PESTO GENOVESE

Real pesto could only be made with mortar and pestle, I was told by a real Italian. Aha.

Ingredients (for four servings)

Large bunch of Basil
4 gloves of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup of roasted pine nuts (you can also use walnuts or pecans)
5 tablespoons of Olive Oil
3/4 cup of parmesan

So, here is what I did:

In a mortar, I crushed a large bunch of basil.




Then added the four gloves of garlic and the nuts.

One by one tablespoon, I worked the oil in and added the parmesan in the end.


We had it with pasta.


YUMMI - or so I thought.

Aurelia found it a tad too spicy.

I believe she was referring to the garlic.

I had used very large and very fresh gloves.

I told her, the mosquitos will stay away from her if she ate it.


BTW: This recipe is from The Splendid Table. Thanks!!

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

HOMESTEADYING GRADUATION or DUCK EGG HUNT IN JULY



Our first duck eggs

Last night, when I came home from Graduation of Sustainable Living Class, Roberto told me, "I have a surprise for you!" Then he asked me to sit at the dining room table and close my eyes. When I opened tmy eyes, there were three beautiful creamy coloured eggs infront of me. And they were from our ducks! OMG!

It had finally happened! Lotta and Big have started to lay eggs and we had officially graduated to the next level of homesteadying! Whow! Two graduations in one day for me!

So, every morning now, after letting the girls out, we will be going on an egg hunt. The thing with ducks and their eggs is that they will not lay them in a nest like chickens. They will lay them wherever they are, which is why you probably want to leave them in their house until after 8 am - 9am for sure the eggs are there and you don't have to hunt around the yard to find them.

Guess, what is for breakfast?!
Already when opening the eggs, you start realising the issues with commercial egg production.

BTW: Isn't this already a contradiction: egg and production, like they can assemble them on some line?! Not in a hundred years will man be able to create something as perfect as an egg!

Anyway, back to the eggs:

The first thing, you will notice is that the shell is HARD (no calcium deficiency in our birds!)! You almost need a knife to open it! Then the yolk is an amazing colour! And then there is that taste... you won't believe your taste buds. And they probably will ask, "Where were you all my life?"

Roberto mentioned how the nutritional value must be extremely high since we both felt filled up after sharing only three duck eggs for breakfast. In a commercial production, where the layers are stressed and forced to lay (even if it's organic and cage free), the nutritional value is often dramatically reduced due to the overall situation of the birds.

Well, that's it! We are spoiled forever now because the ladies will just keep it coming!


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

APHID PATROL - PLEASE DON'T BUY LADYBUGS!

I have cabbages. Therefore I have aphids. That's just how this is. Unless you spray pesticides, you cannot have cabbages and seriously expect not to have aphids.

But what to do about these plant-sap-suckers, who eventually can destroy a plant?

There is a thing or two about aphids to know that can help you in understanding and / or beridding them.

#1   Ants harvest aphids. Therefore they 'herd' them and even carry them from plant to plant. So if you see a line of ants going to a plant, you may want to consider doing something. Ant traps (see one of my earlier blogs on this subject). Also, sprinkling a tad of DE around the plant's base may be helpful.

#2   Spraying neemoil can be helpful. The aphids then cannot hold on anymore. Dealing with pests is most successful when the moon is in pices.

#3   Spraying chili-water, because the aphid skin is very thin, so this concoction may kill them. Again, dealing with pests is most successful when the moon is in pices.

#4   Leave them alone and let nature take care of them. Aphids have two major predators: Ladybugs (whose correct name actually is ladybird beetle) and certain variety of tiny wasps.

I have soo many aphids on my cabbages and was truely getting upset about it. Just when I was thinking about getting the neemoil out, I saw a tiny wasp flying around my cabbages. These guys work wonders! They lay their eggs on teh aphids and then their larvae eats the aphid. Problem solved!

#5   Buying ladybugs to eat the aphids - Now this really is a big problem: When you buy ladybugs, someone has collected them in the wild and when you release them, they will try flying back home. While attempting this, they will die. Also, when you release them, they rarely stay to eat anything.

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT. EVER!

It's simply not worth it for you (because they fly away and don't eat your aphids) and it puts another species in danger. Instead just wait for the native ladybugs in your hood to show up and do the job.

Trust me, if you leave the aphids alone, they - along with teh wasps - will show up!

