Archives for category: gardening

fresh quinoa summer salad with peas, basil + feta

June 25, 2013 //
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i have become a fan of the grain salad as of late. while trying to explore new places for lunch, when working at warner brothers on ‘pretty little liars‘, and too lazy to bring my own, i discovered olive + thyme. it is just close enough to pick up an to go order, or sit and eat if i want to relax. well, one day i strayed from my usual beet and arugula salad, and chose the quinoa and corn. it was so refreshing and perfect for summer i needed to make it at home. so damn easy.

tonight i when i got home, and knew the only thing doing pretty well in our ltl community garden has been the basil, thought maybe i could do a spin off of the quinoa + corn salad?

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this is what i came up with:

  • quinoa (1 cup dry makes about 3 cups cooked)
  • basil (7-10 large leaves, 1/4 cup once minced)
  • peas (1 cup)
  • feta (1-2 ounces chopped small)
  • red onion (3 tbsp)
  • green onion (1/4 cup)
  • lemon juice (1 lemon)
  • lime juice (2 limes)
  • olive oil (1/4 cup)
  • salt (1/2 tbsp)

i did this all to taste. i started with 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked it, chilled it (or just bring it to room temp), and went from there. parenthesis are meant to be approximations. switch things up a bit. mint for basil. corn for peas. try apple cider vinegar instead of citrus? i don’t care.

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just please enjoy summer!

note: the next day, the citrus seemed to have soaked in and be a bit overpowering, so i may reduce that in the future.

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Categories gardening, recipes

little tokyo lofts community garden: first planting

April 15, 2013 //
1

this past weekend, our loft building in downtown los angeles had the first planting of our community garden. we started with a tabula rasa, added some organic soil, trellises, stepping stones, lanterns, tables and chairs.

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we all agreed we wanted it to be organic, so no gmo’s or pesticides allowed. one of our members, and original instigators, linda, also known as the farmers market fairy, was able to pick up a good portion of the seedlings at the wednesday’s santa monica farmers market, and dan, our hoa president, was able to find the remaining at armstrong’s nursery, including a dwarf meyer lemon tree he has named ‘lucy.’

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to celebrate the occasion, dan mixed up a pitcher of refreshing strawberry basil cocktails, which with all the herbs we are growing was a fitting premonition and inspiration for upcoming garden cocktail parties.

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we spread out our newly adopted wee loved ones, guided by what little knowledge we knew of what needs sun or shade, and some other random tips we had collected.

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with that…we started digging.

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once everything was planted, we did a trial watering to get the roots good and soaked.

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we are all aware that urban gardening has it’s challenges. for instance, here in skidrokyo, we find trash thrown over the fence daily, like this welcoming pile of clothing on this particular afternoon…

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…but bringing together our neighbors…

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…and seeing those vibrant green sprouts sticking out of the dark brown soil…

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…makes it all worth it.

‘when i go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, i feel such an exhilaration and health that i discover that i have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what i should have done with my own hands.’  -ralph waldo emerson

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for those interested, here is a list of the fruits, vegetables and herbs we have planted thus far:

  • arugula
  • spinach
  • mint
  • spearmint
  • parsley
  • thyme
  • mediterranean thyme
  • rosemary
  • variegated sage
  • oakleaf lettuce
  • chamomile
  • cilantro
  • lavender
  • basil
  • thai sweet basil
  • purple basil
  • oregano
  • mexican oregano
  • greek oregano
  • poblano pepper
  • fatali pepper
  • serrano pepper
  • green bell pepper
  • red bell pepper
  • yellow bell pepper
  • maui onion
  • bunching onions
  • honeydew
  • snap beans
  • appalachian pole bean
  • tsungshigo tomato
  • cherokee purple tomato
  • hawaiian pineapple tomato
  • sungold cherry tomato
  • sausage tomato
  • armenian cucumber
  • persian cucumber
  • meyer lemon
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Categories farming, gardening

the birth of the little tokyo lofts community garden

April 8, 2013 //
0

who knew that dave jr. would be the inspiration for implementing our very own community garden here at little tokyo lofts in downtown los angeles?

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for those who don’t know about dave jr., he was a tomato plant, and my first foray into gardening, but apparently our HOA president watched as i was diligently carrying water up to the top floor of the parking garage to water him, and thought he should have a proper place to live.

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i have been wanting to start a garden here for a while, but honestly, lacked the motivation, time and energy. thankfully it seems as though others in my building also wanted the same thing, and as a group we brought together enough of those key elements to make it happen. we have met once before to talk about what we needed to get the ball rolling, the HOA approved our budget, and tonight we met to discuss what we wanted to plant. oh, and we added these lovely lights and some little garden tables and chairs to enhance the area for relaxing.

