Rancho Garbanzo

Chopped Eggplant

2010-10-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't run across something that makes me think about my Grams. A dirty joke (she could have a pretty raunchy sense of humor). Calla Lilies at Trader Joe's (we would "paint" them with powdered chalk at Easter time). Sweet 'n Low packets at a restaurant (she helped herself to them - for her morning coffee at home). All kinds of random things. Like our vegetable garden - I think often about how much she would have liked it. She would have liked making her chunky mash of our carrots and turnips. Or maybe some sour-creamy borscht from the beets. And then there are the eggplants. No matter what the occasion, my grandma brought two dishes to all of our family gatherings - chopped liver and chopped eggplant. Now, for me, the chopped liver was a no go. But the eggplant? - that was another story.

Gram's Chopped Eggplant (or as close as I can get it)

ingredients

1 large eggplant (she always used the common Black Beauty) or about 1 1/2 -2 lbs. other variety
1 medium red pepper
1 medium tomato
1/2 medium white onion
olive oil
vinegar
sugar
salt and pepper

post roast

method

Pierce each eggplant a couple of times with a fork (they can explode in the oven if you don't!), place them and the pepper on a lined baking sheet. Roast them at 400° until the eggplant begins to collapse and is easily pierced with a fork, 20-40 minutes depending on the size.
After roasting, place the pepper in a paper bag or tightly covered bowl till cool, 10-15 minutes. Set the eggplant aside until cool enough to handle easily.
While you wait, dice the onion and tomato. You want the pieces small, but not overly fine. Think salsa. Add to a medium bowl.
Scoop softened eggplant out of the papery skin into the bowl with the diced veg. Discard skins.
Peel and seed the pepper. Give the pepper a rough chop and add to the bowl.
Drizzle in olive oil - start with a good tablespoon. Add a couple teaspoons vinegar - cider, white wine, plain white, whatever you like best. Sprinkle with sugar - start with 1/2 a teaspoon. Add a couple hearty pinches of salt and black pepper.
Chop the whole mess up. My grandma always used a mezzaluna to chop her eggplant, but use what you have. Two butter knives will do the trick. Stop when you like the consistency. I've seen versions where it is blended. My grandma's was chopped by hand and still chunky.
Taste and add additional seasonings as you like. Put in an airtight container and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two for the flavors to meld. You might adjust the seasoning again at that point. Serve it cold or at room temperature. Grams always served it with fresh rye and egg breads. It's good on crackers, too.

Garden Snake

2010-09-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Found this cool snake in the yard the other day.

Dog Burrito

2010-09-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

Marty rolled himself into a nice package for some relaxing on the couch (with a little help from Jeremy).

A funny buddy.

Saucey!

2010-09-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Since the tomatoes started going off a few weeks ago, I have had two big saucing sessions. I did two separate batches each time - one with all Amish Paste tomatoes, and one with a mixture of different varieties.

For both batches, the first part was the same. After blanching them for 60-90 seconds (depending on the size), the tomatoes went into an ice bath and then were peeled, sliced and seeded. It is messy, but very easy to do.

With the mixed varieties, I spooned them into the blender and whizzed them up into a slurry. I poured the puree into clean quart-sized jars, lidded and labeled them, and sent them off to live in the freezer until needed.

With the Amish Pastes, I set about making an actual simple tomato sauce. I used Alice Waters' recipe from The Art of Simple Food - there's not much to it, but with tasty tomatoes it really makes a delicious basic sauce that you can use on its own or easily dress up in dozens of different ways. To store, I did the same as above - into clean mason jars and into the freezer.

So this winter when we are looking for some bright summer flavor, I will most likely use the mixed tomato puree to make tomato soup - with croque monsieurs or other grilled cheese sandwiches, of course. The simple sauce will eventually partner up with some meatballs as it is, or maybe be cooked down into a heartier bolognese, or possibly make it into a casserole dish as lasagna or eggplant parmesan or....

Meet the Tomatoes!

2010-09-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

With such funny, mild weather this summer, it has taken until just the past few weeks for us to finally meet this season's tomatoes.


the extended family

Back in April, when I planted the majority of the summer garden, I sowed seeds for nine tomato varieties directly into the upper bed. Though I had planned to start seedlings and transplant, time lapsed (as it tends to do) and I skipped some steps and put the seeds straight into the ground. The cotyledons sprouted quickly, and lovely strong plants followed. We had huge, bushy plants for months with no fruit to speak of. Slowly, at the end of August, the tomatoes finally started appearing.


Ox Hearts Our only crop to get bloom end rot - not on all of them, but on enough. I'd say good for saucing, but not the best eating tomato. A little mealy.


Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge The catalog described these as more beautiful than tasty. Ours taste pretty good, but the beautiful swipe of purple that's supposed to grace the top of the fruit has yet to show itself.


White Queen So delicious! Firm, but fairly seedy. Fruity, a nice touch of citrus, and really tasty.


Galo de Table Yummy cherry. A multi-colored variety. They are ready to eat when they are yellow (firm and tangy), great at orange (sweet with good bite), and at orangey-red (very sweet and very juicy).


Emerald Green This has been our most prolific thus far. Really tasty and really large. Sweet, but still nice and tangy. The catalog mentions that they grow with ease and with relatively little heat - which has been true for us.


Black Cherries So pretty and dusky colored. Big producer with firm, rich-flavored fruit. And delicious oven-dried. (Thanks for the inspiration Livi and Steve!)


Amish Paste

I waited several years to finally get this variety. I'd looked for seedlings at local nurseries and online, but they were always unavailable - at least when I was looking. Part of settling on seed this year was the impetus to finally have some Amish pastes. Totally worth it! Not a great looking specimen, and not a great eating variety, but when it comes to making sauce this is holding up to the hype. Big tomatoes, almost no seeds, great consistency and amazing, zingy flavor.

Of the nine different tomatoes that I planted, we are still waiting on two of them - they have plenty of fruit, but it's all still green. Our giant German Red Strawberry was the first to ripen, but after that one ready fruit, the rest have stayed green. Pink Ponderosa is also slow going. All of the seeds came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - which is one of the most fun, inviting, inspiring seed catalogs to peruse. I definitely recommend indulging in a paper copy.

