Archive for June, 2011

Sunday Supper

2011/06/30 in Blog Posts,Newsletter,Posts,Posts | Comments (0)

Redlands, 29 June, temps in the mid 80′s, later afternoon

California, the Golden State, “ home to some of the most bountiful agricultural  in the entire world“. From nuts to meats, dairy to micro-greens, avocados to kiwi, California truly does have it all. So why is it then that “ billions of dollars that could help California in the midst of our budget crisis go to out of state and even international companies and farmers each year?”

In response to this question [and issue], last week, “state lawmakers, farmers and representatives of  our states agriculture industry urged Golden State residents to dedicate Sundays to eating California-grown foods,” birthing the “Eat Local, Buy California Grown Day”  [ a byproduct of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 42, recently approved by the Assembly and Senate.]  Proponents contend that California’s economy could be boosted by more than $15 billion annually if Californians pledged to eat all locally grown foods just one day a week.

Friends, this is huge!$15 Billion, with a B! Really, who knew eating fresh, seasonally and locally could be not only good for our health, savory &  immensely satisfying,  but perhaps the e-ticket ride out of economic ruins for the Golden state? 

Let’s ponder this for just a minute. For the state to see the economic benefits of our choosing to eat all CA produced agricultural products for just one day, it all starts with the products we buy. Shopping at farmers markets makes this process very easy. As soon as you purchase your fresh veggies, your local honey, your locally grown herb or vegetable plant, your freshly cut herbs, you have just supported local agriculture. You have just supported your local economy. This is where it all starts.

When you go to a grocery store, the process does take a  little more effort but it CAN be done! For us, shopping at  Trader Joes makes it a little easier. From nuts to dairy, meats to wine, there is plenty of California produced products to choose from – most  at very reasonable pricing. Taking it one step further, did you know Trader Joes was born in Pasadena, Ca in the 60′s. It wasn’t until 1995 that they branched out beyond the Golden State. How is that for dedication to local agriculture and local economy!

How hard could it really  be to eat California grown for just one day, especially in the summertime? Between the bounty of your own heirloom kitchen garden and the abundance of local farmers markets [most taking place on the weekends], we CAN do this! Let’s call it, Sunday Supper.It’s pretty simple. Let’s start with what is fresh and in season each week, combining produce and herbs from our gardens with produce at  local farmers markets, add in both local and state produced honey, preserves, olive oils, eggs, cheese, meats, wines, beers, etc and create a splendid Sunday Supper for ourselves and our friends to enjoy - helping to  improve both local and state  economy while we dine!

Now, for our first Sunday Supper Menu:

grilled rosemary kabobs

Heirloom zucchini pasta [no cooking here, perfect when it is so darn hot!]

A loaf of local artisan bread

grilled peaches with cream and nuts

CA wine 

Iced herb tea using Rolling Hills Herbs & Annuals cut herbs [farmers market] or seasonal tea blends [produce stand]

To make this a bit easier, we have created a sunday supper grocery list . Feel free to take it along with you to the farmers market , grocery store or local market.

So while we are only spotlighting ways to eat local for one meal, we know that once we all get into this mindset, filling the two other meals full of fresh, local & seasonal foods will be simple & easy. Hey, why don’t we make this a group effort? Send us your favorite  recipe of a  fresh, local and seasonal  dish and we will include it in an upcoming Sunday Supper menu. If your recipe showcases heirloom produce or herbs you have grown using Rolling Hills Herbs & Annuals starter plants, be sure to let us know. Not growing your own kitchen garden but using local produce and our freshly cut herbs that you pick up @ farmers markets to make a splendid seasonal dish? We want to know this as well!  

And yes, there is something in it for you! If your recipe is selected to be on a Sunday Supper menu, be sure to stop on to see us at the Saturday morning farmers market in Redlands for a free bundle of our naturally grown herbs! It’s our way of saying thank you for supporting local.

So here’s to divine food, shared with friends and loved ones. Here’s to eating better as a way to not only improve our own health but the health of local and state economy. Enjoy the day!

End of the Season Heirloom Plant Sale

2011/06/20 in Blog Posts,Newsletter,Posts,Posts | Comments (0)

Redlands, 20 June, warm and gonna get warmer!

Hey fellow kitchen gardeners, we need a little help here. Please tell us you have room in your edible garden for one[ or more] delicious heirlooms? Are you wanting to enjoy your homegrown produce a little longer this year? Don’t have your garden in yet? This weekend is for you.

This Saturday, we will host our first End of the Season Heirloom Plant Sale right at our home nursery  to make way for the cool season edibles which are right around the corner.  ALL spring-time edible annuals will be on sale. We have plenty of tomatoes for you to choose from, some peppers, squash, cucumbers & melons. Looking for leafy greens? We have some kale, chard, lettuce, cress. Looking to add more cilantro, basil, dill to the garden? We have that, too!

