Spring equinox is March 20th around my part of the world and it’s coming up fast and furious. Now, I have to admit that doing my spring garden prep work was never a source of serious intestinal “knottage” in my earlier years. In fact it was a seasonal milestone that I really looked forward to…a sort of “back to school” feeling that everything was nothing but possibilities.

Originally posted in 2011, I wanted to update and re-post this as California (and the country) deals with the wettest winter in years, ending years of drought. Our thoughts are with all who are in the areas of the state-wide wild fires that devastated the homes and communities of so many.  These areas are extremely […]

What makes a perfect Valentine’s Day? Many think it means material things given…a fine dinner, expensive jewelry, exotic perfume, a big box of chocolates. Really? I think all you and your love need do is spend some time in a garden. Well, ok…you can throw in the chocolates too.

An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.
quote / saying by Cora Lea Bell

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has
been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed
there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.
– Henry David Thoreau

What would our culinary creations be without the pretty pepper?

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” ― Alice Walker, The Color Purple Long a favorite color of mine when I design a culinary potager garden or edible landscape, there is now a much more important reason to not only include […]

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”
Jim Davis, ‘Garfield’

Ever since we were going through build-out at The Cook’s Garden by HGEL on Abbot Kinney here in Venice, CA, we have been approached by many residents in the neighborhood asking about opportunities to lease a box for themselves and their families. While we continue to talk to restaurants and chefs in the area, we have decided to open a limited number of boxes to home cooks in the neighborhood.

It seems to me that many times in our adult lives we abandon our bliss too quickly when we run into obstacles; not allowing time to figure a way through or around the thing blocking our way.