Lawn Part 1

2010-09-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have been making steady progress over the last few weeks on getting our lawn in. This marks one of the last remaining big projects for the back yard. We had planned for a lawn area when we first started laying out our backyard a number of years ago. Over the last few years, I have researched different grass varieties and began to think that it wasn't such a good idea given our water shortages in Los Angeles. Yet, at the same time, we both love a good lawn game with friends and we love entertaining. About 6 months ago, I found a grass that had a lot of promise. Called UC Verde, it is a buffalo grass developed by UC Davis specifically for Southern California and arid regions. It requires a quarter of the water that typical grasses require, and it needs little or no mowing. Some people have not mowed their lawn in 2 years.

After reading a few blogs about people's experiences installing this grass variety, we decided to go ahead. One thing though, the grass is only available in plugs. When I first researched pricing in the Spring, there were only a couple of sources to purchase through, now the sources have multiplied and it appears you can even order it through Armstrong. I ordered mine through Florasource. Using their recommendations, I determined that about 800 sf of lawn and plugs spaced at 15" intervals would yield roughly 500 plugs. Four 128 plug trays are arriving tomorrow.

For the installation, I first laid out the sprinkler system: 3/4" sprinkler valve, 3/4" lines, and 6 pop-ups. For the nozzles, I am using these Rainbird brand high efficiency rotary nozzles. They put out less water per hour, this reduces runoff, allowing the water to soak in properly. They are also elgible for rebates from the state (25 head min.) and are readily available from Home Depot or your local sprinkler supply house. I use J. Harold Mitchell in Pasadena. They are not the cheapest, but they will answer all your sprinkler related questions as well as having lots of hard to find parts. I have used them extensively for our drip system in our vegetable garden.

Valves for the lower half of our yard. The lawn sprinkler valve has the
3/4" pvc running down.

Trenching was the hardest part but a pick axe, trench shovel and full day's work will do. Next, I layed the pipe in the trenches and glued it up. This is a pretty easy process. Cut with the PVC cutter, coat the pipe and fitting with glue, hold together until set.

For the pop-up bodies, I am using a 12" Rainbird 1800 series pop-up. I decided not to use the cheaper 6" since I thought if I allowed the grass to grow out I may have problems with it the heads adequately clearing the grass. The pop-up and nozzle assembly is connected to the water line with a swing joint giving lots of flexibilty in adjusting the head as well as raising or lowering the height if need be.

Spinkler assembly: the 12" pop-up body is attach to 2 swing joints, then a

1/2' by 12" pipe, then 1 additional swing joint that is attatched to a threaded

3/4" 'T'.

After all piping and sprinklers are glued up, I removed the sprinkler heads and turned on the valve to flush the line of any dirt or debris. I let this run for a few minutes before I turned it back off. I screwed the heads on and turned the valve on again to check for orientation and spray radius. At this point I just needed to make my final adjustments and fine tune the spray distance with the adjustable screw on top of the nozzle.

The sprinklers installation is complete. Next up, Part Two: tilling, leveling, and planting.

Tomato!

2010-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

German Red Strawberry. Seeds from Baker Creek.

First one! WOW.

Main Sewer Line Replacement Part 2

2010-08-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, I finished replacing the main sewer line. First, I removed the temporary fix and demo-ed the rest of the clay pipe.

Next, I cut out the cast-iron segment back to about its midpoint under the house. The cast-iron is a bit tough to cut through but can be done with a good carbide blade and a little patience. I then connected the old 3" cast-iron pipe to the new 3" ABS pipe with a Fernco coupler and extended this out through the hole in the foundation. Here I added a 3" to 4" ABS coupler and added a new clean-out all glued together with ABS glue.

The new clean-out. There will be a short length of pipe as well as a cap added.

The rest was easy: I ran the rest of the pipe and re-connected at the street with a 4" coupler.

This was the easy part.

I did buy a torque wrench on ebay to set the proper tension of the Fernco couplers. These are made to be cinched to 6olbs. I have guessed in the past but since these will be underground (and hopefully trouble free) for a long time, I thought it best to do it right.

All connected and ready to go. Just need to fill in the trenches.

Main Sewer Line Replacement

2010-07-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, our sewer backed up. Needless to say, it was a mess and at after-hours roto-router pricing, costly to deal with. We have a cleanout under the house for this sort of situation, but it being the old style cast iron, was rusted closed. The plumber had to go through a waste stack in the roof.

I watched the plumber work and thought if it ever backed up again, I would do it myself at reduced cost. I went under the house, reamed out the lead solder that held the cleanout plug and put in a rubber gasket - something that I could easily remove if need be in the future. About six months after the original cleanout, our sewer was backing up again and so I went to Home Depot and rented a roto-router. The process was quite simple, but back breaking, dirty work since the Home Depot routers while electric, do not have a self feeder mechanism. My sewer backed up 2 more times in the following six months, so I decided the best bet was to open up the main sewer line and take a look.

What I discovered was that our sewer in the front yard was a clay design: composed of 4' sections with a hub and bell style connection, concreted together. While there were fine roots attached to the hubs, the weak points, the main culprit was a 1" break where the sewer line started to drop down the hill in our front yard.

Trenched and ready to go. The narrow pipe in front is the

1" copper main water line. The 1" break in the clay sewer is in the

middle of the photograph.

Here is a close up of the 1" crack just below the hub. I cleared away the

roots to investigate.

I ran down to Home Depot to gather all the supplies I needed:

1 - 8' length of 4" ABS pipe
1 - 4" Fernco Flexible Coupling (both sides equal size for the ABS to cast-iron street connection)
1 - 4" Fernco Flexible Coupling (one side larger than the other to connect the 4" clay to the 4" ABS)
1 - 4" 1/8 bend elbow

The following I already had:

sawsall with carbide tipped blade (these will cut through cast-iron and clay)
hammer
ratchet set (to tighten the hubs)

The first step was to break the clay out with a hammer. I broke up to the point above the crack where roots where infiltrating. Next, I removed all the broken pipe down to the point where the clay pipe connected to the cast-iron street connection at the sidewalk. The clay was originally connected to the cast-iron with a rubber coupling. I removed this and stuffed the cast-iron end with a towel to prevent dirt and soil from clogging while I worked.

The root mass inside the broken clay pipes.

