Imperfect Gardens

I started my blog about a year ago to document my progress with my yard...sometimes i get stuck...sometimes i accomplish things. We had an article in Oakland Macarthur Metro newspaper which made us instant urban homesteading stars even though many people have been doing permaculture, chickens, bees in the laurel long before we even moved here. But it's cute how we've become "experts". we even received a nice postcard from a lady about chickens lost in the laurel addressed to us as the "chicken daddies" Gave us a nice laugh and made our day

Along with this heightened interested, I received an email from the Metro's garden columnist Adina Sara back in the fall. She was having a new book come out and wanted me to review it. First off I really don't consider myself a writer. It's just a means to document but i was thrilled by the compliment so decided to help her out as neighbors and community members.

Her promo copy of "The Imperfect Garden" arrived in march just as i was beginning to start working on my spring garden. Something else to distract me from half completed garden projects that stopped once the fall rains and winter cold hit. I went to her house on a rainy day. I'd been over to her garden before for plant swaps. We had a nice little chat at her house about the beauty of imperfection and forgetting scientific names. Just enjoying the plants as they are. As someone who is studying up at Merritt's landscape horticulture program, I can really appreciate her simplified approach.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the book. It was a little dinky thing. Obviously published by a small group. The fonts bugged me and the type set. My boyfriend was horrified. But once i looked past its initial flaws the words spoke to me like no other garden book ever has.

She spoke of befriending common foes within our gardens such as oxalis and acacia trees. Finding the beauty of a struggling seedling emerging from the chaos of old wood/debris. You know we all have these "problem" spots in our gardens. Things we easily avoid discussing when chatting about the beauty of our yard. However, Adina gives them the limelight. Shows the beauty in the imperfections.

Alot of times I'm ashamed to have neighborhood groups over to my garden. They'll see the uncompleted projects, the falling down chicken wire, the plants that have been sitting in pots too long. This book gave me confidence to face my gardening demons. It is ok. it is all part of the process....

Laurel neighbor Rachel Michaelsen's photos helped to illustrate Adina's stories. I was nodding with nostalgia to all her common misadventures. The book may be small but i never felt like it was too short. However, I only wanted to devour a little bit at a time. savor the beauty of it over a month or so.

This book is not only for our community who knows Adina and the Laurel district of oakland but for the whole gardening community. She captures the struggle we all share and love so much.

Adina will be reading selections from her book at Laurel Bookstore [4100 Macarthur Blvd]on May 21st. You can pick up the book there or purchase through her website www.adinasara.com

Greenhouse, Fear, and Spring

My friend Ira used to be terrified of growing anything. Slowly I introduced him to cultivating herbs then a lemon tree. I'd give him extra seedlings of whatever i was growing that year. Now a few years later, he is harvesting all kinds of produce from two raised beds in Oakland's Lakeshore district. The house were he uses the raised beds has an old greenhouse that wasn't in use. So starting in December we started to refurbish it. Just last weekend we put our first seeds in to start. Not sure how it will turn out since we aren't sure of how the exhaust fan works exactly. Maybe everything will get fried but it's a start to this spring season

Winter Veggies

I finally got around to pulling up my tomato, basil, and pepper plants today. The frost we had last week gave them a final death zap.

Last spring I went to the Maker's Faire where i picked up a packet of colored carrot seeds in the permaculture section. I sprinkled them into one of my raised beds and pretty much ignored them. Well, while pulling out the peppers I found this beauty!


The fava beans i started in 6-packs were also put in the ground today. Lots of shelling to look forward to in the springtime

Day of the Dead

This past sunday we had a small Day of the Dead party. Felt good to share with my community when we've all been under stress over the looming election.











I cooked squash tacos from a recipe received from our CSA Terra Firma Farms newsletter. The prior weekend, I also gleaned tons of squash from the parking lot at open farm day. We were able to pick up all the stuff that was just going to rot such as strawberries, walnuts, and squash. I've been part of the CSA for ten years now but have never gone to one of their open farm days. The vibe is completely different than harvest festivals at county fairs. I felt like part owner/ community member at the CSA. The gathering was a celebration instead of just a money maker. I'll be going from now on.

For our party, our friend Aaron brought us a watermelon from his yard. He lives just down the hill in maxwell park. I've never had luck with watermelon yet but this gives me hope.