We expect it to be a very busy event, so please  come early. If you need garden advice, this weekend may not be the best time for that. Please email us with your questions ahead of time . If you need to have us look at a leaf or pest, do bring it on Saturday and leave it with us – we will email you with some help later in the week.

We will hold the event under our Elder trees [we love shade] on  the only section of lawn  that will not one day be eliminated [on Rolling Hills Rd].  You will be able to see our edible landscape [it is behind the split-rail fencing on Farview St. ] and the raised boxes that are brimming with heirloom edibles! The actual nursery space where we grow the heirloom herbs & veggies you know and love will not be open to traffic but you will be able to get a good glimpse ! [Thank you for your understanding!]

The event will be from 8-noon. We are located at 1304 Rolling Hills Road. Redlands, CA. 92374.

Looking forward to seeing you all then and we thank you in advance, for what will be one great event!

Celebrating Lavender

2011/06/15 in Blog Posts,Newsletter,Posts,Posts | Comments (0)

Redlands, 15 June, morning, sunny & bright!

Imagine standing under the warm summer sun and for as far as your eyes can see, there is the brilliant color of lavender blue. Around you a breeze picks up, carrying the hypnotic fragrance of sweet lavender, surrounding you with it’s gentle presence.  You stand for what feels like hours, your senses transported away from the mundane, the tedious to a place of serenity and bliss. Tuscany? Provence? No, Beaumont, CA.

Friends, please do try to take in the 7th Annual Lavender Festival at Highland Springs this weekend. Running for only two weekends a year [this weekend being the last] , the experience is something you really do not want to miss. Complete with horse drawn carriage rides, petting zoo for children, lavender infused foods, live music [years past have seen brilliant pianists, violinists and classically trained vocals] the organic market place – featuring lavender based bath & body products, the event offers something for people of all ages!

While you are there, you must take in the aromatherapy workshop lead by one of the most gifted aromatherapists I have ever had the privilege of knowing [and calling my friend] Carla Brotherton. Gifted with the amazing ability to break down the science of how scent impacts our physiology to improve health and disposition in simple terms,  Carla has been an integral part of festival since its inception. This year may be the last time we will have the honor of hearing her speak and sharing festival with her as she is getting set to begin another chapter in her live – about to marry her life long love and relocate out of our area.  Festival will never be the same without her!

I met Carla nearly five years ago and she was preparing for the Lavender Festival – inviting us to participate as a vendor. At the time, my professional efforts were concentrated on bringing the benefits of nature [mainly through horticulture as therapy and the creation of therapeutic garden settings for health care settings] under the non-profit educational organization – Redlands Aromatherapy Foundation. She graciously invited our organization to lead workshops at festival, speaking about creating & growing  fragrant garden spaces in our own home environments.

I remember the first  year I attended festival, vendors were set up in the olive groves adjacent to the acres of brilliant blooming lavender. Being on site, surrounded by such beauty and prolonged inhalation of lavender at its natural best truly made me feel restored and reset.  I will never forget that experience.

The next year, once again, our organization attended festival – leading workshops and this time, offering lavender plants. Rolling Hills Herbs & Annuals had just begun growing and was not ready to offer our own naturally grown lavender plants at festival. Having grown up in perhaps the greatest geographical area for horticulture growing -North  San Diego County [they can grow everything from exotics to natives in a 50 miles radius - how I miss home!] it was natural to partner with another grower in San Diego county to supply festival with glorious lavender plants – pink, white, dwarf, tall and everything in between.

Each time we attended festival, it was truly  amazing to see the impact being one with nature, especially lavender,  had on others who attended.  I sensed that in a desire to capture the effects of this brilliant setting, even those with the “blackest” of green thumbs took home lavender plants – wanting to capture and recreate the  same magical experience at home and throughout the year.

We did hear the horror stories of how many had tried growing lavender unsuccessfully. This was always heart-breaking, not just because the plants themselves died but so too did a little bit of that individuals dream of experiencing the  tranquility lavender brings.  Friends, I am here to assure you – lavender does grow well in our area – it just takes time , patience and some diligence to get it established. You can do it!

While lavender is a drought tolerant plant, it needs plenty of consistent deep watering to get established. In all fairness, summertime is the least friendly time to get a lavender plant in the ground, it’s about to get pretty darn warm and there is not the chance to really baby it like fall offers. Sun or shade? We have it growing in both. We even have it in the middle of grass – a huge no no for any plant [water requirements are vastly opposite for lawn and lavender plus the fact grass tends to choke out everything around it]. In a container? Absolutely!

