Love at First Sight
The Juliet Grape Tomato is an abundant and thriving tomato plant. Its rush to provide us with a harvest took off the moment we planted it into our rich Tustin soil. It's name presents an allusion to the Juliet of Shakespeare's famous love story, Romeo and Juliet, as its glossy, elongated shape is reminiscent of a human heart, and with its first appearance one cannot help but fall in love. Like Juliet, its fruit is "yet a stranger in the world" and has not even seen its first full summer, but it's youthful and delicious sweet taste, is like love's first kiss, bursting with an excitement of tantalizing flavor that increases the desire for more. And more is what you get! A meaty mouthful of hot, sizzling summer romance with the Juliet Grape tomato in everything from cayenne spiced salsa, 1001 marinara variations,and sun-dried tomatoes, which can be bagged and eaten long after the summer romance has fizzled on the vine.
The Mysterious Monstrous Cellar Squash
My experience with monsters, in and out of the closet, began in the basement of my Grandma and Grandpa's house in the golden fields of Indiana. A Mid-west excursion to the corn fed Hoosier state where tornadoes are bound to unleash their tremendous tumult, the basement provides underground protection to food and people. For my brother and I, however, the basement, much like a musty tomb, was our guest quarters. The steep stairwell blanketed in darkness led to a cavernous room furnished with bunk beds, and the cold concrete floor turned my toes blue on especially cold nights. During the summer in my sixth year, I spent one hellacious night suffocating under a blanket,eyes wide open while shivering with fear, at the shadows that lurked gropingly at me as I pulled my blanket aside to gulp for air. I have deplored basements ever since! So imagine...(read full article)
This Ain't No GMO Corn
(article in works)
An Edible Bouquet
Amaranth is an annual, brightly colored native in our heirloom garden. We inherited this beautiful foliage with the purchase of our eighty-six year old Craftsman cottage home in Old Town Tustin and began seeing its sprouting shoots in the March rains. Currently, it is in full bloom and its high protein purplish, green leaves, much like spinach, will add beauty and nourishment to our delicious summer salads, and its grain, used by the ancient Aztec civilizations since the 1400’s, will be ground into flour for breads, cereals, cookies, noodles, or pancakes.
- Full Sun or Partial Shade