John Frando and Nik Lostracco from The Macarthur Metro came over to to interview us and take pics of our yard. You can look forward to seeing the article in december's issue. However, you wont be seeing much of me in the pics because i dressed up as a skeleton farmer for the party. and then realized...oops....the issue will be coming out around xmas so would confuse people

The following monday, I made Day after the Dead bread pudding with the leftover pan muerto. A very tasty way to use the leftover stale bread

Even though alot of negativity has sprouted up in our bay area bubble remember to hang on and bring together the people who are your allies. And to share in food and thought to help make it thru the dark times. I began planting my winter seeds which are beginning to sprout up giving me hope thru the cold rainy winter months.

Eat Local, Shop Local

The second best thing to producing your own is to buy it locally! Last week a new farmer's market opened up in the laurel sponsered by Oakland Food Connection. Our neighborhood group was also hosting its first annual block sale. Plus I needed to get a birthday present for my friend's 3 year old kid Kahlo. This meant a trip to Laurel Book Store and Komodo Toys. My morning walk was planned!

On my way to the block sale, I had the good fortune in running into neighbor John Frando who was putting up flyers/cones. I love being able to just stroll down the street and see people that I know. I haven't had that much here in Oakland so it was quite the nice change. John is working on an article for The Macarthur Metro on gardens/chickens/sustainability in the laurel and was asking me for an interview.



Not too many people were at the block sale yet but I got the chance to talk to some other neighbors. I've been talking with Stella who organized the Neighborhood Night Out earlier this month to see how we can continue these potlucks to help everybody get to know each other better. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of giving a cheese making workshop. I also got three more people on my waiting list for eggs.

Next I tried Komodo Toys but unfortunately they were closed so I went straight to Laurel Book Store. I found exactly what I needed. Children's books on ducks, chickens, and art. I hope Kahlo loves them. His sense of wonder is fun to watch when he comes over our house to see the animals. The owner Luan even gift wrapped the presents for free! I chatted up another customer about Mark Bittman's cookbook. Normally in a chainstore a person standing behind somebody getting something gift wrapped would get annoyed. But the local scene is more laid back so you have the possibility of enjoying the company of strangers.



The new farmer's market was small but charming. Only being the second week, there is just three vendors. Oakland Food Connection, Purple Lawn Cafe, and a farmer. Unfortunately the farmer didn't show up this week. If I had driven in my car and had to find parking, the situation might have been annoying. But it wasnt, instead I'm glad that something new is being created in my neighborhood. I was glad to hand over money to see this bloom. . I cant wait to see the changes in the upcoming weeks. I'll be returning.













It's nice to have an excuse for a saturday morning stroll!

Buzz Buzz

I procrastinated too long on the honey harvest this year. The queen had used most of the comb for brood so I only got about a jar's worth of usable honey. The taste is very floral and amazing. It'll just be nice to have extra to give as gifts. Hopefully next year! I think I need to purchase a honey super for added storage space as well as a queen excluder.

This time around I managed to get my ankles stung. Those bees are smart, they find your weakest point. I got a little bit of cabin fever this weekend not being able to walk for 48 hrs.

Milk Alchemy and Cheese Queens

Cheesemaking is an ethereal science. You enter into it with a specific formula and enzymes but who knows what direction the chemical reactions will go. My friend Ira and I took up this insane science about a year ago.

We started out with cow's milk but then wanted to experiment with goat. But 95% of what you find in the supermarket has been ultrapasteurized which means the chemical structure of the milk has already been changed so drastically that it is useless for cheesemaking. We tried to find goat farms that would sell us milk directly but the law has it so that people are afraid to sell because of potential liability. We finally found a goat internship where we receive milk for labor.

On sunday, we had a surplus of milk since the goat owner was on vacation. We decided to try making mozzarella which is something new for us.. Ira's friend Kurt in the oakland hills has been making some mozzarella successfully with Cow's Milk so we went over to his place for instruction.

The newest trend in mozzarella is the 30-min version for instant gratification. In theory, you just heat the milk with citric acid and lipase then add rennet. Squeeze out the initial whey from the curd then microwave for a short period which helps extract the rest of the moisture.

But cheesemaking is finicky. You put in too much rennet or you heat just slightly too quickly or any other little variable changes the texture. We didn't end up with anything that looked like the mozzarella we set out to make but it's still tasty. That seems to happen 2 out of 3 times when making cheese. You end up with an unexpected product.

We really need a west coast cheese guru. On the east coast, Rikki Carrol is the cheese queen who seems to have a monopoly on cheesemaking supply and instruction. I'm surprised by the lack of cheese queens in the bay area. Yes, we have great commercial cheesemakers like Cowgirl Creamery or distributors like The Cheeseboard and Farmstead Cheese but no mentors for the homesteader I wonder who will end up with this title. Only time will tell. But we sure need someone to show us the alchemy of milk.