mainly because they are so prevalent here. This year my lack of blue was not to be repeated so I planted some blue firework flowers of my own to be my cupcake toppers. While not toxic, I do not believe these are particularly tasty or edible.

Fourth of July Cupcakes

Filling Recipe

1 cup strawberries (or other red berry), chopped into 1/2" pieces

2 Tbs Honey

1 Lemon, juiced

Mix in bowl and let macerate while preparing cake mixture.

Betty Crocker Cake Recipe (If you don't want to use a box. Boxes are fine, just add a little extra vanilla or almond extract for additional flavor)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla (I add a lot more flavor, a little St. Germain, a little anise extract and much more vanilla)
4 egg whites

Heat oven to 350. Mix everything but the eggs for about 30 seconds in mixer (if by hand, until ingredients are just combined). Add eggs and mix until batter an even/smooth consistency.

Before baking, evenly distribute cake mixture to about halfway up muffin tin. Place a spoonful of the filling in the middle of each well on top of the cake mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and let cool.  Frost if desired with a white frosting, I prefer sour cream personally, then top with a Blue Firework bloom like a Bachelor Button (Centaurea cyanus) or Blue Thimble Flower (Gilia capitata).

Happy Fourth of July! May you enjoy many fireworks and festivities.

Green Flowers

It is perhaps just a little immature but this is for the kid who told me when I was little there was no such thing as a green flower.

Ha! I believe this to be an hellebore but I'm not really sure. All I know is there is such a thing!

F is for Fig Tree

Ficus carica

Those lovely gnarled trees, the itchy leaves and those amazingly sweet and sticky fruits perfect for childhood war games. It is the equivalent of getting honey in your hair, not a pleasant experience but oh-so-fun while getting there.

Fig trees have a special place in my heart and not just because my cousins and I would torment each other with them. I grew up in a neighborhood appropriately named Old Fig Garden. There were a lot of fig trees and my grandparents house, like many in the area, was situated in what many decades ago had been a fig orchard and they still had some remnant specimens. To this day, I love that back yard and I love those fig trees. Ah, shucks.

So, enough mushiness. Ficus carica...