Browse Month: September 2016

Permaculture Garden: Setting Up For Rain + Comfrey Update

Mid September. The change in the weather has been gradual. Temperatures have fallen off and the skies have been overcast. With a slight chance for rain we set up our receptacles in hopes of harvesting the rain for later use.

In the desert, rain is a scarce event. For this gardener, rain barrels do not see enough rain to find them practical. Rather, we use various receptacles like the green waste bin to collect rain. When not collecting rain (which is a good part of the year), those receptacles can be used for other purposes.

Summer’s Hurrah IX: Backyard Get-Together

For many, Summer is a season to have fun, relax, and travel. For gardeners, it is also the season that provides us with many delicious goodies to taste. As we prepare Fall’s welcome, we first celebrate Summer’s retirement with a Night Market / Street Food themed get-together.

Herb Tour

Herbs, what can you say about them that we do not already know? Herbs are a versatile group of plants– they are added to food to give it freshness or complexity; they also provide us with medicinal elements in the process.
One of the easiest types of plants to grow, herbs are great plants for beginners. There are so many types with so many uses for them. Here are some of the herbs growing around the house.

FROM THE GARDEN: Garlic Chive Cake

From the garden we harvest enough garlic chive to make a good number of garlic chive cake. This vegetable crop has for a long time been confused for leek. As a result, garlic chive cakes is often known as “leek cake.” To further add onto the incorrect taxonomy, it is called a cake but is technically a dumpling. Even yours truly (at toward the end of the video) regressed and called it a “leek cake.”

In any event, garlic chive dumpling or leek cake is originally from Chaozhou, China. It is the ancestral home to  a group of people known as Chaozhou or Chiu Chow or Teochew. Leek cake is as to the Teochew as apple pie is to Americans.

Because of theTeochew diaspora in Southeast, garlic chive cake is found to be a popular street food. Travel to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia; and you are bound to find this cake or dumpling being dished out by the street food vendors.

In Los Angeles, garlic chive cake can be found in select Teochew restaurants like Kim Chuy (in Chinatown.) Related: http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-object-of-desire-leek-cakes-20150102-story.html

Music tracks: Classic Teochew opera

Garlic Chive — Growing and Harvesting

Garlic chive is a popular crop in Asia and is often times confused as: Chinese leek, leek, or green onion. It is easy to see why it is often confused. Garlic chive is part of the allium family of which leek and onions are a part of. It has flat leaves like leeks but has the pungency of garlic. Unlike onions, the leaves grow more like leeks. It is a wonder why they are not known as “garlic leek.”

In any event, this is an easy plant to grow and here are some growing tips.

Preparations for Fall / Cool Season Crops

September is the unofficial end of Summer; and the beginning of the Fall growing season. To prepare, we clear out old plants, work the soil, sow seeds, and other things.

In the bonus segment at the end, we show part of our recent visit to the Glendora Gardens (nursery) in Glendora, CA.

 

Wasabi Growing Trial — Day 6 Update

Six days since planting the wasabi (wasabia japonica), the new leaves are now visible. By evening, tiny leaf buds were noticed. Quite exciting to find the plants showing signs of growth.

In good fun, we have named our three wasabi plants: Moe, Larry, and Curly (after “The Three Stooges”).

Project background: a pond with a stream bed feature was installed underneath the patio in an attempt to recreate wasabi’s natural habitat. This is a project to learn weather wasabi can be grown in a desert climate. Los Angeles area / California / Zone 10b / USA.

Blog Exclusive Video: Trade Winds Fruit Seed Purchase

September 1, 2016

Per Navin @ Sacred Plants, Trade Winds Fruit carries true Kapoor under “Holy Basil,” Spice basil is true ocimum canum.
These particular seeds were sought out to grow in order to compare and determine whether our ‘Kapoor’ plants are true.

These other seeds were added to meet the minimum for free shipping. With many of the seeds having been on the wish list.

Wasabi Growing Trial — the Attempt to Grow in Southern California

Wasabi (wasabia japonica), a rare culinary ingredient once said to only grow in specific areas of Japan. With known success of growing wasabi throughout the world, we are going to give this plant a go.

Today we received via parcel three wasabi plant starts. They have been planted in pond that mimics the plant’s natural environment– a stream bed. With much optimistic and with luck, perhaps we too may be able to grow this lovely plant.

Los Angeles area, California, Zone 10b
Climate: desert