Front Yard Project: From a Lawn to a Mediterranean Garden

Thanks to City Glendora's turf removal project, we decided to install a California Native/drought resistant/Mediterranean Garden in the front yard. We hired Leo's Tree Service to come on Halloween (last Friday) and remove the grass in the front lawn. Here are the "before" and "after" pictures.

"Before"

"After"

Here is a self designed plan: 

Garden Plan

Seperated by the curvy walkway, on the left is a Mediterranean/drought resistant garden  with a dry creek running in the center, on the right is a DG courtyard centering a mid-sized tree. In the plan I put down a Blue Palo Verde, but in the end we chose a beautiful fruitless olive tree from Glendora Gardens Nursery. As I write, it has been planted today. It is the focal point of the garden. 

A fruitless olive tree

Three Mexican sage bushes are at the start of the walkway and at the courtyard corner, creating a welcoming formality of a garden. I chose short species of Manzanita and ceanothus (California lilac) as a ground cover. They will be placed close to the street, and little maintenance is needed. In the back close to the house is a Mediterranean garden: lavenders, rosemary, artichokes, native grass, etc. On the other side are drought tolerant agaves, red yucca, lantana, and golden barrels. 

I hope in the end we will have a front yard that is evergreen with bright colors and scents, low maintenance and water saving. Stay tuned~

Tomatoes in 2013

In my hands heirloom tomatoes grow much slower than hybrid ones and produce fewer fruits. This year I planted 6 tomato plants, 2 of them are hybrid tomatoes--"Beef steak" and "Sweet 100". I have planted them in the past and I know they will do well. 

'Beef steak' (hybrid)

'Sweet 100'(hybrid)

The rest are heirloom tomatoes: 
1) 'Pink Brandywine'
2) 'Mr. Stripey'
3) 'Old German'
4) 'German Queen'

'Pink brandywine'(heirloom)

'Mr. Stripey'(heirloom)

'German Queen'(heirloom, the shape of their leaves is interesting)

'Old German'(heirloom)

'Old German'(heirloom)

'Mr. Stripey'(heirloom)

This year I have been diligently trimming off 'suckers' before they become too big. The reason I constantly get rid of the suckers is because they divert the nutrition away from the main stem, and even if the suckers bear fruits, they tend to be small. Trimming also keeps the plant fit. Last year they grew into a small tree and took a lot of space.

There are also 'volunteer' plants coming from the soil. Here are a small tomato plant and a corn plant. I have no idea where the corn plant comes from since I have never planted corn before. It comes out by itself next to the tomatoes. I moved it to a big place, and was guessing what it was and hoping it could be a corn plant. It revealed itself later by shooting three cobs of corn. 

A volunteer tomato plant

A volunteer corn plant

The volunteer corn plant several weeks ago 

Artichokes

This year we ate more artichokes than any other years combined, thanks to the artichokes I planted. This is the first time I planted an artichoke. It was fun to watch it grow bigger. And in the spring there came out several artichoke flowers. We steamed most of them and left a couple to continue to bloom. They were really tasty. I found they were especially good with beer. 

An antichoke plant takes a lot of space.

Artichoke harvest

More artichokes

More...

Steam them ...

The artichoke heart is the most delicious part. 

Kale Chips

Kale has been labeled as a "superfood" because of its high content of micronutrition and fibers. It is especially rich in vitamin K--a cup of kale leaves contains 1020% of the daily requirement--that I wonder if I might overdose with it. No wonder kale has gain popularity among health-minded people. Look at all the kale chips in the organic sections in Whole Foods and Trade Joe's. 

I have grown some kale seeds this winter and it gave a very modest production. Timmy has been buying kales regularly and making kale chips at home and is very good at it. I thought, why don't I make some kale chips out of my own kale?

Kale, underneath an artichoke

They look green and "fibery". 

Kale chips with pistachios and red pepper flakes

1)Rinse.
2)Take hard stems off kale leaves (leave only tender leaves and stems)
3)Spin-dry the leaves.
4)Add olive oil liberally.
("Liberally" is the way Julia Child added parsley in her dishes. I thought she must be in love with parsley when I heard it. A study on the Mediterranean diet has suggested that people consume 3 tsp of olive oil daily.)

5)Massage the leaves evenly with olive oil. 
6)Spread the leaves on a baking tray. Try not to lay leaves on top of each other.
7)Add salt, red-chili flakes (optional), pistachios, some lemon juice.
8)Conventional oven 300F,15 min or until the leaves are crispy but not burned.