Next, I used my sawsall to cut a straight, clean cut on the existing clay sewer. There were too many roots, so I cut again above the next clay hub.

Sawsall with carbide blade.

After cutting the clay pipe with the sawsall.

The root mass can be seen. I ended up cutting above the next hub.

All that was left to do was to tie in the new pipe. I first cut two pieces of ABS to the proper length. Next, I tied in one piece to the clay with the Fernco rubber coupling. Then, I added the elbow and the second piece to the elbow. Finally, I connected the ABS to the street with the second Fernco rubber coupling. Since this was a temporary fix, I did not glue the elbow. To ensure that everything was leak tight, I took my hose and ran water at the cleanout and checked for leaks (in the process of digging out the line, I discovered a buried clean-out where the sewer came out from under the house)

The roots are on the left. Once the pipe was broken

they came out in one mass.

New connection, tested and with some wood stakes to stabilize.

The copper line above the pipe is the 1" main water service to the house.

The process was surprisingly easier that I expected and orders of magnitude cheaper than hiring a plumber. Within the next week or so, I hope to rip out all the rest of the clay sewer pipe and permanently tie in the brand new sewer line.

For Fernco couplings see here. If you live in the area, for additional plumbing supplies, help and advice, I would highly recommend Red Supply. They are only open during the week.

Turnip Pickles

2010-04-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Jamie Oliver is a favorite of mine. I have loved his rough, unfussy style in the kitchen for some time and was so happy when he combined his cooking ethos with product out of his own (outrageous) garden. On "Jamie at Home" each episode is themed around a particular ingredient grown (mainly) on his own property - "tomatoes", "peppers", "eggs" - you get the idea. Last year we started DVRing the series and, though I don't actually know how many episodes there are in all, we now have 22 of them recorded. There is also a book. "At Home" has a really messy, get-your-hands-dirty kind of vibe and Jeremy also immediately became a big fan.

One of our favorite episodes is titled "Pickles" and we have used a sort of all-purpose recipe from it with great results. Over the summer we used it to preserve an abundance of eggplants from the garden. Unsure how they would turn out or what we might use them for, it turns out that pickled eggplant is both tasty and versatile. It is great used as a spread on the toast of a fried egg sandwich. Adds a kick to turkey sandwiches. It has also starred as an option in one of our Mediterranean mini-feasts with warm flat bread, hummus, olives, feta, etc., In any case, last month I set out to try the recipe on this season's first harvest of turnips. The recipe is meant to be good for use on any vegetable that will stay firm after 2-3 minutes of blanching - mushrooms, zucchini, onions... This is my take on Jamie's suggestion for a flavory, quick pickle:

I stuck a bit of beet into the mix as well, for a little shot of color.

ingredients

turnips (in this case), 2 pounds - cut into sticks about 1/2 inch thick

pickling liquid

cider or white vinegar, 4 cups
water, 4 cups
kosher or sea salt, 2 tablespoons

pickling marinade

olive oil, 2 cups
garlic, 5 cloves roughly chopped
fresh red chili, chopped
dried oregano or other favorite herb, 2 tablespoons

method

Have some sterilized jars ready to go.
Bring vinegar, water and salt to a rapid boil in a large pot.
In a large bowl, add all marinade ingredients and mix/mash together well.
Add turnips to the boiling liquid and cook for about 3 minutes.
Lift the veg out of the liquid with a strainer or slotted spoon and add directly to the bowl of marinade. Toss very well.
Straight away, add the hot turnips to the clean jars, filling to the top and covering with the marinade. Seal the jars tight and let cool.
Store in a cool, dry spot and wait at least two weeks for the flavors to meld before you get eating.

I know that everyone has their own comfort level with canning/preserving techniques. Jamie Oliver just sealed the hot pickle in the jars and left them unprocessed and in the pantry. That's what I did as well, refrigerating only after I opened the jars, with great results. He says that they can be kept that way for up to 3 months. I suppose they could be easily processed in boiling water or just stuck directly into the refrigerator after making them if one had any worries about food safety. Whatever your preference, the recipe is really simple and very tasty. I think I'll try it with some of our fennel next!

Mulch!!

2010-04-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

Last Friday morning (while I was laying poolside in Hawaii) Jeremy accepted an enormous delivery of mulch back at the Rancho. Instead of taking it to the dump, Finch's Tree Service brought a dump truck full of chipped branches and leaves and unloaded it right in front of the house.

As you can see in the picture, my car is parked just feet behind the huge mound and is about half the size of it. Our plan is to lay a thick layer of mulch over as much of the unplanted areas of the backyard as possible - both to (fingers crossed) keep the weeds at bay and add organic material to the dusty, clay soil.

Jeremy made amazing progress on the pile over the weekend. And, with a few loads between the two of us after work last night, the monster in the driveway is now about 1/3 of its original size. After we finish getting it moved entirely we'll post pics of how it's really helped transform the weedy spring yard!

Garden Salad

2010-03-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

The first of the fennel came ready this week. The bulbs are still really small, but the color and the soft, wispy greens are truly beautiful. I went out into the garden to harvest cauliflower for my Auntie Hannah's pasta, and was inspired to make a small salad to go with the meal. I plucked up one of the larger fennel bulbs, snipped a bunch of new growth from one of the parsley plants, and picked a few bright nasturtium flowers. Just a few things I passed in the patch that jumped out at me in the moment.

Onto a dinner plate, I used my japanese ceramic slicer to thinly shave the fennel. On top of the fennel, I layered the roughly chopped parsley and torn flower petals. I sprinkled it with sea salt and fresh pepper, our "good" olive oil, and a healthy squeeze of lemon. Done.

The quick bit of inspiration from the garden was fresh, crispy, cool, and a fun combo of flavors. It went well with the savory pasta and, as Jeremy was quick to comment, was super pretty!

So definitely not so much a "garden salad" garden salad. More just a salad from our garden.

