Dasylirion at a nursery

This is technically a shrub but it definitely has a grassy feel to it though the thin leaves are on the stiff side. It has a great silhouette and a nice, soft green color.  It’s larger size makes i it a great focal plant.

Best Feature:  round shape, thin green leaves, evergreen, low maintenance, drought tolerant

From :  Southwest U.S., Mexico

Preferable Places : Sunset Zones 10-24;  USDA Zones 8-11

Looks :  3-4 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide

Personality :  easy going, evergreen shrub, easily the center of attention, slowly forms a trunk over time, base leaves form spoon shaped leaves at the trunk, will flower after several years- one stalk up to 12 feet high but not annually, needs very little water

Likes :  full sun or part shade, good drainage

Issues: the ends of the leaves can be sharp

Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire' with Twin Flower Agave in the foreground

Here’s a picture I took at the Cuyamaca Water Conservation Garden. It’s a demonstration garden for low water use plants at Cuyamaca Community College in Rancho San Diego. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in that area. The Euphorbia ‘Sticks on Fire’ and Twin Flowered Agave (detailed info in previous posts) work really well together in this rock garden. This is a look for the succulent lovers.

I was at Starbucks the other day and noticed that thay had two large bags of free coffee grounds. I almost took one even though we don’t have a use for them just yet. This is a nice, green gesture on their part. Starbucks has some details on how they can be used and the make-up of the grounds on their website.

They can be used in a garden for composting, fertilizing or mulching. Mulch also helps plants to stay moist longer after watering- saving some water too. It’s pretty popular for growing veggies. There are also some other creative uses. Lots of them are listed on The Green Daily. You can try adding them to your beauty routine. Sustainable Enterprises has some feedback from people who have used them in their garden. If you can get them for free or use the coffee from your house, it’s worth a shot.

Happy Gardening!

faucet aerator

There are a few very affordable ways to save some water at your house. One of these products is a low flow faucet aerator for your sink(s). The ones that are low flow are under 2.75 gpm (gallons per minute). The first thing to do is to check if you have aerators in your sink and then see what the flow is (the gpm should be on the aerator). If you do have them and they are low flow, they may need to be cleaned. The cost is around $5 and it could save up to 30% of your water. This Acme How To website gives clear instructions on removing and checking an aerator.

Low flow shower heads are another option. These could save you up to 35% of your water. A low flow shower head should be between 1.5 to 1.75 gpm. You can spend anywhere from $10 to $100 on a shower head, depending on your taste and your budget.

Both of these can be picked up at Home Depot or another hardware/ home improvement store.

A low flow toilet is another product though not exactly inexpensive. What we do, and I apologize if this is TMI for anyone, is the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” method. This does not apply in certain situations like if we have company but an average toilet uses 5-7 gallons of water per flush! The saving will add up over time.

Nassella with Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos)

Nassella tenuissima aka Mexican Feather Grass (sometimes sold as Stipa)

I am a big fan of grasses. They have so much movement and this one has a really soft look and texture. It’s a nice contrast to stiffer plants, like this image, or succulents, like this image in an older post.

Best Feature:  soft texture, light and airy appearance, low maintenance, drought tolerant

From :  Texas, New Mexico, Mexico

Preferable Places : Sunset Zones 2b-24;  USDA Zones 7-11

Looks :  2 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide

Personality :  easy going, perennial grass, looks good planted in masses or as an accent grouped with other plants, flowers appear at the end of the green leaves in summer, the ends of the flowers turn to a straw color in winter and it’s still attractive

Likes :  full sun

Issues : can self-sow, cut it back before the seeds ripen to prevent this

drying rack from containerstore.com

Some may think this is a no-brainer but it is a simple way to save energy. A clothes line would have the same outcome and may give you more hanging area if you have the right space for it. We currently don’t have ample space so we use a rack similar to the pictured one. Some things are still put in the dryer but we air dry a lot. A few things are put on hangers out of the washer and hung around the house too.

The drying rack in the picture is $9.99 at the Container Store. You can get fancy if you have the money to spare on one like this Michael Graves designed rack at Target for $29.99. I found mine at a yard sale- another good option- and it seems to be a common yard sale item. You can save money and reuse it.

The average family of four can save about $100/ year. It’s not a really large amount that you save but using less energy is, of course, greener.

Our parsnip puree and beet salad

We got our first box from Suzie’s Farm! I wrote about joining their CSA in a previous post. Saturday was a big day. It started at the farmer’s market picking up our box along with other goodies and went to Ray at Night later, which is in the last post.

