Karp’s Sweet Quince

...hoto above it’s just started to leaf out. Quince (Cydonia oblonga), a tree native to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, has rich, symbolic meanings to cultures in these parts of the world. Biblical and classical references translated in English as “apples”, in most cases, most likely refer to quince (it was probably a quince and not an apple or Cheeto that Adam tempted Eve Eve tempted Adam with). Most quince must be cooked to render it edible...

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How to Cook Broadleaf Plantain

...one else we know–as a gourmet experience. Combining Old World traditions, Native wisdom and a good deal of culinary invention, Pascal and his partner, chef Mia Wasilevich push foraged food to “the next level.” In fact, together they run a website called Transitional Gastronomy dedicated to just this idea. If you want to learn how to make your foraged food delicious, go see Pascal and Mia. If you live around LA or are planning a visit you can hook...

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Picture Sundays: Name This Flower

...I planted our parkway with a California native wildflower mix from Theodore Payne last year. This flower was the most successful and reseeded itself. But I lost the seed package and don’t know its name. Identify it and you win bragging rights . . . Update: Dree wins bragging rights! It’s Elegant clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata)....

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Reforming City Codes

...ance. Put together a group of landscape architects, gardening enthusiasts, native plant experts and come up with a guidebook rather than a list of rules. Ultimately, a human being is going to have to make a judgement call on whether something is a nuisance. My error with yesterday’s blog post was pointing a finger, rather than seeing our communities as as system. That, and blogging while quaffing a beer–how ironic that “DRBREW” would point out my...

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Pierce Disease Resistant Grape Vines for Southern California

...om the Las Pilitas Nursery website: California grape is a deciduous vine to 30′. If this grape has no support it will make a nice groundcover and can cover a large greenhouse in 4-5 years. It has clusters of small edible grapes. Bees love flowers. It grows along streams and in seeps throughout much of central and northern Ca. We’ve seen it in the Sacramento River bed, along the Sierra foothills and on I-5 at the Grapevine. It has done fine here an...

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