06 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Garden
Tags
garden, gardening, heirloom seeds, heirlooms, summer garden, sustainable food, sustainable living, tomatoes
I used to start my tomatoes in late January or early February. Then I met someone who told me they started their tomatoes the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Ever since, I have been starting my tomatoes the first week of January for nice, good sized plants to transplant come March. 
28 Friday Nov 2014
Posted in Garden
Tags
Altadena Community Garden, Cinderella Pumpkin, garden, gardening, RIPE Altadena, sustainable food, sustainable living, winter squash
Last spring I picked up two Cinderella Pumpkin seedlings at one of RIPE’s monthly garden swaps we hold in our local park. I didn’t know anything about the squash except that the pumpkins resembled the pumpkin used to make Cinderella’s magical carriage. I thought they were of the decorative sort.
I planted them in a corner of my community garden plot, made sure they had water, and largely ignored them for a few months. Continue reading
16 Wednesday Jul 2014
Tags
Altadena Community Garden, Cinderella Squash, garden, gardening, photography, sustainable food, sustainable living, Wordless Wednesday
Posted by Jessica Y | Filed under Altadena, Garden, Why I Garden
14 Saturday Jun 2014
Posted in Garden
Tags
bitter cucumbers, critters, cucumbers, garden, gardening, summer garden, sustainable food, sustainable living
If you have ever grown cucumbers I can bet you have been unlucky enough to bite into the awfulness of one gone bitter. I have planted my cucumbers in succession this year. The first bunch is thriving – vigorous, green vines setting lots of fruit. I harvested the first two cucumbers earlier in the week and sliced one up as soon as I got it in the kitchen only to immediately spit it right out. There is something especially horrible about a bitter cucumber. For me I think it has to do with the stark contrast between that and a good cucumber’s mild flavor. Continue reading
06 Friday Jun 2014
My daughter has four days left of school. Four short days. Due to a twist of circumstance, my son has been in preschool five mornings a week instead of three for the last month. These mornings, this time to myself has been a gift, the quiet before the storm. I see the end of this school year as an end of an era, a short era, but one none the less. In the blink of an eye I will be swimming in lesson plans and first day of school jitters. The quiet mornings to myself will be fewer and farther between. Continue reading
04 Wednesday Jun 2014
Tags
garden, gardening, onions, photography, sustainable food, sustainable living, Wordless Wednesday
Posted by Jessica Y | Filed under Altadena, Garden, Wordless Wednesday
24 Saturday May 2014
Tags
garden, gardening, gardening with children, gardening with kids, school gardens, summer garden, sustainable food, sustainable living
It is amazing what can happen in the garden in just a few short weeks. There must be fairies visiting my beds every night sprinkling their magic dust over the plants. Continue reading
21 Wednesday May 2014
Tags
garden, gardening, photography, seed saving, sustainable food, sustainable living, winter fare beans, Wordless Wednesday
Posted by Jessica Y | Filed under Altadena, Garden, Wordless Wednesday
18 Saturday Jan 2014
Posted in Altadena, Garden, Why I Garden
Tags
Altadena Community Garden, garden, gardening, gardening with children, gardening with kids, sustainable food, sustainable living, winter garden
In my backyard garden I put up small fences around many of the garden boxes to keep out the feral cats and the raccoons. Inadvertently, they are now (more or less) keeping out a third destroyer of vegetable garden delights – my almost three-year-old. His motivations are heartwarming. He is not digging for grubs, tearing out anything in his way. He is not looking for a good bathroom. He is actually looking for a tasty snack.
22 Monday Apr 2013
Posted in Altadena, Food Politics, Garden
Tags
Earth Day, food justice, garden, gardening, Next Course Pasadena, sustainable food, sustainable living
Today is Earth Day and this past weekend was filled with all kinds of festivals, lectures, classes, etc. to commemorate the day. I am glad that we have a day to celebrate the earth, to raise awareness, to bring people together around common interests and to educate. This is good. However, I think most of us agree that it takes an everyday commitment to honor our planet, and by doing so, we make changes within our own lives and hopefully are getting creative and working hard to create change on a larger scale.
I walked through a beautiful Earth Day festival to attend the first of a series of meetings where the attendees will try to do just that. Continue reading