Cauliflower Pasta from the Rancho

2010-03-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Several years ago my mom described to me, in great detail, a meal that she had eaten at my aunt and uncle's house. A simple pasta dish, but one that she had found so surprising and delicious that she couldn't stop talking about it. My Aunt Hannah had cooked down loads of onions on the stove top until they were soft and sweet, and then added very roughly chopped cauliflower. After the the veg had cooked awhile, she seasoned it with salt and crushed red pepper, mixed it with penne pasta, and topped it with grated pecorino romano cheese. It sounded fine, I thought, but not necessarily warranting this extent of my mom's praise. I decided I would have to make it myself to see what the fuss was all about. My mom couldn't have been more right. The dish was simple, with few ingredients, but highly delicious. Not overly rich like macaroni and cheese or alfredo sauce, but creamy and flavorful, and really satisfying. It quickly became a favorite. It also set cauliflower as an absolute given in our garden. Despite attracting colonies of dusky, gray aphids to our vegetable beds, I have increased the number of seeds sown each year. Last night, in celebration of getting to spend more time in the garden after work now with day light savings, I harvested our first two heads of the season and made my aunt's delicious dish.

Ultimately, I found out that my aunt had adapted it after seeing Mario Batali prepare it - on television I think. Following is my interpretation of hers.

Auntie Hannah's Cauliflower Pasta

ingredients

red onions, 4 large - cut into 1/8 inch half moons
cauliflower, 2 large head - cut roughly into large chunks
flat leaf parsley, 1/2 cup or more - chopped
zest of 1 lemon - I like long strips, but grated could work, too
crushed red pepper flakes - I like quite a lot, but to your own taste
salt
good olive oil
Pecorino Romano, or other salty, hard cheese -1 cup grated
Penne or fusilli, 1 bag

method

1. Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add onions. Sprinkle on a couple hearty pinches of salt to get them going.
(It seems like way too much, but they will cook down significantly.)
3. Cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and beginning to color.

4. Add cauliflower. Stir to combine. Continue cooking until cauliflower softens to desired bite.

note: The softer it is, the creamier/saucier the dish turns out. We like some whole pieces of cauliflower left. I usually cook it at this phase for 20-25 minutes. The smaller pieces break down, with the larger pieces staying whole and more firm.

5. While cauliflower is cooking, heat salted water and cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving some pasta water.

6. When cauliflower is softened, add pepper flakes, zest, and parsley. Stirring gently to combine. Taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed.
7. Add pasta. Add in stages, until you have the ratio of veg to pasta that you prefer. (I don't usually use quite all of the pasta.) Gently combine.
8. Add cheese. Combine. Use reserved pasta water if you need to loosen the dish to desired consistency.
9. Serve.

Yard Projects

2010-03-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

middle patio - before

The new goal is to complete all of our yard infrastructure by Summer. A couple of Fridays ago I made significant progress towards this end by completing our middle patio. A month ago I dug down and leveled the patio, hauled the excess dirt to various other areas of the yard and moved 10 or so wheel barrow loads of gravel base. The following weekend I moved the remaining sand as well as the pavers that we had left after finishing our patio. To finish the area off, I leveled the pavers (24"x24" 'Broadway Pavers' from Bourget Brothers) and bought and moved the gravel (14, 100lb bags of 3/4"-1/2" Del Rio gravel from Throop).

middle patio - gravel base 2/13

middle patio - complete (mostly) 2/27

My next step is to finish edging and dressing the top of the vegetable bed broken concrete walls:

dressing concrete

After that I will finish the planter south of the patio, which includes weeding, drips for the future fruit trees, painting the fence, finishing and setting the electrical pullbox, backfilling and dressing the top of the broken concrete wall. This area will get a nice healthy layer of mulch - one thing I wish I had done comprehensively over our yard a long time ago.

planter south of patio

Next, clean, final grade and plant out of the middle hill:

middle hill - almost ready for succullents

Then the lower patio:

lower patio - lots of work needed here

Lastly, there is the lawn area as well as the lower planting beds. We also need to figure out where the chicken coop is going...

Bulbs: Part 1 3/4

2010-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

First sweet, yellow bloom.

Peppers: Canned Roasted

2010-02-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

One thing I have been wanting to make is roasted canned peppers. I grew up having these as part my family's normal antipasto plate before any large holiday or important meal (my grandmother is from a large Italian family). Occasionally we buy the canned roasted peppers from Trader Joe's, but with the Great Pepper Harvest of 2010 I had the opportunity to try my hand at a homemade version. While roasting may take a few times to get the hang of, the process is quite forgiving, the results rustic and delicious.

ingredients:

about 10-20 peppers (I used our Russian Healthy peppers, Chocolate Beauties, Violet Bella and an unknown small orange variety)
1 cup good olive oil
3/4 cup white vinegar
2 cloves garlic (plus 1 extra per jar)
1 Tbl salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I used chopped dried red Shishito peppers from my office's vegetable garden)
fresh oregano or basil (I used "Hot & Spicy" oregano from our garden)

method:

Place your peppers on a baking sheet and roast at about 400 degrees for about 30 min or until blistered and blackened turning once. Place in a brown paper grocery bag, or covered bowl or similar to steam and cool - about 20 min.

While this is going on you can cleanup a bit, boil your canning jars, and get the canning mixture prepared.

Now comes the messy part: pealing those peppers. Don't be so concerned about having perfect results, just try to get the seeds and as much of the skin or tough bits off. I had good luck with the larger red peppers while much more difficulty with the smaller orange ones. These were much thinner and had less"meat". I pealed what I could but left most the skin on (and they turned out great).

Place a pounded clove of garlic (I hit once with the bottom of my fist) in each canning jar and pack with peppers leaving some room for the canning liquid.

Heat oil, vinegar, chopped garlic, salt, herbs and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 min. Take mixture off the stove. Stir vigorously to mix the oil and vinegar as they will separate. Be careful, its hot!

Carefully fill each jar with the canning mixture leaving about 1/2" room at the top. Wipe edges clean, seal and either process in a water bath for 20 min or cool and place in the fridge.

Let the flavors mingle for a few weeks (or try after a few days if you're like me and can't wait.) Enjoy on toast or with a fried egg or on a sandwich. This is something I could definitely fill our pantry with.

Peppers: Stuffed

2010-02-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

before

After the first Great Pepper Harvest of 2010 (okay, so what's "great" to some might look sort of flim flamy to others...) one of the things we couldn't wait to eat were warm, sweet and savory stuffed peppers. Like many things that we make, stuffed peppers never seem to come out the same way twice. Though they do seem to be a vehicle that stands up to reinterpretation. This go round we stuffed ours with a mixture of wild rice with sauteed turnip greens and sausage.

