Read article here: https://wlmags.com/urban-community-gardens/

County of Los Angeles - Zev Yaroslavsky

From Museum Gardener, Seeds of Change

For some, spring is a chance to plant a few tomatoes. For Florence Nishida, it’s an opportunity to re-landscape the face of Greater L.A.

This month, for example, the 75-year-old master gardener will be checking in on some of the 20 or so South Los Angeles yards she helped turn into vegetable gardens. She’ll be sizing up a front lawn and a parkway for makeovers by Los Angeles Green Grounds, the urban gardening group she co-founded.

Read rest of article here.

4/4/2013

Gardening Episode 1: Growing Herbs

November 12, 2020

There's more to eat than seeds from some of those tall yellow sunflowers you may have seen at LA green Grounds over the summer.

After the flowers bloom, when the stem is dry and looks ready for the compost pile, a gentle pull will yield a bunch of sunchokes -- a delicious vegetable rarely seen even at farmers' markets.

Obviously a root vegetable, sunchokes also are called Jerusalem artichokes and earth apples. They are native to central North America and were widely grown for food before the arrival of Europeans.

Sunchokes are distantly related to artichokes. But it's distant, and there's no connection to the city of Jerusalem. But Los Angeles has a role in the sunchoke name: Frieda Caplan, an L.A. produce wholesaler, invented it in the 1960s when she was trying to revive the plant's appeal.

Two reasons come to mind when wondering why sunchokes are not more popular. They're rather ugly and misshapen. And they are rather expert at producing gas.

But they are so delicious, with a delicate, sweet flavor a little reminiscent of potatoes. And they could not be easier to cook.

Kabocha is a delicious, easy to cook winter squash. While roasting* some last night, I asked LAGG Founder Florence Nishida if I could save the seeds for planting. I thought I'd share her response with all our LA Green Ground followers!

"Yes! But not now.  It's a summer crop, so you'll plant the seeds in April or May. They will grow for about 3 months before you can harvest.  Usually it's harvested at the end of summer - it needs plenty of sunshine.

"Wash off the fibers and pulpy stuff, then dry the seeds on a clean plate or pie pan.  Make sure it's really dry before you store them - in a moisture-proof container like a glass jar with lid.  Label and date.

"You'll have a lot of extra seeds - you only need about 12 or 15 seeds - you'll plant a hill with 3 seeds in each.  Or you can plant in rows, with 3 seeds planted about 3 feet away from the next group of seeds," shared Florence.

LAGG Founder and Master Gardener Florence Nishida Gives Talk on Growing Asian Vegetables in Los Angeles

Webinar sponsored by Southern California Horticulture Society
October 9, 2020

Florence presented a program on growing Asian vegetables in Los Angeles. She will show us how gardeners and lovers of good food can expand their palette of home-grown vegetables beyond “peas and carrots” by growing Asian vegetables, which have a wide range of unusual shapes, textures, scents, and colors.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW ON YOUTUBE.

Pui Shak

(mamata pramnik)

INGREDIENTS

300 gm (10.5 oz) Malabar spinach chopped
2 T. green chili paste
1 tsp. Nigella seeds
½ tsp. turmeric powder
To taste salt and sugar
As needed oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil and brown nigella seeds and green chilies.
2. Add chopped Malabar spinach and saute, adding salt and turmeric powder and cover till it is soft (no longer than 3 min.)
3. As it gets soft, add sugar and mix well
4. Serve.

Chinese Stir-Fried Malabar Spinach

(tsuru murasaki)

INGREDIENTS

14 stems Malabar spinach
175 gm (ca. 6 oz) Maitake mushrooms
150 gm (5.29 oz) thinly sliced beef
1 large garlic clove
2 T. sesame oil
100 ml (0.42 cups) water
50 ml (0.21 cups) cooking sake
1 T. chicken soup stock granules
1 T. oyster sauce
½ tsp. sugar
1 T. potato starch with 3 T. water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mince the garlic, shred the mushrooms, cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Combine.
2. Separate the leaves from the stems of the Malabar spinach.
3. Diagonally slice the stems.
4. Put sesame oil and garlic in frying pan, heat at med high until aroma has released. Add the meat. When the meat is halfway cooked, add the mushrooms and spinach stems, saute.
5. Once the sautéed ingredients have cooked through, add the leaves, saute until tender (about 2 min.) then pour the seasonings in a circular motion and toss.
6. Push the sautéed ingredients to the side of the pan, add the potato starch dissolved in water, briskly mixing until the sauce thickens, even coating the ingredients, then serve.
The method and seasonings can be used with different vegetables, e.g. cauliflower, yard long beans.

(Sabitri pramanik, Bengal)

INGREDIENTS:

500 grams (1 lb) Malabar spinach
300 grams (10.5 oz.) prawn
1 onion chopped
4-5 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp. red chili powder
½ tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. five spices
2-3 green chilies chopped
To taste – salt and sugar
Oil as needed.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil and lightly brown five spices and green chilies.
2. Add prawns and lightly fry, adding onions and garlic.
3. Add chopped Malabar spinach leaves and stems.
4. Saute well, adding salt and turmeric powder.
5. Cover it till it becomes salt (less than 5 min.)
6. Add red chili powder, stir well.
7. Add sugar, mix well.
8. Serve the dish with rice.

Malabar Spinach Stir Fry 
(Trisha pramanik, Bengal)

INGREDIENTS:

2 big bowls of Malabar spinach chopped
1 onion chopped
2-3 garlic chopped
4-5 green chilies chopped (or less)
1 tsp 5 spices
½ tsp turmeric powder
Oil as needed
Salt and sugar to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil and lightly brown 5 spices and green chilies.
2. Add garlic (crushed or chopped) and saute well, adding onion.
3. Add chopped vegetables and saute well, adding salt and turmeric powder.
4. Add spinach and saute well.
5. Cover and let it cook well. (I would skip this step. Longer cooking makes the spinach slimy).
6. Add sugar, stir, turn off heat.

L.A. Green Grounds is a grassroots organization of community volunteers dedicated to working with residents of south Los Angeles, Ca.   With your support we're able to transform lawns and parkways into California native and edible landscapes.  To date, LAGG has installed over 20 edible gardens.  Good for the people! Good for the community!  Good for the environment!  

Many of our supporters who are unable to physically participate in our garden projects, show their support in other creative ways. Help sustain this "growing" movement.   Monetary support are appreciated and are tax deductible. 

LAGG is a 501 (c) 3 under fiscal sponsor, Los Angeles Community Garden Council www.lagardencouncil.org.   

Many thanks for your financial support!

LAGG.

Something to look forward to...

Earth Day 2016 is Friday, April 22. 112 days from today.  

What are you planning to do?

JOIN LAGG's Earth Day celebration SATURDAY, APRIL 23.