Blog dedication to Aldo and Luna Leopold

The Art From the Garden Blog is dedicated to

Aldo Leopold and his son Luna Leopold, Bay Area ecologist.

“The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land… In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.”

“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

–Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949). Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management.

“Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime
 and our children’s lifetime.   The health of our waters is
 the principal measure of how we live on the land.”
                                                                

-Luna Leopold

Luna Bergere Leopold (October 8, 1915 – February 23, 2006), was a leading U.S. geomorphologist and hydrologist, Emeritus Professor of Geology and Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, who maintained that a new philosophy of water management is needed, one based on geologic, geographic, and climatic factors as well as traditional economic, social, and political factors.

January 29th

This post isn’t that long because we were all incredibly busy trying to get all of our projects done in time! The Butterfly Garden is finally finished and is absolutely beautiful! The Mosaic Team is almost finished. They just have to do some more grouting. The Cob Team is nearly finished. It’s amazing how much work they’ve had to to!

Here’s the Mosaic Team’s final table! This is going to sit under the shed with the pizza oven so it can be used for baking.

This is the almost finished second table. This one just needs to be grouted.

This is the entry sign to the butterfly garden.

Here are the wonderful steps for the Butterfly Garden. They also added some lovely flowers to make the January garden a little bit more colourful!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Here’s Nicole once again!

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Growing up I was an avid viewer of Sesame Street. And there, I was obsessed. The cookie monster. ME LOVE COOKIES. Now I truly do enjoy a good cookie now and then. I have made hundreds and hundreds of cookies in my days and dozens and dozens of different kinds of cookies. One kind of cookie that I have always enjoyed was a lemon cookie. It is a burst of fresh flavor along with the sweetness of a sugar cookie. The lemon can be used in many different recipes and even recipes where you would least expect it. It is a delicious fruit that can be sweet when it wants to be and sour the rest of the time. It creates that pucker face and the “ah” feeling when you drink a cool glass of lemonade. This recipe combines a nice sweet Italian cheese, Ricotta and the pucker of the lemon.

 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with a Lemon Glaze

 

Ingredients

Cookies:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

 

Cookies:

 

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

 

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

 

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

 

Glaze:

 

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.

 

Recipe taken from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lemon-ricotta-cookies-with-lemon-glaze-recipe.html

Winter Squash and Carrot Puree

This is another recipe from Nicole.

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Thinking of switching up a side dish for a fancy dinner? Well look no further then this recipe! Many people cherish the loved mashed potatoes. I on the other hand, am capable of going without the common side dish. It is easy to switch out a normal potato for a sweet potato, but why should we think in the box when we can jump outside of it and use two vegetables instead of one! Now I introduce to you, the Winter squash and carrot puree. This recipe is great if you are looking to stay on the healthy side (a little bit of butter ain’t never hurt nobody!), and it also is a great way to get kids to eat healthy. I don’t know about you, but I would have loved to eat something of an electric orange color.

 

Ingredients

.      1 kabocha or buttercup squash (about 2 3/4 pounds), halved crosswise and seeded

.      4 carrots, thinly sliced

.      1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced

.      1/4 teaspoon thyme

.      Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Set the squash, cut side down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until soft.
2. In a saucepan, combine the carrots, garlic, thyme and 2 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until the carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor; puree. Scoop the squash out of its skin and puree it with the carrots. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the puree in a buttered shallow baking dish; dot with the butter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until hot, and serve.

 

 

Recipe taken from: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/winter-squash-and-carrot-puree

Winter Vegetable Soup

Here’s a recipe by Nicole Cortez, another student in our class!

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Hello all!

Because it is the winter time, there are certain vegetables that taste absolutely amazing. Winter in my eyes translates to root vegetables. There are tons of different ways you can use winter vegetables. For example, the most common way to use winter vegetables is in soup. Now don’t get me wrong, I love soup just as much as the next guy, but sometimes it is necessary to switch things up a bit.

When using root vegetables and different squashes you can get a lot of flavor with few ingredients. The recipe below caramelizes the vegetables which helps bring out the sugars in the food and makes it absolutely delicious! Also something to keep in mind, all of these vegetables are easy to plant yourself, especially in the northern California climate.

 

Ingredients

1 pound carrots, peeled

1 pound parsnips, peeled

1 large sweet potato, peeled

1 small butternut squash, peeled and seeded (about 2 pounds)

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and butternut squash in 1 to 1 1/4-inch cubes. All the vegetables will shrink while baking, so don’t cut them too small.

Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on 2 baking sheets. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula.

 

Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot.

 

Recipe taken from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-winter-vegetables-recipe.html

Indigenous Plant Species by Kimberlea Buczeke

Kimberlea Buczeke, one of the students in the class this term, has created a small watercolor booklet of some important original plants that reside in California. The booklet also tells the reader why it’s important to plant indigenous species, in this case, to California. Some pages from the booklet can be found below with the name, Latin name, and a short fact about the species.

 

January 28th

Today we all met up in groups to brainstorm hypothetical plans for the community area if we had had the time! Then we got to watch Executive Chef Gabriel Kinney come in and show us some absolutely beautiful recipes. Somehow he managed to make such delicious and complicated things so easy!

Here’s the genius himself!

This was the best one. It was some sort of garbanzo bean-chickpea hummus type of thing with some fresh salad from the garden, some goat’s cheese and bread, and even some flowers!

This is some celery root (I don’t know what it’s called but it’s the consistency of mashed potatoes), fried basil, and a salsa made of a bunch of things from the garden all topped with fluffy scallops!

This is duck breast (fresh this morning!!), yellow beets, carrots, fried basil, and pomegranate seeds.

Here is the second mosaic! It only needs to be grouted!

January 27th

This post is a bit short because today was another big work day so we were all extremely busy since our projects have to be done by Friday!!!

Here’s our teacher, Mary helping out the Cob Team.

This is the Cob bench and oven so far! Look how lovely it looks once it’s been plastered and with all our tiles set in! Everyone is very excited and proud of it.

Here are some bits of very sharp glass from the mosaic team.

These are some of the almost finished mosaic pieces for the smaller table. There should be some photos of the final product by Friday!

January 24th

Another work day today. Miguel came back from working on an adobe house in Petaluma to show the Cob Team how to plaster the bench and oven and also to help out with the patio area wall. The Butterfly Garden Team worked on making some ceramic butterfly water bowls. The Mosaic Team worked on the design for the larger mosaic table and helped out the Signage Team paint the numbers for the X-Y Axis. And the rest of the Signage Team started on the tiles for the plant signs. It was another busy day trying to get everything done for the party on Friday!

 

Miguel is back! Here’s him helping the Cob Team finish up.

Here’s a mini group working on the Legacy Garden front gate. They’re using the old grape vines from the garden.

Here’s another mini group working on a cinder block flower wall that will be filled with strawberries and succulents.

Here’s the Mosaic Team helping out the Signage Team with some of their projects.

And here’s the design for the larger mosaic table.

And here is the Butterfly Garden Team working on their butterfly pools.

How to properly Compost

Composting at home is not something that most households do even though it is one of the best things you can do for your garden and our earth. By composting your food scraps at home, you can reduce your garbage by up to 20-30% (Source)! Any food that is left in the garbage and taken to a landfill will eventually degrade and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Keep reading on to see how you can do your part!

This website shows you what you can compost and what to compost the food with. One of the best and easiest resources!

Here are some tips in composting from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Earth911 is just a generally great website to explore.

Here are some tips from the website on how start your own outdoor compost at home. 

• Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin.

• Add brown and green materials as they are collected, making sure larger pieces are chopped or shredded.

• Moisten dry materials as they are added.

• Once your compost pile is established, mix grass clippings and green waste into the pile and bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches of compost material.

• Optional: Cover top of compost with a tarp to keep it moist. When the material at the bottom is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use. This usually takes anywhere between two months to two years.

And here is what you CAN compost: 

• Fruits and vegetables
• Eggshells
• Coffee grounds and filters
• Tea bags
• Nut shells
• Shredded newspaper
• Cardboard
• Paper
• Yard trimmings
• Grass clippings
• Houseplants
• Hay and straw
• Leaves
• Sawdust
• Wood chips
• Cotton and Wool Rags
• Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
• Hair and fur
• Fireplace ashes

…and what you cannot:

• Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
  – Releases substances that might be harmful to plants
• Coal or charcoal ash
  – Might contain substances harmful to plants
• Dairy products (e.g., butter, milk, sour cream, yogurt) and eggs*
  – Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Diseased or insect-ridden plants
  – Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants
• Fats, grease, lard, or oils*
  – Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Meat or fish bones and scraps*
  – Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter)*
  – Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans
• Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides
  – Might kill beneficial composting organisms
  * Check with your local composting or recycling coordinator to see if these organics are accepted by your community curbside or drop-off composting program.

All above information came directly from this website.