Getting Started

I started by selecting the largest of the sweet varieties that we had harvested. Mainly we had red Russian Healthy peppers, but there were a few Chocolate Beauties, one smallish Violet bell, and a couple very small orangey guys. After deciding which sides of each pepper would behave the best and not tip over, I cut them in half and removed the seeds. I cut enough peppers that they pretty well filled up a 9x13 baking dish.

Fill 'er Up

1 cup long grain wild rice
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, uncooked (you could use any sort. I got an organic chicken variety.)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 1/2 lbs. turnip greens,chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper and crushed pepper flakes
fresh herbs

Method

Cook the rice - either according to package directions on the stove top or in a rice cooker. I'm all about the rice cooker. As it is cooking, get the rest of the filling prepped.

Remove the sausage from its casing, add a good bit of red pepper flakes, and brown with a little olive oil in the trusty cast iron skillet. When it begins to crisp up, remove it to a bowl and set it aside.

Using the oil left in the skillet, get the onion and garlic cooking just until they begin to take on some color, about 5 minutes.

Add the chopped greens, a couple hefty pinches of salt, black pepper, and whatever assortment of chopped herbs you like - my random assortment from the garden was parsley, oregano, and a little marjoram.

When the greens have wilted and begun to turn tender, I took them off the heat, and gently tossed them and the sausage with the cooked rice.

Taste for seasoning, add another pinch of salt if needed, and set to stuffing the peppers.

Into the Oven

After the peppers are stuffed and positioned snugly into the Pyrex cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Pull them out, remove the foil and top them with thinly sliced cheese. We had some with provolone and some with cheddar. Put back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so until the cheese is oozy and melted.

They were really delish - sweet peppers, slightly bitter greens, savory, spicy sausage, sharp, tangy cheese - yum! The recipe is just a loose guideline, really. Just a jumping off point. We have made them with seasoned ground tofu meat instead of sausage. With chard or beet greens or mushrooms or grated zucchini instead of or in addition to anything else. With brown rice or red rice or lentil/barley/couscous mix. You go.

after

Winter Garden Update

2010-02-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

It has been three months since we got the seeds in the ground for our winter garden. Things have come along nicely and with fairly minimal input. (Except for a couple minor mishaps involving a certain dog and some of his friends. Sorry peas!)

It always feels like a slow start when you're waiting to eat from the garden, but so far we've been able to sample some beautiful beets and beet greens, some carrots, turnips, arugula, a bit of chard, and some radishes on hot buttered toast. But the real bounty is just starting to be unleashed.

I am personally setting my sites on the cauliflower.

Still attempting to get into the habit of having a perpetual garden that is edited and re-seeded on the regular (as opposed to once a season), I spent some time last weekend tidying the vegetable beds. Among other things, I harvested all of the turnips to make turnip pickles and got a good bit of new seed in the ground.

In the lower bed

1 row heirloom shelling peas (Renee's Garden)
1 row Tonda di Parigi carrots (Renee's Garden)
1 row French Breakfast radishes (Seed Savers)
Filled in 1 row of Cosmic Purple carrots (Renee's Garden)
1 row purple top white globe turnips (Seed Savers)
1 row Chef's Choice cauliflower (Renee's Garden)
3 Mammoth Red Rock cabbages (Seed Savers)
2 Copenhagen Market cabbages (Seed Savers)
1 row 1/2 Chioggia & 1/2 Burpee's Golden beets (Seed Savers)

In the upper bed

1 row Rouge d'hiver Romaine lettuce (Renee's Garden)

Herb Garden

Dill (Ferry Morse)

Bulbs: Part 1 1/2

2010-02-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

The daffodils are beginning to peek through the mulch under the pepper tree.

A small thing, but very exciting.

Peppers: Louisiana Hot Sauce

2010-02-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

One thing that I have come to realize over last few seasons is the intimate link between growing and preserving. With an edible garden, you are constantly trying to figure out new and different ways to utilize what your garden is providing. Generally you can only keep up with the production to a degree and sometimes you have so much of a particular fruit or vegetable you are left with giving it to friends and neighbors, putting it back into your compost pile or preserving it. This winter we have had a bumper crop of peppers (both regular and hot versions) and it has forced us to figure out ways to preserve to bounty.

Right around Christmas time, in midst of the holiday crunch, I saw that our pepper plants were overflowing. We weren't going to be around and I was worried about them going to waste, so I picked the plants clean and made a quick batch of Louisiana Style vinegar hot sauce. Similar to Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot but without the fermenting step, it is really quick and easy to make, ready immediately, improves with age, and has tremendous flavor.

ingredients:

1/2 cup peppers (I used Serranos and Rooster Spur)
1 3/4 tp salt
2/3 C white vinegar
half a carrot (Rachel suggested we try this out on the second batch)

method:

Cut the tops of the peppers and seed depending on hotness. Be careful with the eyes here. Some people use gloves.

Toss peppers in a kitchen blender with the carrot, salt and vinegar. Cover and blend for about 5 minutes until completely smooth.

Pour into prepared canning jars and seal. I did not process the filled jars as I put this batch directly in the fridge. Use immediately or let it ferment in the fridge over time.

Voila! We now have plenty of hot sauce whenever we need it. Next time, I would really like to use empty hot sauce bottles, though this might be a problem as the finished product is so good I can't imagine ever buying hot sauce again.

final notes:

The carrot was an idea Rachel had for our recent second batch. It was a great addition, giving a touch of sweetness, cutting the overt presence of the vinegar and adding some complexity to the flavor. I can't wait to try pickling jalapenos or trying to replicate one of the Chinese chili oils from 99 Ranch Market that we are so fond of using in our stir fries.

Rancho Rewind: Beet Pizza

2009-11-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I'm most looking forward to in the winter garden are all of the beets. Last year Jeremy and I made beet pizza a couple of times, and flipping through photos, I came across one of our creations that got me excited for this years crop.

We used the regular pizza dough from Trader Joe's for this one. (We need to start making our own, I know it's easy, but not as easy as buying it from TJs!) We usually brush a little olive oil onto the sheet pan and then sprinkle that with some yellow corn meal. (Nope, we don't gots a pizza stone.) After a couple of initial versions, we decided that with a beet pizza we need to pre-bake the crust before adding the toppings (the beets and beet greens have so much moisture that it makes it hard for the crust to crisp up if you don't). So we bake the plain crust for 8 minutes or so, pull it out and dress it up.