You actually can harvest and eat you aphid infested cabbages. Just wash the leaves really well (I use the sprayer on our sink) and the aphids come right off. While they are a pest, they are not dangerous, even if you should accidentally cook and then eat one or two.

Wanna know more about aphids ... http://www.earthlife.net/insects/aphids.html


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

JUNE 2011 - HARVEST TALLY & PROJECT LIST UPDATED

Boy, what a month! Both, the plants and us have been pretty productive. We are very happy with how much we have harvested in this our very first June, or I should say in our fourth month of our homesteadying adventure!

When looking at these numbers, bare in mind that all these fruit trees are about or less than four years of age and that I raised all the veggies from seeds and - obviously - did not know yet quite when to plant what in SoCal. I am planning on being much more intime with the planting schedule for our region (now that I know the times of the season out here a tad better) for the next year to turn out more produce.

Anywho, given all the obstacles (off-timing, inexperienced us, aphids, spider mites, cabbage catterpillars, leaf miners, heat wave, hungry featherheads, etc..), I am pretty happy with our harvest for this June.

June 2011 Harvest Tally:
1/2 lbs of mulberries (soo bummed that the season is over; they are too good!)
2 lbs of strawberries (bit by bit or I should say berry by berry from plant to mouth they went - this variety is just too good)
1/2 lbs of Arugula (it's a race: who is faster me or the snails?!)
4 lbs of salads (now we are waiting for the next batch to get ready!)
4 lbs of mustard leaves (gotta admit; mostly bird food)
6 lbs of chard (bummer - the birds got the best of it, the featherheads were simply faster than me)
40 lbs of zucchinis (everyone got to benefit: Aunt Diana, as well as old and new neighbors, even Roberto's patients got to enjoy them...)
6 lbs of savoy cabbage (Oh my...)

1 lbs of peaches (we have donut and white peaches - suhweet!)
1 lbs of red onions with shallots
5 lbs red cabbage
1 lbs of cucumbers (from seeds from Germany! Thanks Andrea, Gabi und Opa!)
1 lbs basil (and yes, I will make pesto verde!)
And 5 lbs of lavender flowers, which I am in the process of turning into essential oils, soaps and sachets.

A WHOOPING TOTAL OF 77 LBS OF PRODUCE!



Duck house left and chicken coop on the right.

 As far as our project list goes, we were not too lazy either, here are the leftovers from our super large project list:

• Build Chicken Coop (done - check it out.... it is a gorgeous Spanish mansion with a stunning stained glass window, a separate door for the eggs and all)
• Build Animal Enclosure (almost done)

I guess we need more projects.

So, we came up with a couple more planting beds, since we have a lot of concrete on our property and so many more seedlings that want to be planted.

I am also planning to put the blueberries in one of them since their soil requirements are so much more acidic than our soil, which is more on the alkaline side and their growth has been stunted for a while now.

I am planning on redesigning the front yard, tearing out more lawn as well as moving some of our perennials around.

What else??? Well, the tomatoes are getting ready.... yumm!!! I heavy-pruned them yesterday and staked them.

The featherheads have already eaten almost all of the Swiss Chard. . . good for them!

And I am expecting our very first duck egg some time in the end of July or at the beginning of August. I am sure, when that happens, we will do the happy dance for the featherheads...  Roberto says, he hopes our handicapped Big lays the first egg!

The bees have just gotten a new deep super. If they fill this one up again, Roberto wants to let them swarm! That's right: We are going to give back one if her 'lost children' to Mother Nature.

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Busy Bees - Super-Installation, Hive Management and Heat-Protection

The yellow capped cells hold the next
generation and the darker spots honey

BUSY BEES
On Monday evening, I walked past the hive and noticed that a bunch of bees were sitting outside the hive at the entrance.

They were not all drones, who - like all men, sometimes get kicked out by the ladies for certain too manly behaviours. But there were also females, so, that was not the reason for the lingering at the entrance.

Were they OK?

Noone looked sicklish to me. I didn't see any varroe dots or ill behaviour, but then again, my bee-knowledge is still very limited.

After observing them for a while, I figured they may be either too hot or too crowded.

Considering that it had already cooled off somewhat from the day's heat (around 90F), I was betting on overcrowded. Sure enough, after opening the top cover, it was confirmed: Our bees had reproduced in such a rate that they needed more space.

Oh crap! Why do I ALWAYS discover this when the LA Honey Company is already closed, and we have no extra supers on hand.

