Guest Post: Fridge Pickles

While I'm on vacation I asked my lovely cousin Emily of Thyme and Reason to step in for me. Emily is a semi-recent but incredibly productive backyard gardener living in the Bay Area, I'm always jealous of the things she can grow in her backyard!

I was born without a sweet tooth.  Since I was a kid, I have always preferred salty to sweet.  And as my romance with beer continues, so does my need for salty snacks: for roasted peanuts, hunks of parmesan, jars of fancy olives, and, of course, you already know my obsession with popcorn.  But summer brings barbecue season and mountains of farmer's market cucumbers, which means it's time to make pickles.

Pickles bring out the old country in me.  The shtetl in me.  The hot summers by the Danube in me.  Mind you, I am several generations removed from that life, and any pickles I ate were dished out in the suburbs.  I don't know if I am channeling the pre-Ellis Island kitchens of my past, but I do know this: when there are pickles on the table, I cannot stop eating them.  And nothing, I tell you, nothing makes a burger taste so right as housemade pickles.  Maybe it's that the spicy vinegar cuts the grease?  Or maybe it's because we always like what mom served, and when dad would barbecue, mom always served pickles.

Pickles are easier to make than you think.  Fill a clean jar or container about 3/4 of the way full of veggies.  Cucumbers can be sliced and go right in the jar.  Onions too.  If you are pickling other vegetables (my other jar is filled with radishes, carrots, and padron peppers), they should be blanched in boiling water for a minute, then plunged into ice water before you put them up for pickling.

Next, for one jar of pickles, combine 1 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, 1 tsp dill seed, 2 bay leaves, 5 cloves, 1 clove of garlic, slices of onion, crushed black pepper, and crushed pepper flakes if you like things spicy (which I do).  Liquid should cover your solids--if not, top off with more white vinegar.

Close the lid tight and shake it up so the sugar will dissolve a little and hard spices will distribute throughout.  This beautiful jar in the front is cucumber done with fresh jalapeno slices--yum!  You could easily play around with the flavors, substituting star anise for the dill.  Go wild.  

As the name implies, put your fridge pickles in the refrigerator, not on a pantry shelf.  Cucumber pickles will be ready to eat in a day and keep in the fridge up to a month.  Other veggies may take up to a week to pickle--just an excuse for you to open the jar and sample to see if they're done.  It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

We are thrilled to welcome Abby Meadow as a guest this week at Tend.
. . . . . . . .

While tending plants has always been an enjoyable part of Abby's life, it wasn't until she and her partner settled into a home of their own that she fully delved into the world of growing food. On the temperate Oregon Coast, Abby enjoys organic gardening throughout the year, in the small garden plot that she and her partner created from a patch of weedy grass. A lot of other patches of grass have also been transformed, as the pair works to make their property a place full of edibles, medicinals and native plants; and a safe and healthy home to the many bees, birds and deer that share their space.











Just a little over a week ago, I was giddy with the energy that comes with those first soft, warm, spring-like days. I started cleaning up the garden and planting seeds, and was feeling so excited. It was so warm that I was even wearing shorts while doing so! I was sure it was time! And then... the impossible happened. The central coast of Oregon had a freak snow storm! We almost never have snow here, this close to sea level. Our garden, and every other green thing was flattened with a very wet and very heavy blanket of white.

Everything has bounced back pretty well, with just a few breakages, but it is quite cold out still. So, this past week I have had some time to *think* about gardening, in lieu of actually *doing* any real gardening. Our garden is 2 years old this year. It has come a long way from the grass patch it once was. In these last couple years we have learned a lot about growing food in our climate. I thought I would share a few of the things I have learned in the past couple years here.

