Dwell Home Tour: Judy Kameon

Although I was mainly tied to the convention center for all of Dwell on Design, I did make it to one of the homes on the home tours: that of Judy Kameon. I've been a huge fan of Judy's since I saw her speak on a panel at Dwell on Design three years ago. She owns landscape architecture firm Elysian Landscapes (they designed the garden at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs!)and has a line of mid century inspired outdoor furniture called Plain Air. I think she's hugely talented and, at the same time, completely down to earth. So I couldn't miss seeing her home.




Modern with definite mid century influences, Judy's use of color is stunning. With a background in painting and some help from this guy, Judy and her husband have woven in color, texture and personality into their home. And even though there is color everywhere you look, the overall feeling in the house is one of lightness and space and warmth. The inside is seamless with the outside and the garden abounds with nooks and private spaces that make it feel much larger than it is.










The kitchen is particularly stunning with its aqua colored heath tiles and orange-red cabinet fronts. Judy's husband built all the cabinets himself. The cork tiles throughout make the space feel open and warm. I also love how the downstairs is one big space that spills out into the garden--great for entertaining.





Happy Weekend Everyone!

Rainforest Flora

Phew, I'm done with Dwell on Design! What. an. experience. I met so many awesome plant people and solved so many problems and basked in the glory of a beautiful outdoor section and got so little sleep. It was all worth it. But now I have so much I want to share that I don't even know where to begin.

Well, hopefully you saw the show, but if not I'll be posting some pictures here soon -- and I posted some fun behind the scenes pictures on flickr. I worked closely with Jen and Ive from Shades of Green who are up in Northern California. Even though I've only known them a couple of weeks, I feel like I've known them for a lifetime (working on Dwell was kind of like summer camp) and one of the first things we did when they got down here was going to Rainforest Flora down in Torrance. They loaned us Tillandsia (or air plants) and Bromeliads for the show.




Rainforest Flora is basically a wonderland. Jerry and Paul, who run the place, have been in the business of tropical Tillandsia and Bromeliads for 30 years. Paul has even written a couple of books on the subject. They're passionate, they know what they're doing, and they have a lot of plants.



We weren't there for long, but we got a quick tour of their space (they have an even larger farm (?) down near San Diego) and it was beautiful, and overwhelming and full of magic. My appreciation for air plants skyrocketed after this trip. Bromeliads (which I had associated with dated house plants) have also made their way to the top of my list in terms of interesting plants to rival succulents (though, don't be mistaken, they need a totally different climate.)





They're largely wholesale but have a retail space and sell everything in their online store. And considering what a huge trend air plants are becoming (they're the new terrarium, according to me) they are a great resource.





Thanks Paul and Jerry!

(Find their online store right here.)

Dwell on Design

So another couple of busy weeks are ahead as I've been hired to help out with Dwell on Design's Outdoor Spaces. I've just jumped into it today so there's lots to learn and do, but I'm really excited to be on the floor while everything gets delivered, help set it up and enjoy the camaraderie of long days.

Are you going to Dwell on Design (June 25-27)?
How about one of the cool home tours?
You can also volunteer to man a home on a home tours or at the convention to get in for free (plus some other goodies)?
And there's a great party happening for a good cause on Saturday the 26th.
You can also follow the event on twitter or follow me!.

Phew. I'll keep you all updated as much as I can. I'm already so inspired by the vendors I'm working with!

Lemon Verbena

If you ever come across verveine (or lemon verbena as we call it stateside), buy it. It's not a common plant on the westcoast so snatch it up as soon as you see it. Like mint, it's a great herb to make a tea out of (just pour boiling water over it and let it steep. The french drink it after a big meal to help digest and chez panisse makes a verbena/mint version that sounds awesome). My aunt always had a bush growing outside the back door so she could take a handful of it and shove it in a teapot.

I bought this little plant at the Descanso plant sale a couple of months ago and plan to use it to experiment with different kinds of iced tea and some of these recipes:

• Lemon Custards with Lemon Verbena
• Lemonade Slushies with Lemon Verbena and Mint
• Raspberry Apricot Compote with Champagne and Lemon Verbena
• Lemon Verbena and Orange Blossom Fizz

Happy weekend, everyone!

Interview with Marta Teegan of Homegrown LA

I recently got a chance to interview Marta Teegan of Homegrown LA. She's a chef and a certified Master Gardener and specializes in growing edibles. She is an inspiration and a treasure trove of information. Here are some of my favorite tips:

On easy to grow edibles:
"there are some veggies and herbs that are especially hardy, including mint (which should always be planted in its own pot so that it doesn't take over your garden), oregano, thyme, chard, and kale. All do very well in pots. If you have the space for cucumbers to grow up on a trellis or railing, they are natural climbers, grow very quickly, and produce a large quantity of fruit - you will definitely be impressed with how many cucumbers a single plant can make!"

On exotic edibles to try growing:
"I find many people shy away from artichokes, so I always recommend growing them. They are such beautiful plants, they are prolific producers, and they are delicious to eat! I also always recommend that people with container gardens grow potatoes. Yes, potatoes can be grown in a pot! Nothing compares to the flavor of potatoes, prepared simply with butter and salt, eaten an hour after being harvested.

