#edible landscape

This is an “after” shot of a front strip, raised bed vegetable garden my crew and I worked on this week. The people who own this home have 5 kids and they’re all excited about the new garden. We planted tomatoes, peppers, arugula, beans, cucumbers (I still need to come back with trellises, and supports), Rainbow Swiss chard, basil, cilantro, lavender, mint, Walla Walla onions, marigolds, raspberry (container shrubs), strawberries, and corn (not pictured, it’s on the driveway strip adjacent to this one.) 

I love the way this came out, I hope it gets huge. It was a somewhat sad dirt patch before, with just a few drought tolerant flowers around the tree. We added a bunch more flowers, pink ice plant, around the tree. I love my job.

Tarragon, Garlic & Meyer Lemon Roast Chicken

 Happy weekend Tumblrs. I made this yummy chicken yesterday. This was sweet, tangy and amazingly delicious. This is a perfect weekend dish. You can make it for dinner today, and have leftovers for sandwiches and tacos tomorrow. That makes life easy.

Here’s how I made this: Chop tarragon, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, thyme, and 4 large garlic cloves. Mix with Meyer lemon zest, softened butter, a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and the juice from the lemon. Rub it all over chicken, add more salt and pepper. Put the lemon halves inside along with a cut up onion and herb stems. Add a little white wine or water to the bottom of the roasting pan, ¾ cup or so. Roast at 350 for 1.5 to 2 hours until cooked to 165 degrees in thickest part of the thigh.

The herbs and citrus I used for this dish were from our back yard. The heirloom onions are growing in the front yard. The Meyer lemons are so good this year, and they’re all over our neighborhood. I love citrus season. Vegetable gardening in the winter is easy and delicious. I need to get out there and plant some more seeds while it’s still cold out. Peas, favas, and more greens and shallots are some of the things lacking in my garden just about now. But we do have massive amounts of arugula, rosemary, strawberries, lots of Meyer lemons and leeks and onions. The blueberry plants are starting to flower, I might plant a couple more of those. I also cut back my thornless blackberry and am hoping for a good harvest this spring. Our apple tree still has apples and they are delicious. 

Original plans I drew up as part of an assessment in my Intro to Permaculture Design Course. These ended up being the basis for the design and layout of our food-not-lawns backyard. Best decision we ever made!