Dressing it up:

sauteed beet greens

I just chop them up and through them into a hot cast iron pan with a little olive oil, salt and crushed red pepper. Cook until wilted and just tender.

roasted beets

I scrub them, cut the tops off, and put them into a roasting pan or pyrex.
larger beets I might cut in half, but otherwise I leave them whole.
sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water into the pan, cover tight with aluminum foil, and roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until fork tender.
let the beets cool, then peel the skins off with your fingers. (it's a little messy, but the skins come off really easily.)
cut the cooled beets into thick slices.

walnuts , rough chopped
goat cheese
parmesean cheese
fresh parsley, chopped

Spread the goat cheese on the pre-baked crust. Distribute the greens and the sliced beets over the cheese. Sprinkle walnuts and parmesean over the top. Bake for another 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle parsley on the finished pie.

We kept it pretty basic, but you could easily add other flavors that would be great. Maybe some balsamic vinegar or flavored olive oil or walnut oil drizzled over the top when it comes out of the oven? Chives, onions or shallots? Pickled onions or shallots? Pine nuts? Blue cheese? No cheese? However it is modified, I am looking forward to recreating it with at least a part of the new season's crop. Hurry up beets!

Winter Vegetable Garden

2009-11-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

Three weeks ago now, I got the lower bed seeded with the winter veg. This is the first season that we haven't planted both beds at the same time; we are officially "experimenting" - in the effort to learn to stagger our crops, to know more about which perennials we can leave in the ground from season to season, and to figure out just what we can do in the space we have. So the eggplants and peppers stayed put in the upper bed and I planted bits and pieces around them. The lower bed got the full-on, seed sowing treatment. Mainly, I used standard row planting - short rows that cut vertically along the long bed. I did break a little from the seed-packet recommendations though, and set my rows closer together - about 12 inches apart, as opposed to 24 to 32 inches. I could just be shooting my cabbages in the foot (or is it shooting my cabbages in the head?) trying to squeeze more out of the space. We'll see.

Here's what I sowed:

Upper Bed

1 row Butter lettuce (Renee's Garden)
1 small patch Common arugula (Seed Savers)

Along the length of the lower bed

4 Copenhagen Market cabbages (Seed Savers)
4 Mammoth Red Rock cabbages (Seed Savers)
4 Early Snowball cauliflower (Seed Savers)

Starting from the north end of the lower bed

1 row heirloom shelling peas (Renee's Garden)
1 row Tonda di Parigi carrots (Renee's Garden) & French Breakfast radishes (Seed Savers)
1 row De Cicco broccoli (Seed Savers)
1 row Cosmic Purple carrots (Renee's Garden) & Watermelon radishes (Renee's Garden)
1 row Chef's Choice cauliflower, mixed colors (Renee's Garden)
1 row Purplette mini onions (Huntington)
1 row Purple Top White Globe turnips (Seed Savers)
1 row Romanesco broccoli (Seed Savers)
1 row Cipollini onions (Huntington)
1 row Cylindria beets & Burpee's Golden beets (both Seed Savers)
1 row Five Color silverbeet (Seed Savers)
1 row Bull's Blood beets & Chioggia beets (both Seed Savers)
1 row Sunshine carrots (Renee's Garden)
1 row Pigeon peas (from Irma)

Herb Garden

Italian Large Leaf Basil (Armstrong's seedling)
Coriander (Armstrong's seedling)
Curled Chervil (Armstrong's seedling)
Italian Parsley (Armstrong's seedling)
Florence fennel (Renee's Garden)
Nasturtium (Burpee's)

Bulbs: Part One

2009-11-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Along with the edibles, it has always been a part of the plan to have a cutting garden at Rancho Garbonzo as well. Natives they are not, but a vase of dahlias or tulips or peonies on the mantle is hard to beat. So, last weekend I got started by planting 100 daffodil bulbs on the slope under our pepper tree. (Daffodils remind me of my Grams.)

The area is really shady, with only a little dappled light here and there throughout the day. Unlike the rest of our yard, this slope has been covered with a thick layer of mulch for the last few years - partly just leaves and twigs that have fallen from the huge tree above, and partly a deliberately placed load of chipped yard waste that the tree trimmer dropped off a couple of years back. Also unlike the rest of the yard, the soil that I uncovered beneath the mulchy top layer was lovely! Not a clumpy ball of reddish clay in sight! Now is that just the mulch working its magic over time on our crummy soil or was there completely different soil in this section of our yard to begin with? I think the former makes the most sense. Three cheers for the mulch! So, bone meal and bulbs into the ground and fingers crossed; I'm hoping that we'll see some of these babies popping up by the start of Spring.

(Unfortunately not my yard, the pics are scanned from the bulb bags. I bought them at Costco.)

Berry Patch

2009-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we planted our berry patch. We dug out the crusty lump of earth, just below the herb garden, removing the fine clay soil about a foot deep.

Into the hole went a mass of alfalfa that will eventually rot and give the spot a boost of organic matter (we hope).

The alfalfa was topped with many bags of new, loamy, composty garden soil. And nine new strawberry plants were planted. Woot woot! We planted Alpine Strawberries or Fragaria vesca - they are much smaller than the garden strawberries we are used to but are supposed to be super sweet, flavory, and delicious. Here's hoping that we get enough of a crop to make some jam!

Marty watched.

Woodenware Care

2009-10-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

In a fit of inspiration I decided to breakout a gifted and never used "woodenware care and repair kit" we had amongst our cleaning supplies. I had been wanting or needing to condition some cool 1960s stainless serving utensils with hardwood handles and decided to give it a try. I ended up oiling almost every wooden kitchen utensil in our possession. I am now a convert - I never realized what a difference it could make.

The product I used is Tree Spirit (although any pure mineral oil will do) and is designed for use on wood items that come in contact with food. You just apply the oil using a rag and then lightly sand with 600 grit sandpaper. Reapply as needed and wipe clean after 30 min. This removes the raised/ rough wood to a smooth finish. Our wooden spoons look and feel amazing. Our knife block never looked so good and our cutting boards are protected from the ravages of cutting and washing. If you got some time I highly recommend it.

crawly creepy

2009-10-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, when I was sorting out the lower vegetable bed, I came across a large, spotted brown spider in the tomatoes. Feeling a bit more courageous than I might have without my thick garden gloves on, I decided to cut the branch she was on and move her to a new home among the eggplants.

