The Appeal of Adaptive Gardening

If you’re a gardener, chances are you’re not just into it for the food you grow or the beauty you’re creating. The benefits, both emotional and physical, are many. So what happens when time and/or disease or an accident messes with your body? It doesn’t mean you have to give up gardening. Even if you haven’t been a gardener, it may be the perfect opportunity to improve your mental and physical health by taking it up. I spoke to experts on adaptive gardening about ways we can all create spaces that facilitate gardening, no matter the circumstances, with tools that can make it possible to do the usual gardening chores. You’ll get great practical ideas, resources and tips in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section.

"Dig In!"'s Author Turns to Her Family's San Diego and Mexican Roots in Debut Cookbook

Erin O’Brien, the author of the new cookbook “Dig In! Over 100 Easy, Delicious, and Stress-Free Recipes to Make on Repeat” (Simon Element, $35), may have been raised in Pasadena, but so much of her experience with food originated in La Jolla by way of Mexico. O’Brien’s Nana, Manuela “Nelly” Romera, once owned a popular restaurant called Lupita’s La Jolla. But Lupita’s, now the site of PopUp Bagels, was not the family’s first San Diego eatery. Back in 1959, Nelly’s mother — O’Brien’s great-grandmother, Jesús de Romero, or Guela — moved her family to San Diego from Mexico and opened Lupita’s Cafe in what’s now the Gaslamp Quarter. It was, as O’Brien described it, “a tiny lunch counter serving comforting homestyle Mexican dishes.”

I spoke with the delightful O’Brien about her family recipes and have included three from the book with the San Diego connection in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section: Camarones al Mojo de Ajo, Mom’s Cheesy Calabacitas (Mexican Squash) and to accompany these, her Frozen Coconut Mojito.

Under the Sea...With Succulents

Gardeners tend to have unique sources of inspiration for designing their spaces: recreating the essence of their grandma’s victory garden or perhaps styling a flower-filled cottage garden that recalls a trip to England. Or going for practicality: choosing to establish a native garden that reduces water use and attracts pollinators.

Carol Kent’s astounding succulent garden in Clairemont is very specific. As a young woman in San Diego, she worked from 1975 to 1990 on a scuba diving boat, including time as captain. So, unsurprisingly, her passion for the ocean led to creating an “undersea garden” on her quarter acre. If you love the ocean—and succulents—you’ll want to take in how she designed and carried out her vision for the garden—and view the gorgeous photos from Nelvin Cepeda—in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section.

Teach Kids How to Cook! Especially for Mother's Day!

“Try not to put the bowls on your head,” Jessica Baldwin, cooking teacher and owner of Le Petit Pâtissier, reminded her class of eight children, ages 6 to 10. She had just handed out large white plastic bowls to her students ahead of mixing the liquid ingredients, which would join dry ingredients for a batch of blueberry-lemon drop scones.

That afternoon in Baldwin’s Carmel Valley home, the kids made the scones, along with granola and mini-quiches for their moms in anticipation of Mother’s Day. The class was magnificent organized chaos. The kids had fun and produced beautiful food, which I replicated at home. Read the story and get the recipes in my latest food story for The San Diego Union-Tribune! And huge thanks to photographer Meg McLaughlin for really fun and lovely photos!

If It's Spring It's Artichoke Season!

Artichokes are my culinary announcement of spring. In that spirit, I visited Fox Point Farms in March in Encinitas, within Leucadia, where they were growing a row of large artichoke plants on their two acres of vegetable plots. There chef Joel Jordan of Fox Point Farms’ restaurant, Haven Farm + Table, picked a beauty to demonstrate how to break them down and then proceeded to share three terrific recipes a world away from just steaming to show how versatile these thorny veggies are. We had pan-seared artichoke hearts with tarragon aioli and crispy sweet potato strings, artichoke green onion deep with melted manchego cheese, and lemon artichoke fritters with herbed crema. Each was better than the next—and very doable for home cooks. So, head over to my story in The San Diego Union-Tribune and get the recipes! And, thank you to photographer Sandy Huffaker for his gorgeous photos!

Learn the Joys of Container Gardening

Got little space? The wrong sun exposure? Containers offer a bumper crop of advantages when it comes to gardening. I spoke to a couple of San Diego master gardeners who are enthusiastic advocates of container gardening. They gave me great tips to share with readers on the best techniques for creating a container garden—or adding containers to an in-ground garden—and reasons why it can be so helpful, not to mention attractive. You can find these tips in my latest story in The San Diego Union-Tribunes Home and Garden section.