Welcome Garden Warriors! Hope Gardens can provide you with the guidance, and the muscle, to grow all things organic & sustainable. Garden on, friends!
Welcome to the wonderful wonders of WINTER GARDENS! I am profiling my favorite winter veggies this month. I hope to introduce you to the joy of growing, harvesting and enjoying these cool weather jewels. ARUGULA is a spicy baby lettuce that is prevalent at Hope Gardens right now. This little hottie of a green is […]
Carrots are delicious, nutritious and fun to grow, but surprisingly challenging. These five tips will make sure your planting is a big success. Order some seeds today and plant your carrots anytime of the year. Right now is the perfect time to plant these beta-carotene wonders as they love cool weather, but even in the […]
10 Tips for Planting Your Edible Parkway Garden On Tuesday, August 13th the L.A. City Council approved 15 to 0, “to immediately suspend enforcement of Municipal Code Section 56.08(e) in those cases where parkways are being occupied by vegetables, until a comprehensive report on this matter is presented to the Council.” This is great news […]
There’s nothing worse than planting that perfect garden only to have it decimated by critters. One nightly visit by a four-legged friend can wipe you out completely. Some friend! I’ve been working with my good pal Justin Lowman to create a great-looking, sturdy hutch that will keep varmints out, but still allow light and rain, […]
Happy July! Now is the month to plant those pumpkins for Halloween harvesting. Good for us, pumpkin seeds are relatively cheap and easy to grow. Pumpkins have amazing varieties that are deliciously nutritious to eat and super fun to carve. The presence of pumpkins, and other colorful gourds, announces fall as much as a tree’s […]
“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.” Pietro Aretino We are so fortunate here in Southern California to be able to plant and harvest veggies year round. There are definitely rules to follow however in regards to which vegetables are grown in warm weather and which in cold. Many cold weather […]
Mustard is handy in the garden as a great companion plant and when left to go to seed, the tiny flowers attract beneficial insects. Outside of the garden and inside the kitchen, it’s a super tasty, healthy green. Mustard Greens INGREDIENTS 1/2 c thinly sliced onions 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 T olive oil 1 […]
My basil is simple, straight-forward, traditional, easy and delicious! I usually have about three different basils going in my garden and I like to combine them in this pesto. Here we go! Basil Pesto INGREDIENTS LARGE amount of basil, several cups, washed, leaves picked off stems 1-2 lemons, juiced 1/4-1/2 c shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano 1/4 c […]
Use those over-ripe tomatoes in this light Spanish Gazpacho. Garden Gazpacho INGREDIENTS 2 pounds very ripe tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped 1 seedless cucumber or 1 pound Persian cucumbers, peeled and roughly chopped 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon salt […]
Veggie gardens need special care. Vegetable plants are prone to all sorts of disease and fungus. They are highly sought after by pests both big and teeny teeny tiny. A slight negative change in their environment can cause them to stop producing. And we aren’t happy when our veggie garden is just limping along…we want […]