We decided to get a box every two weeks for 12 weeks, which was $170 including the joiner’s fee. And good thing- there is a lot of food in there. I brought reusable bags to carry it all and I worked up a good sweat getting it four blocks to my car. Our bundle included parsnips, beets, kale, braising greens, radishes, a head of cabbage, a head of lettuce, swiss chard, 2 fennel bulbs, snow peas and for herbs we got thyme and oregano.

There are a few things I have never eaten, nevermind used for cooking. Mind you, I’m not even close to an experienced cook. My husband, on the other hand, has done his fair share of cooking and is in the same boat. So the next step is to figure out what the heck we’re going to do with these veggies that have taken over our fridge. And how to properly store them- I really need to invest in reusable produce bags. It’s been on my list for a while, I know, shame on me.

So two of the things we had not used and/or eaten are beets and parsnips. We decided to use them for our dinner last night for the sides. I made a parsnip puree, a Tyler Florence recipe. It was really tasty and the texture was like light mashed potatoes.  There was quite a bit of heavy cream in there which didn’t hurt the taste factor. Not a low calorie option. After seeing how many calories are in the heavy cream (wow), I may look for a lighter recipe for next time.

My husband made a beet salad. The beets need to be scrubbed, coated with olive oil, wrapped in aluminum foil and roasted at 400 degrees for about an hour. In the meantime, boil the beet greens until wilted and slice some red onion. Toss the roasted beets and the onion with balsamic vinegar and serve over greens. Beets were something I had eaten but never prepared and I didn’t have a fond opinion of them. But the onion and the balsamic vinegar definitely helped to temper the strong flavor of the beets. We also tried a couple of pieces of the roasted beet with some sour cream- a surprisingly great combination but probably known to beet people. This was also a healthier preparation plus beets have vitamins A and C along with antioxidants.

The next thing we plan on making is a fennel and potato gratin- I’ll let you know how that goes. I’ll be researching some more recipes tonight.

Cirello Jewelery bracelet from cirellogallery.com

A few of us went to Ray at Night in San Diego last night. It’s an art walk in the North Park neighborhood and it’s on, you guessed it, Ray Street. Actually it spills out onto some surrounding streets and about 40 studios, retail stores and cafes  are open from 7-10pm. It’s on the second Saturday of the month. Many of the studios have food and drink, some even kegs, for a few dollars. Most of the artists from the studios are hanging out and ready for conversation. It makes for a fun Saturday night, if you’re in the area. On that note, we ate at the Linkery, which is right in the neighborhood. The food is really good- they use local organic ingredients and make their own sausages, which change daily. The mexican chicken sausage was spicy goodness.

There were a few cool places and things that I came across last night. Cirello Gallery makes jewelery that is made from recycled stainless steel. They can be bought in the studio (for a small discount) or online. I tried on quite a few of the bracelets- I love the look of the jewelery, very simple designs with a cool and modern style. They are a little on the pricey side but stainless steel anything holds up pretty well over the years. A little polish here and there should do it. I’ll be back there, when I have a job.

Icestone counter fron icestone.biz

Another really cool place we went to was Olive Branch Green Building Supply. I just started taking interior design classes, which I am loving by the way,  and this was right up my alley. All green products under one roof. I had never seen many of these materials before. One that stuck out was Nova cork flooring. They have really interesting patterns, nothing like a cork board. And it’s a sustainable, durable choice from flooring- it’s made from live trees and it does not harm them. Icestone is another sustainable product but for counter tops. It’s made from recycled glass and concrete. They have lots of color options and showrooms in different parts of the country. We plan on remodeling our kitchen soon, once again the job thing a factor, but I can’t wait to check out products like these!

Aeonium with Senecio mandraliscae (sorry for the glare)

Aeonium arboreum ‘Atropurpureum’ aka Purple Aeonium

The green center of these mostly purple plants create interest and contrast when it’s not in bloom and the bright yellow flowers add even more when in bloom.

Best Feature:  shiny purple leaves with green center, bright yellow flowers, evergreen, low maintenance, relatively low water

From :  Canary Islands

Preferable Places : Sunset Zones 15-17, 20-24;  USDA Zones 4-8, can also be grown as an indoor plant

Looks :  3 feet tall and wide

Personality :  easy going, evergreen perennial succulent, can be center of attention or planted in masses (like the picture) makes a good container plant but an show “legs”, combine with shorter plant to fill in lower space, can easily propagate with cuttings

Likes :  full sun or part shade

Issues : can get leggy- prune far below rosettes to create more branching