The result was pretty good--they are flaky, spicy, and tangy. 

Early last year I started to be more aware of the relation of health, nutrition and diet. Timmy and I have been eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grain and nuts. Sometimes I wonder, does this really work? After all, "the war against cancer" has been totally a failure in the past 30 years. Everyday thousands of people are diagnosed of all kinds of cancers and are then suffering from destructive therapies. What is this all about? Why can't people peacefully exit with grace? What's the secret of longevity? I really admire what Michelle Obama has been doing to promote healthy diets and exercises. It is important to everyone.

Vegetarian dumplings in Chinese New Year

This is a late post about Chinese New Year. 

In 2013 Chinese New Year (Snake Year), I made vegetarian dumplings. These vegetarian dumplings are traditionally made on Chinese New Year eve and eaten on the next day, with the hope that the whole next year will go by smoothly. I guess it is because eating meat involves killing, chopping--things related to anxiety and lack of peace. The recipe is from my aunt. My grandma and my mother used it too. 

Here it is:

Ingredients: 1/4 Napa cabbage, 2 carrots, a small bundle of green bean vermicelli, 5~6 mushrooms, a small bundle of bean sprouts, some cilantro, fermented bean curd (Ranch 99 has), sesame oil, and salt.

To make the filling:

1. The cabbages are chopped and squeezed out water. 

2. The other vegetables are chopped and mixed with chopped cabbage. 

3. Add fermented bean curd and sesame oil. Taste. Maybe add more.

4. Add salt and taste.

To make the dumpling:

5. Follow the procedure described before to wrap the dumpling.

http://joelvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/2012/09/zucchini-shrimp-potstickers.html

To boil the dumpling (Option 1):

6. Boil plenty of water in a large pot. Add dumplings and gently stir. In a minute or two, the dumplings will float. Keep boiling until the wrap is fully cooked. Total time 4~5 minutes. 

To steam the dumpling (Option 2)

6'. Boil water in a large steaming pot. Put dumplings on wet cheese cloth. Cover and steam for 7~8 minutes. 

7. Serve hot with vinegar. 

The result was pretty good:

The vegetarian filling: Napa cabbage, carrots, mushrooms,bean sprouts, Fermented bean curd, sesame oil, etc. 

I boiled the dumplings. Steaming is another option.

Vegetarian dumplings

In my 20s I thought my life had taken an unconventional direction, but now it has converged to the path my parents and grandparents took. It is about making delicious food and sharing them with family and friends. It is about love, memories, and tradition. I love and am loved. 

Timmy said it was super delicious even though the flavor of fermented bean curd was a surprise.

Winter vegetables

It's a blessing to live in SoCal and grow vegetables year-round. In contrast to tomatoes and basil--these are warm-weather vegetable and herbs, you would choose to grow cool-weather vegetables. They are carrots, lettuce, peas, etc. 

As No. 1 rule of my gardening, and since I am a beginner, I have chosen the following as-said "easy-to-grow" vegetables:

1)Lettuce 

2)Kale

3)Garlic

4)Ginger

5)Peas

1, 2, 5 were from seeds. They all germinated quickly, but crickets had eaten most of the lettuce and kale seedlings. I had to plant another round of seeds immediately. Just the same time I read that a home gardener should not hope to plant one round of seeds, and then sit and wait for them to grow in a synchronized manner. A home garden is an open environment, and you constantly invite birds, insects, and little mammals whether you like it or not. So you should constantly replace the growth, particularly when you are some sort of organic grower. 

Here are the pictures:

Upper: Kale, Sage, Ginger, strawberries, garlics.Lower: Lettuce

Three peppers (Sweet pepper, Serrano, Jalapeno) and peas

This is the flower bed. Now it has lavenders, rosemary, catmint, thyme, and a Christmas Poinsettia.

Chimichurri Sauce

I have tried three Chimichurri Sauce recipes from the Internet. This is the best one so far. 

1 cup Chopped parsley leaves and tender stems;
3~4 Garlic cloves, minced;
2 tsp Oregano (I used dried herbs);
1/2 cup olive oil;
2 tbsp red wine vinegar;
(I tried rice vinegar once, it was good too)
1 tsp sea salt;
1/4 tsp pepper;
1/4 tsp red pepper flake.

All mix together and sit at room temperature for one hour before serve.