Category: plants and gardens
Food Files: Keep Your Harvest Fresh
| September 22, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under accessories, Eat, edible thursday, food, kitchen, Outdoors, plants and gardens |
How exciting – it’s the time of year when all the hard work we’ve put into our edible garden starts to pay off. Keep your fresh-picked veggies bright by storing them correctly.
$34.95
Root vegetables should be stored in a cool, dark place. I love this wire basket from Gardeners.com with a jute liner and lid (I would totally use this for decor too).
Most of your fresh fruit will stay fresh in the fridge – apples do well in the crisper, grapes, bananas and cherries should stay on the top or second shelf toward the front.
I’ve found that berries and most of my veggies do best when sealed in glass containers. My favorite are these from Crate & Barrel
$19.95
Avocado, mangoes, tomatoes, melons and citrus should all be kept at room temperature but out of direct sunlight. I like to make little color collections in various fruit bowls on the counter. I love these bowls from Wisteria
$19.50
and these from Etsy
from SalvageWoodworks
from DAHceramics
from Arkceramicart
Yum.
Edible Thursday: Cool as a Cucumber
| August 4, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under Body, cooking, edible thursday, food, Inspiration, plants and gardens |
Cukes are in season right now so they are easy to find and cheap to buy. Yippee! If you know what to do with the darn things…
Image courtesy of mysimplehomegarden.com
Here are 5 suggestions for putting them to good use.
1. Refresh your Water. Slice them thin and place 5-6 slices in a pitcher of water. After a couple hours in the fridge you’ll have a refreshing beverage for these nasty hot days we’ve been having. It instantly perks you up, and you can shake things up a bit my adding mint leaves or melon in as well. A nice change from standard water.
2. Shake it Up. Toss cucumbers into your morning or post-workout smoothie. They thicken it up a bit without adding too much to the taste (a tad sweet). They go well with berries and citrus for a little punch.
3. Persian Pico de Gallo. This recipe is from Vegetarian Times and is a perfect light party dip. You’ll need:
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 English cucumber or whole garden cuke, diced
- 1/2 small white onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 3 Tbs lemon juice
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp sumac, optional
Toss all ingredients into a bowl and serve immediately (though it gets a little better with a few hours to marinate)
4. Pickles! The process isn’t as hard as you may think but it does take a little time. Think about when you were a kid and you bit into a huge dill pickle. Oh, so worth it. Here’s a link to the process of pickling.
5. Cuke Face. It’s not to eat, but it’ll use up your crop and make you beautiful. It’s an aloe and cucumber face mask. And it’s simple:
- 1/2 Cucumber
- 2 tablespoons aloe vera gel (keep it in the fridge for an extra refreshing mask)
Peel and cut the cucumber into pieces and toss together with the aloe – use a food processor or blender to make it smooth. Apply gently but avoid eye area. If you have extra cucumber slices, use these to depuff your eyes while you relax about 20-30 minutes.
Rinse clean and apply normal moisturizer. Don’t you feel better? Aloe is great to soften and heal skin, and the water in cucumber helps minimize inflamed skin cells.
Wasn’t that fun? What else is in season…
Ain’t No Ordinary Town
| July 26, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under antiques, Design, Flea Market, found objects, Inspiration, Outdoors, Places, plants and gardens, travel |
I’m clearing the haze away from my recent vacation and getting back into the swing of things. I mentioned last week that I was heading to the lake – Big Bear Lake in Southern California.
Big Bear is known for it’s ski resorts and lakefront homes, but I found something unexpected there: quality antique shopping. Most touristy towns offer quaint looking ‘antique’ shops that are more like garage sales than anything else. But I was impressed by several roadside venues that had some pretty nifty stuff.
I picked up a couple of chairs (that I will post in another segment) and got inspired to create some new container gardens using found objects like these old railroad carts.
Or this old bathtub. Wouldn’t it look great to have some spindly plants growing out of that tear in the side?
Though a tourist town, the locals seem to be more interested in keeping life simple than catering to visitors every whim. This was evident by the expressions on our Paddlewheel boat operator’s face when the “adorable” children aboard tried to use the upper deck as their personal bunk bed, as well as hubs getting yelled at when going to the wrong side of the chair lift a second time.
“Hey buddy, get it together,” he said. “That’s strike 2. One more and you’re walking down the mountain.” (I must also mention that David was all bandaged up from a knee injury and could hardly walk. This guy was hilarious.)
I also loved this sign:
All in all, a great place to get away when you’re in the mood for something rustic. Beautiful mountains, perfect size lake with plenty to do. One of the best meals I’ve had in a while was as Jasper’s Smokehouse - I rarely eat bbq since I prefer my pigs and cows living. But this place had white meat turkey and vegetarian bbq options and they were mighty good. Our meal came complete with a jolly (chatty) proprietor who gave us the lowdown on Big Bear. His claim to fame is the regular visits by George Clooney who has an estate in the area.
Stay tuned for my flea market finds later in the week. Happy Tuesday.
Edible Thursday: Make, Grow, Eat
| July 21, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under do-it-yourself, edible thursday, food, plants and gardens, so-cal local, Sustainable Living |
Last weekend I went on an adventure to Culver City to check out the Eat Real Festival. As you may recall from my previous post Eat Real in L.A. I was pretty excited about gig.
Between walking, consuming and cooing over the farm animals…
I also learned that it’s pretty easy to make some funky food in your own home. Like growing these crazy mushrooms in a box.
I just love this idea – not only do they look cool but it makes this somewhat daunting garden item easy and fun. TheMushroomKit.com
Or try brewing a batch of Kombucha tea. It’s perfect for a hot summer day and is chock full of good-for-your-gut stuff.
If you’re SoCal local, check out proprietor Hannah’s Kombucha Kamp. If you live further away, you can learn all you would ever want to know about kombucha (and more) and purchase your own kit online at KombuchaKamp.com
Other favorites of the show:
Orgasmo de la Boca (yep, you read that right) – smoked olives
Backyard In a Jar – delicious preserves like basil, peach habanero and tapas. I loved that this booth was in a vintage VW bus!
Homeboy Bakery – Breads and other deliciousness made by at-risk youth
Eat Real in L.A.
| July 14, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under Body, edible thursday, food, Inspiration, plants and gardens, Projects, Sustainable Living |
Attention foodies, gardeners and SoCal locals: this weekend is an awesome event called Eat Real Fest in Culver City.
The event boasts a few of my favorite activities – eating, making and growing. The food and drinks are local, sustainable and lovingly crafted by passionate people. You can get your hands dirty with the backyard farmers and learn how to garden on your patio, raise chickens in the city, and make some funky food to take home.
If you’re local, come join the fun. It’s a free event that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside (and not just from the handcrafted beer). For everyone else, you should check out the website and see how you can get involved in a local food movement.
I’m excited about this event because it’s got a fun vibe and plenty of sponsors to make a big fuss about it. What that boils down to is the ability to make a large impact, which is what we really need. If more of these events happened all over the US, we’d be a happier, healthier country. And I’m all for that, aren’t you?
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