On Tuesday morning - after dealing what felt like FOREVAH with Sprint to figure out how to repair my cell phone (they cannot because it will need replacement!), I finally was able to get to one of my favourite stores:

Los Angeles Honey Company in the heart of Los Angeles (1559 Fishburn, LA). While the drive is somewhat long and gnarly, I just LOVE being there. The place is a rather unspectacular warehouse in the metal recycling part of town but it is the people who makes this place so special.

Let me tell you: Folks there are just wonderful, always patient with my new-bee questions and super-knowledgeable (pun intended!).


 New bee home with filled up hive body on bottom,
one empty unpainted deep super in the middle
and a filled up medium super on top.

After explaining my problem and asking for two medium supers with ten frames including wired foundation, they suggested I should get one deep and one medium super as opposed to two mediums.

The owner explains to me that under very rare and good conditions (rain, nectar flow) in a wild sage area (like ours!), a hive can fill a deep super within one week. While I want them to be productive, I don't want to make another trip to Downtown LA next week to buy yet another super. OK, I take the deep and the medium.

Normally we assemble ourselves but this time I grabbed everything fully assembled because I need to provide new housing immediately: There is simply no time to wait for Roberto to come home and build this after work. I also got the extra medium super because I want to be prepared next time; if my ladies keep up this pace, they will fill this deep one in no time. Paid about $100 including tax.

Typically, I aim at the medium supers because I am not quite sure if I can lift a fully-honey-loaded deep super, which can weigh around 60 lbs. But HEY, who is to say I need to lift the whole thing at once? They advised I should take out frame by frame and that way I should be able to handle it. Good point!

Since the ladies need their home-addition immediately, should I forego the exterior painting? Yep, just put the super up. Alright then.

As I said, they are patient with me new-bee. Thanks again!

After one hour in beloved LA traffic (thank goodness for my car's MPG's being between 40 and 50!), I came home to this: a super-happy dog greeting me and two chickens (Black and Splash) in the kitchen including bird-poo on the travertine floor. I guess you can imagine, so I spare you the photos.

BUT HOW DID THEY GET IN? I am positive, I had closed the kitchen sliding door. Suddenly I remembered that Ms Smart-Paw had recently figured out how to open said sliding door. One look at my guilt ridden dog confirms my conclusion. So I shooshed out the featherheads, picked up poo, vaccumed and mopped the floor. So not what I wanted or needed! What I wanted was a massage and what I needed was 20 laps in the pool!

When I finally get to my bees a huge swarm greets me. WHOW! A quick look into all the surrounding trees: no, they are all going into the hive. So, they are not swarming; they are just a large colony.

SUPER INSTALLATION
I was advised to 'under-super' the hive, which basically means that I put the new deep super above the hive body but below the super that we installed a few weeks ago. This way the bees don't have to travel too far to get to the new room.

A quick check on the moon... perfect, it had just moved into gemini, which is an air-sign. All hive-work is best done with moon in an air-sign. Afterwards the colony will improve its brood-tending as well as honey-production after having been worked on an air-day.

I never use the smoker. Partially because I can never get this thing to smoke decently but I also don't see the point. Working the hive on an air-day, the bees are most docile, so I don't need to use it. I get the occasional bee on my hand but the majority remains on the frames.

HIVE MANAGEMENT
While at the hive, I also did some colony-management, i.e. I moved some of the outer frames one frame more towards the center so that the bees may work the frames more evenly. Checked a majority of the frames to see what was going on. Didn't find anything suspicious looking - GOOD!

Found a couple of swarming cells, which I scraped off. They typically form at the bottom of the frame and contain a potentially new queen, with whom after her emergence half your colony will take off with, which is rather undesirable. My bee expert friends at LA Honey Co. had previously advised me to scrape them off and so that is what I did.

Didn't see her majesty but since there are a lot of brood-cells, I am assuming she is doing just fine.


Hive shading - at this point
still with one medium super

HEAT PROTECTION
We installed this hive shade last week when temperatures started to rise. Our hive is located on the north side and therefore somewhat protected from the sun.

However, the sun moves and in the late afternoon, the hive gets a lot of sun.

Bees should be able to tolerate 90F and even 100F but when it gets to 110F, they sure can use some help.

I could just picture how the wax melted under their little wings and it didn't seem too pretty a sight, so I begged my man to create a shield to protect them. And he did. Thanks, BELLO!

