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
25 Friday Jul 2014
Posted in Garden, Recipe, Why I Garden
Those of you who grow several tomato plants every summer will be no stranger to the image below. It is that time of year in the northern hemisphere when the tomatoes keep coming, and coming, and coming. It is what we planned when we sowed all those seeds and said yes to the seedlings our friends didn’t have room for. This year I ended up with 18 plants. I am not sorry.
19 Saturday Jul 2014
I recently had to spend five days in Las Vegas. Five days and four nights too many. Despite living just a four hour drive away for most of my life, it was my first time there. I was attending a teacher’s math conference, which was great, but I could barely tolerate my surroundings. To me Vegas (the strip in particular) shows off some of the most despicable traits of our capitalist, sexist society. Its excess invokes strong feelings in me. I won’t go into all the reasons I despise Las Vegas, but I will say for one, it all sits in the middle of a desert, which just adds insult to injury. It is like giving the finger to Earth. 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
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
14 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in Altadena, Garden, Wordless Wednesday
