Tuesday, March 30, 2010

blooming chamomile and green beans!

We spent most of the morning today in our garden; it was in need of some love since I've been at my sewing machine lately and really only out in the garden to water. I was happy to find that our chamomile plant is blooming and our green beans are ready to start picking! There's nothing better than eating fresh green beans right off the plant. These plants are very hard to hurt, since they can thrive in almost any garden soil. And they are a good source of Vitamin A, calcium and iron. I wish I would've planted more chamomile; my inspiration came from an organic farm my sister and I took our kids to in Carmel Valley. They had a large chamomile garden that you walk through barefoot. It was one of the best days hanging out in that farm with the girls.
For any of my local friends and neighbors...I dare you to come by our house and pick some of our vegetables! Elle and I are out there every morning or just call me. It's one of the nicest parts about having a garden...sharing! We have an abundance of kale, spinach, lettuce, nopales and cauliflower right now. Someone just dropped off a huge bucket of oranges to us yesterday and I'm still trying to figure out who it was. I love gifts of fresh produce, thank you!

Monday, March 22, 2010

LOVE BUG!


As the weather has become warmer, ladybugs have infiltrated our garden. This is a good thing! So I read up on them. Here is some information I found in the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by J.I. Rodale: "When entomologists made serious study of the beetle, they came up with a startling economic fact: it lives on scale, soft-bodied insects and their eggs and larvae, but it never damages plants, truly one of nature's gift for man's benefit. Fortunately the ladybug is no vegetarian, her diet being strictly confined to soft-bodied insects such as aphids, mealy bugs and their kin which are destructive to crops in many localities. Biggest enemy of the ladybug is the poisonous insecticide. Like all other forms of wildlife beneficial to man ladybugs ask only for protection and food."

Destination Palm Springs

My first runway show with my upcycled children's clothing line at ...

Thursday, March 18, 2010

corn!

Last weekend we planted our first row of corn. It was so nice to do this as a family. It's really amazing what comes out of a 2 year old's mouth, especially when gardening, She's learning so much about plants and it mellows her out when that sudden condition called the terrible 2's tries to break loose. I think our garden relaxes all three of us; it's my favorite hour of the day.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Our garden...loving today's rain

My inspiration in the garden comes from my grandparents, Carmen and Louis Martinez. My fondest childhood memories are of the days spent in their orchard and garden. My next goal is to learn to can like my grandma did. As kids, we found her can-filled basement exciting and spooky at the same time!

Friday, March 5, 2010

MY FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE!

I've been invited to show my product line at a local festival tomorrow. I'm very excited since this is my first event I'm involved in with my new company. "Things are going to start happening to me now!"...quoting Steve Martin when he found his name in the phonebook in 'The Jerk', one of my favorite movies.

Here's the info on the event:

Wildflower Festival
at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center
51-500 Highway 74
Palm Desert, CA 92260

Saturday, March 6 2010
8am - 4pm
free admission
(760) 862-9084
http://www.desertmountains.org