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follow along as i post updates, photos, recipes, tips, and yes, most likely some failures. ultimately, hopefully we will not only see our seedlings, little green orbs, and buds grow, but our community brought together and cultivated with something as simple as growing produce, herbs and flowers.

we start planting on saturday.

little tokyo lofts • 420 s. san pedro street • los angeles • ca • 90013

ltlcommunitygarden@gmail.com

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Categories farming, gardening

grilled yellow zucchini + herbed cherry tomato salad

July 12, 2012 //
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even before my first harvest of dave jr. i have been looking for different recipes to test out with his delicious sweet and tangy fruits. a friend at work brings in vegetables from her garden from time to time. this week was yellow zucchini. i am a fan of most vegetables, and although the squash family has never been a favorite, i was not going to turn down a fresh home garden grown zucchini.

doing some quick googling for recipes, i found this on thekitchn.com. i chose to use a grill pan for the zucchini, and it worked just fine. while they cooked, i cut up my yellow cherry tomatoes and herbs (i had dill, tarragon and chives on hand.) i chose an espresso balsamic vinegar from amphora to drizzle over, and tossed in the rest of the ingredients.

of course they used green zucchini, grape red tomatoes and a different mix of herbs, but i’ll bet mine turned out just as tasty. i served it to accompany cacio e pepe, but this would be a wonderfully fresh side to any summer meal.

note: i liked this zucchini recipe so much i think i’ll try out more from this list on thekitchn.com, perhaps proving that i like squash after all.

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Categories dave jr., gardening, recipes

first harvest

July 8, 2012 //
1

i think it is safe to say that dave jr. is a yellow cherry tomato plant.

several of them seemed just soft to the touch and ripe for the picking, so today was the day i decided it was time to pluck a few of the beautiful orbs and have a taste test.

they are like little pieces of candy.

i’m off to the market to get some fresh bread, arugula, bacon and perhaps and avocado, because a blt for dinner is screaming my name.

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening

35 green little orbs

June 6, 2012 //
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i know i just posted a dave jr. update a couple days ago, but when i got home from work today i noticed so many more little green orbs emerging from where there once were flowers. i decided to count them. a whopping 35!

i leave on sunday for 6 days to take a road trip from chicago to los angeles with my sisters kate and emma.

although i am really excited for the trip, i can’t imagine how my little fruits will grow. i already miss them. i am absolutely certain this is exactly how parents must feel leaving their newborns. i need to find a tomatositter.

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening

first tomato!

June 4, 2012 //
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while watering dave jr. today, i noticed in the place of one of his flowers was a very tiny green orb hanging in it’s place. i am very proud, so just like a doting parent, i took too many photos. he’s only the size of a blueberry right now, but here he is:

what is also exciting is that i saw more than a few flowers had dropped, and green fruit is emerging from them, so he will soon have brothers and sisters to hang with. i am still in fear of the returning yellow leaves, but have trimmed them as well, and none of them have been flowering branches.

suddenly i am craving a blt. hello summer!

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening

the color yellow: a dave jr. update

May 23, 2012 //
2

it’s has been just over a month since planting dave jr. and because i am a newbie to growing tomatoes, i have relied on the interwebs to teach me a thing or two about making him be big, strong and bear beautiful flavorful fruit. there is conflicting advice about whether or not to prune flowers and/or branches at all. one article i read said that it would teach him to continue to grow more flowers, and not bear fruit too soon when he wasn’t strong enough to hold them up. seemed like good advice. i chose to pluck the flower buds until just recently.

most suggested to remove the ‘suckers’ which start to grow in the v between the main stem and other branches. of course, since i didn’t come upon this information until a couple weeks in, the base of dave jr. has become quite full. right around the time i stopped plucking flowers, some yellow leaves started to appear, which concerned me.

i worried i was watering him too much, but after reading more, it could be because i haven’t been watering him enough, there aren’t enough nutrients in his soil, or perhaps he even has a virus. so today i added crumbled up egg shells (for calcium), and some fertilizer (nitrogen) to the top and cultivated it in, gave him a good watering, filled up his reservoir, and trimmed the yellow branches and leaves.

dave sr. didn’t know what kind of tomato dave jr. would produce. the good news is that almost every main branch has flowers on it or at least little tiny buds on them, so hopefully that means lots of fruit this summer, whatever kind that might be.

the anticipation is killing me.

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening

dreaming of tomatoes: a dave jr. update

April 29, 2012 //
0

i know it’s only day 10, out of i don’t know how many, but i haven’t killed him…yet. yay for me!

i had to clip one flower off the first week, and was worried the rain we got a few days ago would drown him, but he’s doing really well. actually, i think he may have grown an inch since taking this photo yesterday. seriously.

he looks healthy and green and strong. i’m going to bed in hopes to dream of blts, gazpacho, and hot tomato jam.

is this what it’s like to have a child? probably not in the least huh?

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening

the tomato plant experiment

April 18, 2012 //
2

i realize i haven’t posted in quite some time. honestly, i have been working and busy, which is good, but leaves little time to blog. well, last week i was working on a tv show and talking with one of my co-workers about my love of tomatoes, and how i’d love to eventually jar them for the off season. much to my surprise, the next time i worked with him he brought me a tomato plant.

this is very exciting! i planted him today, and placed him in my parking spot on the roof of my garage where i live in downtown los angeles.

i will continue to post on his progress, and hopefully down the line be able to post my first recipe with tomatoes from the plant. i am thinking about names for the plant, and open to suggestions. tom seems too obvious. dave jr. has a ring to it, since it was a dave that gave me the plant. mostly just hoping i don’t kill him.

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Categories dave jr., farming, gardening