After moving her to the bed above, I noticed a couple things:

1) three white, spikey egg sacks that had been hidden behind the leaves I'd cut away on the tomato plant.

2) when the spider crawled to the top of the eggplant leaf, I spied a neon orange hour glass on the underside of her belly.

It was pretty easy to identify. I typed "brown widow" into Google and found a bunch of info. If I'd had any doubt, the egg sacks sealed the deal of our spider being a Latrodectus geometricus - commonly known as the brown widow, a close cousin to the black widow. After reading last weeks post on Ramshackle Solid about black widows, I felt a certain camaraderie in knowing that it wasn't just us - other people are sharing their yards and homes with these scary creatures too. But now we have kin whose poison is supposedly twice as toxic?

I'm beginning to rethink our "catch and release" policy.

Changing Over

2009-10-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Over the past weekend we said goodbye to the tomatoes. It was less of an emotional farewell than it was last fall - the tomatoes just weren't the same. They were delicious, just not prolific. We had a few rounds of bruschetta. We have three measly jars of frozen sauce. Salsa a couple of times. You know, just not the bounty that we had last year. The tomatoes shared the bed this summer with four different varieties of cucumber and several types of bean that also never really sprung into action. Oh well, bring on the cool weather and the winter garden. Brassicas here we come!

After removing all the plants, except for the spindly family of asparagus that live at one end of the bed, we added some home made amendments to the soil. Very exciting. This is really the first time we added a load of our own composts - worm and regular. Though I think we could have used twice as much of both, we were kind of proud to see the efforts of tightening our waste management system go right into the garden in the form of dark, rich organic matter. Pretty cool. We also added some drip irrigation.

We are hoping that the new drip will do for our vegetables what it has done for the herb bed - super happy plants. We covered the bed with a new coat of alfalfa and are looking forward to planting seed next weekend. The upper bed, on the other hand, got only a small editing. The peppers, eggplants, and zucchini are still growing strong. So, fingers crossed, we will have a smooth transition into the new season - some remaining summer/fall veg to use as the winter/spring things get on with it.

Yard Shoes

2009-10-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

After my last backpacking trip I've decided to retire my hiking shoes. They will now take the place of my trusty (and barely holding together) yard shoes.
Sad to see them go. We've shared some great times together.

Ratatouille

2009-10-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Since even before we got our first seeds into the ground several seasons ago, it has been a goal of ours to home grow all the vegetables it takes to make a hearty pot of ratatouille. For those who are more familiar with the film than the dish, ratatouille, simply, is a French vegetable stew. People seem to agree that it can be served either as a side dish or on its own with some crusty bread; however, that seems to be the end of what people agree on. Some recipes call for all the ingredients to be sauteed together in one big pot. Some recipes, including Julia Child's, call for the ingredients to be layered in a casserole and baked. To me, the best ratatouille is a summation of each vegetable's individual expression layered into an intricate (and delicious!) whole. This means that each veggie is cooked on its own, in the method that suits it best, and then combined. Whatever your method, ratatouille piled on a piece of crusty bread with a good glass of wine is the perfect bookend to Summer and transition to Fall. It is good, simple food at its best.

This year we have gotten closer to our goal than ever before! Though we didn't have much luck with the onions, we did have a bumper crop of gorgeous eggplant, zucchini, and peppers. Our tomatoes kind of pooped out by the time the rest of the veg was ready to go, what with the two major heat spells we had, but we still manged to get a usable crop. All the herbs, the basil, sage, and thyme, were also ready to go in from the herb garden.

This recipe is not difficult, though it does take some time and is definitely not for those looking for the easiest route. But, if you can set aside an evening, it is a wonderful way to spend some time together - plus your efforts will provide additional meals for the rest of the week. We ate a quick dinner before we started and worked throughout the evening over a bottle of wine.

Rachel's Ratatouille

ingredients

eggplants, 2 or 3 big ones (or enough little ones to add up to 2 or 3 big ones)
zucchini, 4 or 5
bell peppers, 3, 4, 5 (whatcha got?)
tomatoes, 12ish
onions, 2 medium
garlic, 5 or 6 cloves
basil, a grip (about 1 cup of fresh leaves)
sage, thyme, parsley
good olive oil
salt, pepper

method

Clearly, as you have just read the ingredients, there is no need to be exact here. The trick is for each ingredient to be prepared independently to develop its own unique flavors, then gradually layer these flavors on top of each other.

Eggplant and Zucchini:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cut the stem off your eggplants and then cut them into cubes, roughly 3/4 inch. Pay more attention to keeping them about the same size, as opposed to exactly 3/4 inch cubes. Put them into a large bowl and set aside.

Do the same thing with the zucchini, but make the cubes a bit smaller than the eggplant, about 1/2 inch. Put in a separate bowl.
Drizzle each bowl of veg with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. You know, just enough oil to coat the cubes, 2ish tablespoons. More is fine if you want to go there. And a big, hearty pinch of salt. Toss to coat.
Pour the eggplant out onto one sheet pan. The zucchini onto another. Spread them each out into a single layer and stick them into the oven. Pull them out after 20 minutes and turn them about with a spatula. Stick them back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
The eggplant is done when is goes golden and soft. The squash should also begin to get lightly brown, but should hold its shape, don't let it get too soft.
You can shut the oven off when these guys are done, you won't need it again.

Tomatoes:

As the eggplant and zucchini are cooking, put up a large pot of water to boil.

Fill a large bowl with water and ice. Set aside.

Take the stems off all the tomatoes and, using a sharp or serrated knife, cut an "X" into the bottom of each fruit.

When the water on the stove begins to boil, carefully drop the tomatoes into the pot. Wait 60-90 seconds (90 for large tomatoes, less for smaller ones). Pull the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and put immediately into the ice bath.

When all the tomatoes are in the ice water, pull one out at a time and the skin should peel away very easily. Peel all the tomatoes.

Quarter the peeled tomatoes, remove the seeds, and set aside. If you're using larger tomatoes, larger than plum, cut them into eighths.