- Always plant extra starts, and keep some aside, even after transplanting as much as you want in the garden. Spring can be fickle and slugs and bugs are hungry! You can always give away the extras. We lost whole plantings to slugs and root maggots last year.
- Consider the winter months when planting. We live in zone 8b and can grow certain things year round, but we have done best to have those plants already well established by August.
- Compost, compost, compost. Our soil is benefiting hugely from every bit of organic matter that we add.
- Create micro-climates! We have a lot of wind in the summer. Creating a wind block and/or placing a stone on the north side of a plant, can make all the difference in generating the extra warmth a young plant needs to get a strong start. Growing taller plants on the south side of those that appreciate some afternoon shade is another example.
- When planting perennials, don't forget about crop rotation of the annuals they might share space with.
- In a small space, grow up! There are so many plants that can be trellised up instead of left to sprawl. This year we will grow a lot more cucumbers and squash with this simple idea in mind.
- Tomato plants are heavy and they get big fast. This might seem like a no-brainer, but I didn't stake soon enough or strong enough last year and struggled with it all summer as a result.
- Interplant. Some plants are more susceptible to disease and pests, and as we know, other plants can help repel some of these offenders. But in addition to this, if you have a loss of a certain plant (for example, our crazy root maggot problem last year, that seemed to only affect radishes and broccoli), you will not be left with an empty bed.

Are there certain lessons you have learned, that stand out in your own gardening experience? I'd love to hear some! What might seem like the simplest thing to one, can be overlooked by another.

(guest post) Cultivating gratitude

Every setting has its own gardening challenges. As someone who came to her city plot with a more rural perspective, the urban garden provided me with learning experiences that were previously unthinkable. June and July found me gently shaking my tomato plants and paint-brushing male squash pollen onto the female blossoms, because my walled-off city garden lacks the wind exposure and critical mass of bees necessary to set very much fruit. Arable space is at a premium, so if your one-hundred-year-old row house is built, as was the custom for “terraced” homes in the early 20th-century, on a raised bank of earth that provides perfect conditions for erosion, such is your plight.The real kick of humility stems from the sheer nature of city life. That is to say, most people don’t come to the city to live off of the land. We are likely to be renting houses or apartments, where the owner may or may not allow us to do our own gardening. We have non-garden-, non-farm-related jobs. In my case, that job takes me to faraway places for weeks. It’s a privilege that anyone who grows food for their livelihood cannot afford. We possess no delusions of self-sufficiency, nor even of a steady stream of supplementary food.Which brings me to the point: that knock-down, humbling experience of growing (or trying to grow) things in an urban setting frequently gives way to gratitude. Gratitude for what does grow, for the surprise successes and the feeling of putting it on the table. And, moreover, immense gratitude for what others tend and provide. I’ve been going to farmers’ markets for years in rural, rolling-green-hills Virginia, without giving them too much thought. Now that I live in a city, they seem nothing short of miraculous. I mean, farmers’ markets! How brilliant are those places? People grow beautiful food, bring it to your city, and sell it at affordable prices in pleasant open-air markets. Gardening in city circumstances has made me celebrate their harvests to a degree I never did before.This week, I’m cultivating gratefulness for some party-dress-ruffled collards my garden is putting out. It’s technically past the time for these collards to be harvested, but they had a strange year. I planted them in a spot with too much shade, so they grew too little early in the season. Then I had problems with pests. And only finally, when I had all but given up on them, they straightened their shoulders and turned into vibrant, unexpected grey-green beauties. I’ve been appreciating them in the mornings, tossed simply in oil and wilted, on a garlic-rubbed piece of toast.

The act of growing plants amazes me with the humility it inspires. Gardening in an urban setting, though, goes above and beyond any previous experience I’ve had. Beyond utter humility, to self-pitying, “the earth and the ground are all-knowing and I am useless” kind of days, where you hover between crying and feverishly concocting plans for the flagship chapter of the Society Against the Evils of Non-Native Slugs (Wanna join? Email me. Just kidding. Sort of).Consider: Modern cities, in general, were often conceived with the plan to keep flourishing green things at bay as best as possible. Washington, DC, where I live, was built on top of a swamp that was drained to the best of Jeffersonian-era abilities. Beautiful species of water flora were virtually eradicated, tidal marshes were filled in, and we logged the heck outta this little space. And now, years later, in some bizarre circle of history, home and community gardeners are trying to reclaim those green spaces, ushering in food and flower where they can. 

Collards on toast

You will need:
A bunch of collard greens (or any bitter green, like kale or chard), sliced into 1-inch ribbons, tough stems removed if necessary
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Your favorite crusty loaf of bread, sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut through the middle
Crushed red pepper (optional)

Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced collards, tossing to lightly distribute oil. Add salt and pepper (and crushed red pepper, for a little kick) to taste. Allow them to wilt for 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Meanwhile, start toasting the slices of bread. Remove the collards from heat when they are not quite as wilted as you would like, as they will continue to cook for a few minutes. When bread has finished toasting, rub it with the cut side of the garlic. Top toast with collards, and taste for salt and pepper. This simple dish is good as is, but is elevated to greatness when topped with a poached or over-easy egg.


Sarah is the voice behind The Yellow House, a journal focusing on the life lived around homemade, seasonally- and garden-driven food.

(guest post) little ones in the garden

Thank you Amy and friends for inviting me to guest post on Tend. Your space here is an inspiration and I love checking in daily! So honored to be a part of it...

My parents had a garden when I was growing up that all the neighbors envied. I remember impatiently waiting for the first ripe cucumber that I would pick and my mother would slice and salt it with some tomatoes on a plate. I think that is the best memory of food I have. I don't remember how involved I was in the whole process, but I do remember harvesting what we grew. I was amazed that we could grow food! It seemed so magical to me.


I knew as soon as my daughter was born that I wanted her to be connected with her food sources. The first year I direct seeded some veggies...beans, peas, and cucumbers. I didn't buy any seedlings and our results were not terrific and definitely made me yearn for more of a "green thumb." But when we moved to a half acre lot in town, my garden ambitions just went crazy! It seemed that this tiny lot (so different from the previous 8 acres) had much more to offer. I could get more creative with my gardening and really loved finding out unique ways to use the space we had. So the first spring, we tested out the soil in the big backyard...no good. Too wet and swampy. We were crushed! But we had a tiny square of grass next to the driveway out front which was much higher and dry, so we put in four raised beds there. It was a success! The little one and I poured over the local seed catalog and ordered (what turned out as) way too many seeds! But we put most of them to good use...starting our own seeds indoors when there was still snow covering the ground. She loved this process, and at two years old played a big role in getting our garden going. I could see the amazement in her eyes when the seeds sprouted, when they got so big we had to move them outdoors into the now frost free garden, and I knew how proud she was when the veggies were ready to harvest. I still remember when she sat down on the grass, chomping on freshly picked green beans. I remember feeling so pleased that she was learning how much work goes into our food, and how much we appreciate everything that we are able to eat.



At age four, she is just as big of a help in the garden as anyone else. Our four raised beds have increased to eighteen! We have winter crops going already, fruit trees, berries, herbs, and an incredible amount of vegetables that keep us well fed all season long. She plants, she weeds, she harvests, she eats...I love seeing her run out there at the first sign of anything ready to pick. This summer she is eating more than ever, her favorites being strawberries, "crunchy" lettuce, green beans, and carrots. Tons of carrots. If I need anything while prepping dinner, she is the first to say, "I'll go get it!" running out the door before anyone else has a chance.


Tonight while I was making dinner (a potato, summer squash, zucchini, purple tomato, and herb torte. yum!), I announced I needed to run outside to get some basil. She stopped her playing and quickly joined me, helping me pick in the garden. She turned to me and said, "Mama, isn't it so neat that we don't have to buy any vegetables at the store? And that we can make a whole dinner from things from our garden?!" I think it was the sweetest thing ever. I knew everything that she had been learning from watching us was really sinking in. She gets it. And she appreciates it.



Growing our own food is definitely my favorite thing to do with her. And she inspires me constantly in gardening, in life, and everything else. I have learned so much because of her and her curiosities. She would probably tell you I taught her everything she knows, but I beg to differ. She has definitely shown me what gardening is all about.

....................................................

You can get your children involved with gardening at any age! Whether they are not yet crawling and strapped in an Ergo while you weed, or they are curious two year old's who want to do "everything myself!" Here's a little list of things the little one was involved in at various ages:



Around 9 months old

• playing in the soil (I loved giving her a little space to just dig and mess around in the dirt while I gardened, and she loved it too!)
• sorting veggies (I would pick a big basket of cucumbers and beans, she loved to take out all the beans and put them in her own bowl)
• tasting (she loved sucking on big green beans and carrots)

2 years old

• helped with seedlings inside (we started them in leftover egg shells like this)
• transplanted them to beds outside once frost free
• helped weed (she had her own mini wheelbarrow that she would put them in and dump in the compost with me)

3 years old (all of the above, plus...)

• started her own seedlings (she was in charge of flowers...cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, and nasturtiums)
• got her own mini shovel and started shoveling manure onto the beds in early spring (we use alpaca...it's the best!)
• started learning when to harvest the veggies and fruit
• helped direct seed the seeds into the beds
• helped can 32 jars of jam, 16 jars of salsa, 20 jars of pickles, and 8 jars of pasta sauce

4 years old (all of the above, plus...)

• was in charge of her own window box (herbs)
• had her own raised bed (strawberries and carrots)
• watered the gardens
• harvested the veggies and fruits on her own (she now can tell when they are ready)
  
• helped prepare the things we picked for lunch or dinner
• is in charge of egg collecting for our backyard flock of chickens (she also lets them out in the evening to roam the yard)
• helps pick through, clean, and freeze berries

Hope that gives you some ideas of what the little ones can do! As shown above, they can be tremendous helpers! Happy gardening!!

erin is a 20-something mama who loves to sew, read, cook, write, and live simply. she is the author & photographer of bluebirdbaby. thank you so much, erin!

(guest post) The Unbumper Crops

Thank you so much for the honor to write with you lovely gals here on Tend. I love checking in and seeing what's going on, reading similar philosophies and approaches to my own way of living. Every post emits a shared coziness and warmth; a breath of fresh air.

See, sometimes my green thumb turns into a green and jealous meanie when I see the many finely edited gardens dotting the internet. I have a hard time keeping my garden envy in check when I see others with bumper crops of vine ripened tomatoes. I immediately compare them to my own Better Boys, split and scarred from the recent onslaught of thunderstorms.

Then, sometimes, I watch my daughter play in the plants. I made up my mind early in my pregnancy that I would embrace her curiosity and teach her to respect the natural world around us. But also, as a mom I devote most of my energy to Mabel, and the gardens don't get the same amount of attention they used to. I plant things and don't mark them, forgetting about them until they produce something discernible. This year that something is beans. I've grown beans before: favas, limas, green beans, cow peas...but this year they came up, started forming beans and I had one of those new gardener moments where I ran inside and showed Charlie and Mabel that I. grew. beans. I had 2 beans in my hand, each bulging with the black eyed peas hidden inside. There were more out in the garden, not quite ready for picking, and definitely not a bumper crop by any stretch of the imagination. Those 2 beans in my hand, though, produced a swell of gardening pride.

I can't really pinpoint the source of pride. I suspect it's a residual effect of motherhood: I can choose to obsess over aphids and soil fertility, or I can choose to celebrate the small wonders that make Mabel ooohh and ahhh over a flower or an interesting rock. Being present in those moments has taught me to appreciate everything I grow, including my 2 pods of black eyed peas--my own amazing unbumper crop.

--

Thank you so much Renee for being our guest here today, we're honored! Renee lives in North Carolina and authored the Petals & Pedals series at Modish. Please visit her blog and website, Wolfie + the Sneak for more of her creative endeavors.

(guest post) kitchen gardening

First off a thank you to the Tend team – and especially Julia – for the invitation to join in over here this week.  I am currently up in the woods of western Canada – without dependable internet -  and her patience and understanding has been most appreciated!  When she asked me to write about gardening in California I immediately thought of the challenges of my kitchen garden.  I then entertained thoughts of writing on the transformation of our yard from lawn to California native garden; gardening with kids; or the soon-to-open 8000sq ft edibles garden we built at our neighborhood elementary school this summer.  I came back to the kitchen garden – where I have struggled the most – and have found some great rewards.

A kitchen garden was a constant of my childhood.  I grew up in small-city / big-town Brandon, Manitoba.   The seasons are distinct there – and could be defined by our work in the garden.  .  Our summers would be filled with days at our large community plot, falls of harvesting and canning and winters fetching root vegetables from our cold storage and feasting of canned tomatoes and homemade pickles.  We ate seasonally and locally and I didn’t know anything different.

After graduate school I moved to Los Angeles.  I surprised myself and ended up liking it here – and 14 years into it I call it home.  Gardening here is a completely different experience.  And it took me a good long while to figure it all out.  As I moved around the city I was overwhelmed with the variety at the local farmer’s markets and itched to be growing my own.  Once we bought our own home we dug right in.    Our particular community is considered desert – with triple digit days in the summer, and freezing nights in the winter.  My Manitoba garden experiences could not be transposed – as I soon learned.  I turned to experienced friends to guide me – and finally feel that we have found what works for us.  Greens dominate our winter garden; strawberries, potatoes and peas in the spring; and heirloom tomatoes and green beans for our summer crops.  Having small space has also dictated our strategy.  I am grateful for a CSA subscription that brings us a variety of organic produce throughout the year – grown in the milder coastal climes of nearby Oxnard – and a friend and neighbor with an enviable greener thumb than mine – and a yard dedicated to edibles.

We start from seed each season – in hand-made newspaper pots produced by my daughters.  When the seedlings are ready – they move out to our three raised beds – built by my husband David of 2 x 6 redwood.  This year, two beds have been dedicated to edibles and the third to a cut-flower garden for the girls to plant as they wish (Queen Anne’s Lace, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers and a mix of herbs are favourites).

 Aside from the raised beds, we have included a few edibles within the landscape of our backyard.  

 I had never tasted a fresh artichoke (or avocado!) until I moved to Southern California.  They are now a staple in our kitchen – and avocados in our garden.  I made an attempt to integrate cooking greens as well, but my pest-management team made short order of them.

We don’t use any pesticides or fertilizers in our garden – aside from compost and a manure tea a friend brings me with the changing seasons.  Pests are to a minimum in our yard – with the help of our chickens – who at this point in time have the run of the yard.   (A rodent has moved in to the garden this year – and has been feasting on our summer crop.  The chooks haven’t been able to manage this pest – and we will have to explore options for its removal.  Any suggestions for rodent control?!)

My learning curve in our garden has been steep – and I have relied on advice from friends and books.  My favourite reads:

Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles
Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening
Rosalind Creasy's Edible Landscaping

I have to add The Garden That You Are– that is not geared to Southern California gardening, but is a beautiful book, and reminds me that growing our own food is an extension of who we are – and the successes, and failures are to be savoured.

Happy Gardening!

tracy is a canadian prairie girl living in suburban los angeles with her husband, two girls, three chickens a couple of turtles and fish named "rainbow".  she fills her days with her time in the garden (any garden), working on their mid-century modern home, and taking too many pictures of it all.  when she is not digging in the dirt, she manages an artist's estate.  she is a great believer in public eduction and the power of community. and is trying to build a stronger bond with her sewing machine. she blogs at jumilla stories and you can find her on flickr.

(guest post) Saving Seeds

It's so nice to be here today, I'm honored (and a little overwhelmed) to be visiting.

cilantro gone to seed

With many of my crops reaching the harvest stage, I naturally think about preserving and making them last as long as possible. In addition to canning, preserving, dehydrating, and freezing, saving seeds to plant the following year has been a skill of preserving that I have tried experimenting with over the past few years. Saving seeds to me represents the full circle of life. It's spiritual, meditative, natural, and a way to live providently and mindfully.

storing dried seeds

In the years past, I've had success with growing crops from seeds I've saved from tomatoes, sugar snap peas, several varieties of pumpkins and squash, spinach, Swiss chard and beans. This year I plan to try my hand at carrots, basil and several herbs.

allowing a sugar snap pea to dry on the vine

sugar snap pea seeds

I'm certainly not an expert on the subject, so I'll leave you with two of my favorite references:

Organic Seed Alliance
Seed to Seed, which you're likely to find in your local library.

And there are of course countless sources to turn to on the internet.

I encourage you to give it a try. The links above have wonderful information on how to get started. It really isn't as difficult as it may first seem, and once you're successful, it can be such a rewarding hobby!

various gourds grown from last year's seeds

pumpkin seeds

various tomato and tomatillo seeds fermenting

amber shares little bits of her life over at her blog & is the maker behind the beautiful etsy shop, oakmoss. she is a wonderful gardener, artist & mama! thank you so much, amber!

(guest post) Operation Deliberate Neglect: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Operation Deliberate Neglect: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Hi! Shari asked me to guest post, so welcome to my garden! It's basically a front-yard garden (where it gets the most sun) with four very long raised beds, native perennials, fruit trees, berry bushes, and herbs. My zone is 7b, in the North Carolina Piedmont area.

I'm going to confess that I haven't been tending to my garden diligently as I have done in the past. I hurt my back earlier this year and our area has been suffering from a mild drought and record high temperatures. There really hasn't been any watering, weeding, or regular harvesting. So I'm calling our summer garden season "operation deliberate neglect" and in spirit of experimentation, I thought I'd share the results. By the way, I do not recommend this method, especially if you have a hard time growing -- it's just that I live in the South, and practically everything grows like a weed or an invasive here.

Let's start with the Ugly:

1- Stressed trees. They're not really ugly, just mildly fascinating and sad. I don't think consistent watering would have helped the tree, though. This is a dogwood, which was planted two years ago, and is still trying to find its footing (rooting)? Hopefully the stresses will make it stronger over time.



2-The weeds are taking over. This used to be a gravel pathway. To be fair, I was expecting this, because weeding is one of these things that require, in the immortal words of Mad-Eye Moody, constant vigilance.



The Bad:

1-Overripe cucumbers. I like to tell our younger neighbors that they are dinosaur eggs, and generally toss them in the backyard in hopes that rabbits will eat them and that the vines will overcome much-hated English ivy or poison ivy next year. (Note: if you find cucumbers that are just slightly yellow, they are still very edible- just deseed and peel the tough skin).




2-Our tomatoes are literally bursting. However, it also means next year we are going to find volunteer tomato plants all over the raised beds, which is sort of not a bad thing (unless you end up with 50+ of them).




3-I don't think it would be a summer without overgrown, thick, hard-as-a-rock okra. Even when we harvested everyday, we still ended up with a couple of these pods. I've used them as Halloween decorations (they vaguely resemble dragon teeth) and dried them to re-use the seeds for next year. I think I'm going to roast them and use the seeds for a salad or succotash dish.



4- I'm not sure if this is a terrible thing, but there are still a lot of vegetables that are waiting to be harvested, and sometimes they are easier to detect when overgrown. For example, red peppers and dried butterbeans.


(if you look very closely in this photo, you also can find green butterbeans.)



And now, the part you were probably waiting for: The Good.

1-We still got a lot of tomatoes.They are still growing strong! Some people even say that tomatoes taste better when you stop watering them because the flavor will concentrate in the fruit.


Imagine what would happen if we actually paid attention to the plants.

2-We got pumpkins, to my surprise. I expected squash borers and powdery mildew to overcome our plants, but I haven't found any. We also planted acorn squash and butternut squash and haven't found anything yet, but it's nice to have pumpkins without much of an effort. These are the sugar baby variety.





3-The arugula that we planted in the spring reseeded itself. I love it when that happens to the right plants.



4- My back is healing nicely, and the sight of brown/dead plants is making me want to clear the beds and start fall planting. Normally, I hate removing perfectly viable plants to prepare for another season.

Lessons Learned:

1-The south can be a wonderful and terrible place for gardening, depending on what you want to grow and how much effort you want to put into it.

2-"Natives" or varieties that grow well in your region will require very little care. For example, okra, butterbeans, southern peas, and sweet potatoes thrive on neglect and extreme heat/humidity.

3-Planting different varieties of one vegetable can be a good thing, as is planting them at different times to ensure a continuous harvest all season (or one big harvest in the end).

4-Not watering constantly, but relying on one big initial watering and mulch and the weather, can be a boon to plants, because it helps with formation of strong roots, which in turn makes for healthier plants.

5-Adding compost or fixing nitrogen in your soil every year is always a good idea. Sometimes that is all you really need to ensure a good crop.

6-Mulch is a lazy Southern gardener's best friend. It holds water in, keeps weeds out, and disintegrates into a lovely soil amendment.

7-There really is no way getting around weeding except weeding.

8-Don't worry if you won't be able to take care of everything. Nature eventually finds a way to take care of it all. And you can use this as part of your ever-growing gardening experience!



Eunice lives in Durham, NC where she walks and trains dogs, goes on bike rides, and chases food trucks. She is long overdue posting at The Accidental Southerner (where you can find seasonal and local recipes) and A Dream of Eu (where she talks more about her garden and books and life ), but in the meantime, you can find her on her Flickr photostream.