Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables
by Joyce Peters Roasting brings out the best in vegetables. High dry heat caramelizes the vegetables to give them sweetness and intensify flavor. This dish is a great company dish that can be prepared ahead by cutting all the vegetables except the potatoes. When you are ready to cook, add the potatoes and seasonings per... Continue reading→
Seasonal Tips on Pest Management
With the rain beginning, both the calendar and a step outside indicate that autumn is here and winter is not far behind. Pest management strategies need to change with the season, so here are some seasonal tips on pest control in the colder, wetter months. Ants If ants can’t find food outdoors they may try... Continue reading→
Quiz: Is It a Berry or Not?
By Marla Koss - November, 2024 Remember when you first learned that the tomato was a fruit, not a vegetable and you were confused? Well, it’s even more confusing than that. It’s not just a fruit, botanists classify it as a berry. Which sounds almost as daft as my five-year-old self believing that the tomato... Continue reading→
Tips for Waste Free Holidays
by Maricelle Cardenas, StopWaste In preparation for the big food gatherings coming up, we’ve asked StopWaste, the agency in Alameda County focused on reducing our county waste stream, to tell us about ways to minimize food waste over the winter holidays and throughout the year. The holidays often provide the chance to spend time with... Continue reading→
Quiz – Assorted Garden-Related Questions Just For Fun
by Marla Koss We call fertilizer “plant food” because it’s the main energy source for plants. True / False Companion planting allows gardeners to cut back on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. True / False Tomatoes and other members of the nightshade family should never be planted near Black Walnut trees. True / False...
October Harvest – Apples
by Joyce Peters An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Few other proverbs have stood the test of time. We’ve known that apples are a good source of vitamin C and fiber. They also contain pectin, a fiber that breaks down in your gut and makes you feel fuller after eating. More recently, nutritionists... Continue reading→
How to Compost
by Margie Siegal A friend was turning green over my productive tomato patch. We discussed what I might be doing right – and then I remembered that I had dug out my compost bin at the beginning of the year, sifted the contents and dumped a large portion of the results on the spot where... Continue reading→
Tree Quiz
by Marla Koss What classifies a tree as “hardwood” as opposed to “softwood”? How do evergreen (trees that keep their leaves year-round) and deciduous (trees that lose their leaves in the fall, go into dormancy over the winter, and leaf out again in the spring) trees differ in their behavior or needs, and which fruit... Continue reading→
September Harvest – Green Beans
by Joyce Peters I remember fondly the school lunch program in the 50’s, but not the commodity canned green beans – pale,tasteless and soft, so different from just picked green beans – beautifully green, tasty and chewy. Even home cooks then overcooked all vegetables, sometimes boiling for an hour. Cooked the right way, green beans... Continue reading→
Gardening with Succulents
By Vicki Scott Succulents. Who doesn’t love these tender, juicy, unusual plants with delightful names like Jelly Bean, Bunny Ears, and Baby Toes? I mean, Baby Toes! Adorable. Thankfully, succulents are easy to grow and maintain, and they thrive in our sandy Alameda soil and temperate climate. Here are some basic tips to help you... Continue reading→