Merry Christmas

Jeff and I were invited to Newport Beach in Southern California for the Christmas boat parade by some dear friends.  The 108th annual parade was hosted by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, and circles Balboa and Lido Islands.  With the houses on the parade route also decorated for Christmas, this […]

Last minute wrapping?

I’m sure many of you are engaged in last minute holiday activity, as we are. For that last minute wrapping or for next year’s wrapping, check out Minted’s beautiful wrapping paper. I discovered it while I was running around Union Square over the holidays in my home town of San Francisco. They opened their first […]

Buy Seed Saver Seeds Now

Vicki and I decided to try heirloom seeds from Seed Savers this coming spring, after our inspirational meeting with Blackberry Farm’s Master Gardener, John Coykendall. We haven’t figured out all of the logistics yet, like where we’re going to get our trays, what kind of potting mix we’re going to use, where we’re going to house our […]

‘Tis the Season

Alex and I just love the holidays and we have worked for years with Grant Rector to transform our home into a magical Christmas environment that we so enjoy sharing with friends and family. We have two especially beautiful flower arrangements this year that are worth sharing and remembering for next year. The first arrangement is beautiful for it’s […]

Persimmon Recipes

The two most commonly found persimmon varieties grown in the United States are Hachiyas and Fuyus. I have a Fuyu Persimmon tree on my property in Napa. Last weekend when we drove up, I harvested the last several pounds still hanging on the tree. The persimmons have been ripe for a while, and I have […]

The Romance of Flowers

I had lunch today with Sharon and she gave me a gorgeous Christmas gift that I want to share with all of you flower enthusiasts as you shop for your holiday gifts: Veranda’s The Romance of Flowers. It is a stunning book with inspirational photos of gorgeous flower arrangements in beautiful home settings, flower objets and flowers […]

Fall in the Napa Valley

We were in Napa over the weekend and I couldn’t believe how beautiful the fall is, this year. I expect to see the changing leaves of the grape vines from green to yellow to red this time of year, but what I didn’t expect was how robust my roses are. Tamara Roses These full-blooming roses against […]

Andrea Wulf

Last month, I had the honor of attending a lecture by Andrea Wulf at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley – an event made possible by board member emeritus Ann Reynolds, with the support of the Garden Conservancy. UC Botanical Garden Andrea Wulf is a historian and writer who has written 5 award-winning books about gardening […]

Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens

Last month, Alex and I were in Vienna with friends and visited Vienna’s #1 attraction,  the Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens, located about 20 minutes outside of Vienna. This palace with its beautiful gardens is the former imperial summer palace of several generations of the Hapsburg family from the end of the 17th to early 20th century. […]

Time for Soil Amending

I don’t know if you’re like me, but it’s hard to know what to amend your vegetable bed soil with at the end of the growing season. I’m in the middle of reading ‘Teaming with Nutrients’ by Jeff Lowenfels (recommended by one of the garden managers at the French Laundry Culinary Garden) and referred to Rodale’s […]

Honey Bee Update

Having bees on my property to help pollinate my fruit trees was a goal.  I also wanted to have “on property” honey in hopes of easing my husband’s hay fever symptoms.  It has not been easy, but finally we harvested our first batch of honey. You may recall from a previous post, I originally started […]

Fresh Kale, Farro and Sausage Soup

As I mentioned in my Fall canning post, my daughter Griffin and I spent the whole day in the kitchen. The day went by very quickly and before we knew it, it was dinner time. I walked out to my garden and the only thing available for harvest was curly kale. I picked a bunch […]

Fall Canning

My daughter Griffin and I spent all day last Saturday canning fruit that we had harvested over the summer. A skill I learned from my mother, canning has turned into a Fall ritual. Friends are always amazed at how many jars we can produce in a day, but the process is fairly easy especially when […]

GC Fellows Focus

Thank you to the Garden Conservancy for your kind mention of The Blissful Gardeners this month! It means a lot to Vicki and me, as not only do we love the Garden Conservancy and its wonderful community, but we love sharing our journey with you. Vicki & I, along with fellow member Ulricke on the […]

Saving tomato seeds

Ever wonder how to save your vegetable and fruit seeds? I’ve always been curious about it. I recently wandered on to a great instructional video on YouTube, produced by a collaboration between Seed Savers Exchange and Organic Seed Alliance, that describes how to save tomato seeds with great examples. It looks like a really fun science experiment to […]