After it was installed I realised that it disrupted their flight pattern and so I  kept observing them but apparently they are fine and if it really gets boiling hot out here, they will be in a much better place.



http://www.queenofthesun.com/

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Vertical Gardening - Cheap & Pretty Trellising

Man, it's a jungle out there! Our plants have taken off. Unfortunately - some of them - not off the ground.

 

And this causes problems for some of them since they are viny (cantaloupe, cucumber, pumpkin), who need to be lifted higher and higher to produce good fruit. Obviously our growing space is also limited on our 8,000 square feet lot and so vertical gardening is simply a necessity in order to be most efficient.

 

LA Green Grounds activist and master gardener, Florence Nishida (http://www.lagreengrounds.org/), had shown me the kind of trellising system she has been using at Los Angeles' National History Museum and not only were they pretty stylish, they were also completely doable and inexpensive.   And I am off to the next Do It Centre!

 

To make three trellises, I got:

• 5 electric conduit EMT 1/2 inch 10 feet
• 6 rebars 4 feet long 1/2 inch
• 6 conduit connector 1/2 inch elbows
• a roll of nylon thread
• a 100 pack of cable binders

Here is what I did:

I cut the EMT's each at 5 feet, using a hacksaw.

Then I drove the rebars into the ground and put the conduits around it.

 

With two conduit posts in the ground, I used the connectors to connect the posts with the third conduit across.

 

Then with 8 inches apart I tied cable binders on each of the three conduits.

 

Finally, I wove the nylon thread around, creating a net.

 

And I am done! Now, grow you peas!

 

 

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Victory Gardens and a Greener Future - Not for Los Angeles

It is happening. All over the state, people are tearing out their water sucking lawns and replace them with edibles.

The City of Santa Monica gives residents "Cash for Grass" if they get rid of their lawns, sponsors workshops, and residents can even win a complete landscaping make-over; check out http://www.sustainableworks.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Inspired by the current on-going recession, increasing food prices, poor nutrition in store-bought produce, genetically modified foods everywhere and not to forget a longing to be more in touch with nature has brought many people to bring out the shovels and dig in. Mother Earth that is.

Obviously not everyone is a master gardener and people are looking for help and support. In Los Angeles is a fabulous group called LA Green Grounds, who since November 2010 put in a garden a month for a resident somewhere in South LA. Where there was lawn or dirt before, there will be a planted garden after the troops leave.

Check out their website on http://www.lagreengrounds.org/.

Growing your own vegetables in your backyard is nothing new. Back in the beginning of the last century, almost every household grew their own produce in so-called 'victory gardens'. Born out of necessity due to the limited food supply during the war in the US, UK, Canada and Germany, these gardens soon became a civil morale booster, making the gardener independent from food supply limitations while at the same time rewarding him / her with amazing produce.

Just like then it is today: Ask people who are raising their own produce and they will eagerly tell you all about their adventures in gardening, how their garden created community, they will invite you to take a look at their garden and most likely share some of their produce with you. Do they feel empowered and rewarded for the work they put in? You bet!

While citizens everywhere applaude this grass roots revolution and the City of Santa Monica even promoting a lawn-less gardening approach with numerous financial aid programs and workshops, the city of Los Angeles holds on to the water-suckers.

Ron in South Los Angeles has been cited by the city for the transformation of his parkway into a garden as being "non-compliant". 

The City guidelines for parkways (that strip between the sidewalk and the street in front of your house) say that you must have "turf" (lawn grass) or "turf-like" planting, i.e., nothing over 3-4" high.  I guess they're afraid that someone may lurk behind the rosemary or trip over the cabbages.  If a person wants to plant something other, (s)he must submit a plan, with a fee of course, beginning at $400!  For something more elaborate, the fee begins at $4,000.

Says Florence Nishida, master gardener and activist with LA Green Grounds, "We have asked for a meeting with the district Councilman, but he is always "in a meeting" and his deputy asked for photos, but since then has not responded."

Bear in mind that most of the vegetables are so-called annuals, lasting only for about four months and then are being replaced.

So, I am wondering whether Ron would need to submit new plans for every season?

This citation for creating a garden, that people in the neighborhood love, is in particular sad because Mayor Villaraignosa has announced plans for a more green and sustainable Los Angeles.

And while neighbor Santa Monica hopped onto the green bus and walks the walk in becoming a leader in sustainability, Los Angeles seems to be merely talking the talk.


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis