Trail Etiquette

Had a lovely hike on a clear blustery, chilly (for California) Christmas and was thinking about writing on trail etiquette, but LNT does a great summary. Bikers yield to everyone, hikers yield to horses, and downhill yields to uphill, but there are some considerate exceptions in this article. Leave No Trace Trail Etiquette 101 And I would add that around here there are a lot of mountain bikers that have a ton of fun on the trails and I love it when they hang bells on their bikes so others can hear them coming! And of course it never hurts to be considerate and not expect that everyone will know the rules.
#trailetiquette
#mountainbiking
#hiking
#horsebackriding
#lnt
@leavenotrace

EZ-PZ Compost Bin

Check out this EZ-PZ turning compost bin made by a high school student! You can purchase one for $150. It's currently on display at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles as part of an exhibit on going green. https://swagcompost.wordpress.com/

Fresh cabbage and cucumber salad

So I'm getting the tail-end of the cabbage (winter vegetable?) from Muir Ranch organic garden CSA and the beginning of the cucumbers (definitely summer vegetable/fruit?). So I dug through my fridge tonight and came up with a fabulous recipe, if I do say so myself.

1 head of green cabbage, sliced and diced into dime sized pieces
2 cucumbers, peeled, sliced and diced
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's, including the juice
5ish jalapeno-stuffed olives from Trader Joe's, diced (add more to taste)
Rice vinegar to taste
Sesame oil to taste
Salt to taste
Divine!

+Trader Joe's
@MuirRanch.org
#eatlocal
#eatseasonal
#organic
#eatwhateveryoufindinthefridge

I love artichokes (aka garlic butter delivery mechanism)

Harvesting seeds from the artichokes I let go to seed last year. I hope it's not too late to start the seeds for this year. Notice the difference between the infertile pieces on the left and the two fully developed seeds in the middle. Be careful if you try this, because you could get the worst splinter ever from something on this plant. I think I still have a little irritating piece in my thumb, but it is all worth it for fresh artichokes.  I learned last year that artichokes do come back from the root left from the previous year and the second year was way more productive for me - possibly because I added worm tea.

To cook artichokes, I cut off the smallest end of the stem I can, and then steam in a large pot with a steamer basket for about 30 minutes (longer for larger artichokes). For the sauce, when I was little we used mustard mixed with mayo, which I absolutely loved, but now I prefer garlic butter. Mince fresh garlic and brown in butter over a medium low heat with a dash or four of salt. Any leftover garlic butter can be refrigerated for future recipes.

To eat artichokes, come over to my house and I'll cook them for you. Or, serve one to each person, or cut in half if they are large. Pull off one leaf at a time, dip in sauce, and use your teeth to scrape off the flesh from the inside of the leaf. Keep doing this until you get to the very center where the leaves are very soft - you can pull these all off at once and nibble off the tender ends. Then comes the best part: scoop out all of the furry center with a spoon until the artichoke heart is smooth and concave, dip in sauce and eat, stem and all!

Using what I've got

Saw this in a book this weekend and decided to try it for breakfast on Sunday. I used from my organic garden: red ruffle bell peppers, one little tomato, a tomatillo and cilantro (basically picked everything clean). The leeks and cabbage were from Muir Ranch and the celery was from Vons. All organic, except maybe the eggs.

So, the way the picture looked in the book was mostly red bell peppers and onions, but since my pepper harvest was not yet bountiful and I had no onions on hand I improvised by adding in the other veggies to fill the pan. I sauteed all of the veggies together in a teaspoon or so of garlic butter I had left from the last time I made artichokes, and then I added in a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt. Once the veggies were soft, I cracked the eggs right on top and it looks absolutely delicious, which it was, but it would have been even better if I had left the eggs just a little runny. I put a lid on at the end to speed up the process and that completely cooked the eggs. I'll try it again and let you know.

@MuirRanch #sustainable #organic #eatlocal

Chopped salad

I almost bought a bag of chopped kale and other cruciferous veggies the other day and then realized I had most of the same veggies already at home. So today I chopped lacinato Italian kale, purple cabbage, fennel bulb, broccoli (including the stem), Asian pear and dill and added a little mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar,  olive oil and sea salt and voila! I had a #healthy #chopped #kale salad. All of the veggies came from my weekly box of #organic veggies from @Muir Ranch.

Article: The Political Battle Over Red Meat

The Political Battle Over Red Meat

http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/the-political-battle-over-red-meat-20150203

Worms are busy and garden is happy = Black Gold

Okay, I'm calling this worm tea stuff 'Black Gold!' I have plants blooming in my garden that I had lost all hope for - cymbidiums I've had for over 5 years that have never bloomed again are jumping! Creeping fig on my shady back side wall that was barely hanging in there is now developing bright new growth, and I have tomatoes in a pot surviving the cold on the sunny wall along with Swiss chard that is exploding! The red bell pepper plant I was harvesting mini peppers from a year ago is thriving at about two feet tall and producing good-sized peppers. 

I purchased my worm bin for about $65 after taking a neighborhood class LA County hosted. It came with the worms and coconut coir, which is the bedding for the worms. There are also plenty of options online. My worm bin looks just like this but I don't use the legs as I have it on my gardening table, and I only use two trays instead of three - I may advance to three trays later on. Once you get it started with fruits and veggie scraps and some shredded wet newspaper you can leave it alone for a week or so at a time as long as it doesn't dry out. Make sure to keep it in a shady spot.

This is a great option for those with limited space or who don't have a sunny spot for a compost bin. It is also a great option for parents or teachers who want to share the nutrient cycle with kids.

LA County Worm and Compost Bins

Trees in Pasadena

If you live in or around Pasadena and would like to provide feedback on the tree program? What do you think about having fruit trees on City property?

To participate in the survey, please visit the City of Pasadena website at www.cityofpasadena.net/publicworks/urbanforestsurvey. Residents, businesses, and visitors will also be encouraged to participate in the survey via a media release, Neighborhood Connections, social media, Field Representatives, and direct outreach to key stakeholders including, but not limited to the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and business districts. The survey will be available until February 1, 2015.

Green homes, off the grid!

http://www.dwell.com/green/slideshow/dwell-homes-grid-part-two#2

Check out these off the grid homes - vacation home anyone? Actual home where you live? Or are there adaptations we can make to our current homes so that our current homes can be more green? What have you done to make your home more green? Please reply and let us know.