Peppers:

Ummm, where are we? Ahh, peppers. I roast my peppers right in the fire on my stove top. Get them all black and charred. You can do this in the oven as well, but at this point my oven always has eggplant and zucchini in it.
However you have done it, when the peppers are roasted up, stick them into a paper sack, roll the top up, and leave them steam for about 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, take them out of the sack and the skins should peel away without too much trouble. When peeled, cut them open, remove the seeds, and cut them into 1/4 inch slices. Set aside.

Odds and ends:

Cut the ends off of your onions, cut them in half, and peel them. Then cut each half into half-moon slices about 1/8 inch thick.
Peel your garlic cloves and slice thinly.

Putting it together:

Now, finally, get your big old pot on the stove. (I use a big 10 quart Le Creuset cast-iron and enamel pot.) Over a medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of your pot. 3ish tablespoons? (4ish?) Let it heat up for a minute or so.
Add the onions and garlic, a big pinch of salt, and saute until they begin to turn golden. You don't want them to caramelize, just to get soft and begin to color.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add the tomatoes and the sliced peppers. Stir to combine. Add another pinch of salt and a big pinch of fresh black pepper. Turn the heat to low and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add the roasted eggplant and zucchini. Stir to combine. Add half of your herbs. Basil and parsley can be roughly chopped. Thicker, stronger herbs like sage, thyme, etc. can be more finely chopped.
Stir and cook on low for 45-60 minutes. Stir occasionally
Add more basil and/or parsley. Taste. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Add more olive oil if you like. Your finished product should be think and unctuous, but still chunky, with all the ingredients still identifiable.

Seems like a complicated recipe but honestly, this dish is super rustic and does not need to be exact. I have added roasted mushrooms, yellow crook-necks, raisins, kind of whatever you're feeling. We have eaten it with the crusty bread mentioned above, but also tossed with pasta and cheese, over creamy polenta, inside an omelette, on toast with a fried egg on top...be creative!

Bon appetit!

Lacto-Fermentation

2009-08-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Since our first crop of cucumbers and cabbage last year I have become increasingly interested in home pickling. While I have always liked a good half-dill from a Jewish deli or finely shredded German style sauerkraut with a grilled Bratwurst, making your own is a different business.

Back in March of 2008 I found myself captivated by a discussion on KCRW's Good Food between the show's host Evan Kleiman and Local Forage co-editor Steven Fineberg about lacto-fermentation: a method of pickling vegetables that uses neither heat nor vinegar but rather natural fermentation processes. This method produces food that not only tastes delicious, but is also full of living microorganisms that are supposed to promote digestion, health, and overall well being. Plus it is simple and easy.

While Steve Fineberg uses whey from yogurt as a starter for his version, I did some additional reading and settled on a method given by Sandor Katz, self proclaimed "fermentation fetishist":

ingredients

1 head of cabbage (preferably from your garden)
Salt

tools

medium size crock
plate (slightly smaller than the crock)
weight ( I used a mason jar filled with water and capped)
clean kitchen towel to cover the crock.

method

Get a good chef's knife or mandolin and shred the cabbage as fine as you can get it.
Take a handful of the cabbage and toss it in to your crock.
Add a few pinches of salt and mash the cabbage with a potato masher or drink muddler.
Repeat until all your cabbage is in the crock. Taste a piece. It should be briny but not overwhelming.
Pack your cabbage well and place your plate down inside the crock on top of the cabbage. Place your weight on top of the plate and then cover the your crock with a towel. Place somewhere out of the way on your kitchen counter.
Now this next point is critical: check your crock after 24 hours. The salt should pull enough moisture out of the cabbage to completely cover the cabbage and plate. If not mix some water and salt and add to the crock to cover the cabbage and plate by an inch or two. Check occasionally and skim any "blooms" off the surface. Don't worry, this is a natural part of the process.
Wait a few weeks. Take some out to try - the flavors will continue to develop over time. You can take a little bit out at a time and place in a separate jar in the refrigerator.

That's it. It took me about 3 weeks of fermenting before I started to taste the unique properties of my sauerkraut. It is a bit sweet and sour and tangy and has an ineffable flavor unlike any store bought sauerkraut. This is simple rustic food at its best.

Additional resources:

Gold Mine Natural Foods - This is where Rachel purchased my crock - she also has a cousin who works here.
KCRW Good Food - March 29th 2008 - this is a link to the webcast - scroll about halfway down for the segment.
Wild Fermentation - this is Sandor Katz's website. I would really like to get his book.
Boing Boing - Making Sauerkraut is Easy - I've been a regular Boing Boing reader but only came across the post when I was putting together this list of resources. It has photos and explanations of the process. Any similarities are entirely coincidental.

A New Beginning

2009-08-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

After five years living a quasi-urban loft experience in downtown LA - five years of fun, excitement, being part of something new, and living over an alley - we decided we needed to get some elbow room, a yard, and eventually a pet for that yard. We looked for a year. Starting our search in Echo Park, we slowly shifted to North East LA after every house we put an offer on went unreasonably over asking price. Ultimately we landed in Highland Park, more specifically Garvanza, on the Western edge of Pasadena. That was 2004.

The home we purchased was a 2 bedroom 1957 stucco on a 8250sf steeply sloping lot that was an unruly mess. The land was raw, weed strewn, overgrown, with collapsing terraces, rotting trees, and what seemed to be an old burn pile. But the bones were good and the yard had tons of potential and we set out to (slowly) make the house and yard into our home. Five years of blood, sweat, and tears. (No, seriously, there were tears.)

Fast forward five years. We have made a ton of progress: we now have a functioning vegetable garden; we have planted the first batch of fruit trees; we have an actual patio that we can hang out on. It is encouraging to see how far we've come and sometimes depressing to see how far we have to go...we still have half of our yard to plant....and then there is the house itself. Rancho Garbonzo can be a mixed bag. We're keeping our chins up!

We had always planned to start a blog to document our experiences but could never get it together. Mainly we couldn't think of a name. Well here's to a new beginning. We hope that this blog will serve as an inspiration to some (maybe to turn that weed patch into some juicy tomatoes?), perhaps an education to others (we are FULL of the what-not-to-dos!), a way to keep up with what we are up to, and a fun way for us to document our own progress. Stay tuned.