Some other great edibles to try would include cornichon cucumbers for pickling; the small, red pequillo peppers for frying with eggs; and Catalogna dandelions for a bitter green salad with shallots and bacon."

See my whole interview with her over on Apartment Therapy.

And here are some updates from my own garden. The 'cukes and squash are coming in and the tomatoes are looking promising. I accidentally (I'm lazy) let the lettuce bolt, so no more salad for a little while, but the swiss chard is still going strong!





Happy Weekend everyone. What are your plans? How are your gardens growing? Have you eaten outside yet?

Vegetable Garden

Wow, remember when I first planted the vegetable garden? Well look at it now! The lettuce wants to bolt, the cilantro already has (oops) and the squash are sending up blossoms (which can only mean one thing). It's moving faster than I thought and I now wish I had made a bed about double the size. I had no idea that this one would get filled up so quickly!

Dream Rooms and Dinners

Over on AT we've started doing a lot more 'dream spaces' type posts. They're a lot of fun to put together and I've been surprised by what I actually choose (and how similar they all are) so I wanted to present them here, in one place. One thing I noticed is the color palette that I go to over and over (and ironically it doesn't actually match any room I've ever lived in) and that Plants and France seem to be themes:

Dream Bathroom: The Farmhouse Modern Bathroom



Dream Studio: The White and Bright (and plant filled) Studio (with a frog chair)




Dream Dinner Party: French Countryside, Wine, Stars, Good Food

Happy Little Elephant

Today I had something disappointing happen. I'm trying to look on the bright side and learn from it, but, still, it's raining outside and I'm feeling a little bit blue. Luckily the roses outside are blooming out of control. So I snipped some and filled this sweet little elephant to help get my spirits back up. It makes me smile every time I look over.

What do you do to cheer yourself up after suffering a setback?

From the Garden

The Garden is exploding! I've made 3 salads already with all the lettuce and on a whim I just go out back and grab a hand full of herbs. It is intoxicating. Can't wait for the tomatoes and cucumbers to start coming in.



Here are the heirloom pumpkin seedlings. Need to get these into the ground.



How is everyone's Spring?

Thea's Parents' Garden

Went back in time yesterday to dye eggs with some of my best friends at a house we all spent a lot of time in in High School. Thea's Parents' house in echo park has a giant backyard with 4 raised bed vegetable gardens, a koi pond, wildflowers (from Theodore Payne), a cheramoya tree, a whole succulent propogation area and a beautiful view. It always feels reassuring to be able to return to a place that is so familiar and so beautiful.

Bird's Nest

We recently discovered a bird's nest tucked under the eaves on the front porch. When I peeked inside there were these two little eggs. Then this morning, I peeked again and there were three! The mama stays close unless we slam the front door (or start climbing up to peek) and I can't wait to hear those babies hatch.

DIY Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

On my list of things I wanted to do in 2010 was build a raised bed vegetable garden. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have done it. With the help of E and Thea and my mom I am now the proud caretaker of a vegetable garden complete with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, swiss chard, lettuce, beans, artichokes and squash. I'm also trying to start some pumpkins, watermelon and other tomatoes from seed, so those might end up in the bed further down the road.

I was surprised how easy it was to build. A lot of sites suggest some pretty complicated ways to build a raised bed, but here's how we did it:

Pick a spot.



We picked this spot because the grass was already dead and it got really good light all day (south facing).

Choose Dimensions:



I did 4x6 so that I could still easily reach across about 2 feet on each side. I plotted where the box would sit and turned the soil to discourage any of that grass from growing underneath my vegetables.

Deter Weeds and Rodents:





I used a wire mesh to keep gophers and moles from burrowing up below and a weed cloth to keep the grass out.

Build the Frame:



To build the box we used 2x6 pieces of redwood (you want to get redwood or cedar because they're just straight wood and won't leach any chemicals into your food the way a pressboard or plywood would). I wanted the bed to be about a foot deep so we built two levels of 4x6 dimension frames and stacked them. Nothing fancy, just screwed it all together and stacked them.

Fill It With Dirt/Compost/Fertilizer:





I bought a whole car load of soil (24 cubic feet of soil). I got 'organic' and didn't go for anything with a fertilizer built in because that stuff scares me. I also bought 2 bags of manure for fertilizer and 2 bags of compost to work into the soil to keep it from getting too dense.

Placement:


We poured all the soil in, stirred it around and then leveled it off and started plotting our placement. Since it was my first vegetable garden I wanted to start with some momentum so I didn't start everything from seed, I just went to armstrong and picked out the things I wanted to try and grow. I followed the directions on the packages for placement and made sure that anything that would grow really large wouldn't end up shading other plants. I'll need to make a trellis for the beans once they grow larger so I put them on the northern side of the box so that they won't cast a shadow when they're growing up. Besides that, I just tried to make them look nice.



I can't wait to watch these things grow and then walk out to the garden to pick things to cook. Delicious!