On drip? Automatic sprinkler? Yes, some of ours get regular water where others are so far from a water source I really wonder how they survive [yes, I do hand water but not like I should]. This year, when the eldest child decided to swap out the motor in his car for a bigger one, he used the space in the back yard, the one where the poor lavender plant that gets no water [or very poor infrequent amounts] as a junk yard – plopping down heavy, greasy parts on top of my dear plant. Guess what? She still bloomed despite broken limbs. Lavender is resilient – I will give it that!

Feeding lavender – can’t say I ever have. Pruning lavender – yes, I do give it a prune to remove flowers once they become mostly dry [I leave blooms on for several weeks to months ] with electric hedgers – gently shaping the shrub. When you do this, chances are you will enjoy a bi-annual blooming of your lavender – isn’t that awesome?

Here are pictures taken just yesterday of lavenders growing here at home to encourage you to plant some in your garden and to visit festival this weekend - taking  in the beauty and fragrance personally.

And to help keep the magic of lavender with us longer, do stop in to  Saturday morning farmers market in Redlands were you will find our naturally grown French lavender in bloom along with the English varieties of Provence & Grosso [not currently in bloom but fragrant as ever] & the Goodwin Creek variety [which is pusing up some buds as we speak!]

Do make a point to stop into Olive Ave Market as well.  In the next few weeks, they will begin brewing up iced lavender green tea featuring our very own lavender set to the most mild, gentle, golden green tea sourced from Japan. On their shelves, look for tea to take home and brew [already pre measured into pouches that make the perfect pitcher of either sun brewed or refrigerator iced tea] . While you are there,  pick up jar of freshly made strawberry jam , made from local strawberries – featuring once again, our very own lavender buds. Do enjoy the jam on cheese & crackers, as a glaze on bbq meats or mixed with red wine vinegar to make a delicious dressing for fresh greens [loved it with arugula, fennel, blood red orange sections, walnuts & feta!

June in the Garden

2011/06/02 in Blog Posts,Newsletter,Posts,Posts | Comments (0)

Redlands, 16:18, sunny, upper 70′s

Here we are, in the first days of June with  summer  right around the corner [at least on the calendar it is]. For many home gardeners here in the Inland regions of SoCal, May was a month spent getting raised beds built, replenishing soil in existing garden beds and what a month it was for planting! How happy we are to see so many of you adding lots of heirloom edibles to your gardens – tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, squash, eggplant, melons along with lots of yummy greens [sorrel, kale, mesclun, cress, mizuna, mache, lettuce, etc..]

Thanks to an unseasonably cool and wet month of May [spring for that matter] we home growers are seeing a rare opportunity this month  to extend the growing of many cooler season favorites [lettuces, arugula, cilantro, mustard, etc] without them going to seed as quickly while we watch them grow side by side with the warmer season favorites – basil, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc.  What a rare opportunity!

If you are a home grower who lives in the mountain communities, it is fair to say that your wait to plant your warm season garden  will finally be over this month! We have to commend you, waiting patiently to plant as cold and frost lingered [even snow in May]. We know you have a  short season for growing to begin with and that is why as promised, we have lots of shorter day varieties of heirloom edibles for you to choose from – all arriving in the month of June!

 Let’s look at what to grow, sow and do in the garden this month of June.

Even as summer heat approaches, we can continue to plant leafy green salad crops for harvesting in as little as a few weeks time [when grown from seed] or within days if growing from transplant.  Friends, please do not be  afraid of growing greens in summer.  As heat approaches, we take great care to offer you the most heat tolerant, bolt resistant varieties of heirloom  lettuces and greens that we can get our hands on. This month, look for heirloom Little Gem lettuce to arrive, a delicious, green  petite romaine style of lettuce. Near the end of the month, look for Mignonette Bronze lettuce, an heirloom dating back to 1898 with the frilled leaves , bronze-green colored heads  that preforms well in our hot valley. With all lettuce and greens, we suggest planting them in a space that gets morning sun and afternoon shade  – from now until fall.  Shade-cover will be needed at some point – more on that next month.
 

Do continue to sow from seed or add transplants of heirloom annual cilantro, dill, arugula, cress, mache, kale & chard throughout the the month [and summer] so that you can continue to enjoy these  tasty & nutritious greens. Again, morning sun, afternoon shade is key to growing when temperatures rise. Mulch is  vital to help keep in moisture, minimize evaporation and weeds! Soil Booster by Greenall is a great when used as a mulch as are layers of black & white newspapers [anchored down and watered daily], your compost, even grass clippings.

Do add the beautiful, edible and beneficial annual flowers of calendula, borage and nasturtium to your gardens in June! How cool it is to see them attract so many bees to the garden and later enjoy their color and flavor in a salad, on top of a fresh dessert, or in a cool iced herbal beverage.

Crops to plant:

  •  Cucumbers [we have a few Boothby Blondes on hand along with a good supply of the ever popular Lemon cucumber] 
  • Zucchini - New crops of the adorable and ever tastyRonde de Nice squash arrive this month…little round squash,  the perfect size squash for stuffing and serving as individual entrees]
  • Winter and Summer squash – Buttercup  squash[sweet withdark orange flesh inside and green outer skin weighing about 3 lbs. each]Delicata squash, Spagetti squash,along with Turks Cap all make their way to market  for the first time this year!
  • Pumpkins -  Futsu[ they are a black and will turn a rich chestnut color as they are stored. The inside has a rich golden color and reminds us of the taste of hazelnut - almost sold out thanks to pre-orders! Thank you!]Long Island Pumpkin & Jarrahdale pumpkins [again, very limited - get your name on yours today!]
  • Eggplant – Listada de Gandia, an Italian heirloom that produces fruit as large as 7 inches,   white base with bright-purple stripes. The tender fruit makes eating eggplant quite enjoyable – even for someone like myself who would normally pass on this summer favorite. [limited supply]
  • Peppers: Corno di Torro, Purple & Orange Bells, Joe Parker New Mexico, Pasilla Bajillo.
  • Tomatoes – New crops of early maturing tomatoes arrive in June, perfect for shorter season gardeners [mountain] and for those who don’t want to wait for the larger varieties to ripen. Look for Roman Candle, Roma, Principe Borghese, Lemon Plum, new crops of Jaune Flamme, Yellow Brandywine & Cherokee Purple.  About the two latter ones, time is of the essence on getting these guys in the dirt. They bear bigger fruits and thus take far longer to grow than all of the other tomatoes listed. Sure, you can put them in the garden later but you will have much lower yields since frost may come just as they are will come  really going strong, frut -wise.
  • Herbs – Annual fennel, basil, dill, parsley, cilantro. Perennials can be planted as well – rosemary, sage, tarragon, lavenders, lovage, horseradish, mints, stevia. If you are wanting to plant your herb garden or add to it, please do take advantage of the cooler weather we are having to get them in. Ideally, perennials are best when planted in the fall or very early spring so that there is time for their roots to get established and for them to get acclimated before warm weather hits.  With that said, I do replenish annual herbs all throughout the season in my home garden since we use so much of them.

What to do in your garden this month:

  • Water container grown plants [along with  those in the Earth & raised beds] more frequently. As warm weather arrives, these guys can dry out in no time. When growing plants that love to bolt [lettuce, arugula, mustard, cilantro...] in addition to frequent watering do give them a deep watering at least once a week. Really soak them! New seedling and transplants need careful watering until their roots are established. watch for any signs of wilting and water immediately! Water in the early morning or evening so that water can get down in to the root systems. Focus water at the base of your plant.
  • Keep supporting tomato plants. Sturdy stakes, wires, trellises all work to provide the needed support. When you secure the main stem of your tomato plants to support, do remember to tie it a bit loose so that there is room for the stem to grow.
  • Remove side-shoots from tomato plants. Pinch growth that forms where leaves join the main stem of your tomato plant because this growth takes energy away from flowering and ultimately fruiting.
  • Train those climbers! Crops like beans that naturally twist around stakes may need some coaching as they get started on their upward climb. Just like tomatoes, tie loosely. If you are growing cukes and melons on a trellis [and we sure hope you are since when was the last time you had a store bought melon with any fragrance or taste?] train them as well to grow upwards. Using old nylons to loosely cradle and secure fruits it highly  recommended.
  • Trim your perennial herbs [rosemary, sage, thyme & French Lavenders, Curry plant, Winter Savory] now that most of their flowering has peaked. If they have just started blooming [English lavenders & French] allow the blooms to stay on awhile longer.
  • Feed your plants! Once first fruits begin to set, apply a high potassium fertilizer [E.B. Tomato/Veggie food works well] weekly. Yes, weekly! Sinking a container next to the plant is a good idea because you can fill it with nutrients and it is delivered closer to the fruiting plants root system.
  • Check for pests! Snails and slugs? SluggoPlus. This will help get rid of them along with rolly pollies and earwigs. Remember, you will need to reapply more than once since application usually addresses pests you can see, not the generations unborn. Aphids? Caterpillars? Mites? We love the praying mantis. Since it can be hard to properly identify what pests we actually have in the garden, I go with mantis who those on them ALL! Want some mantis cocoons? Let us know!

Last but not least…things to do around town in June

Looking for more to do here locally in the month of June? Check out the calendar at AboutRedlands.com