A Child's Garden

My six year old, Tristan, has his own garden.  The focal point of which is a still little plastic playhouse that he has outgrown, and a winding gravel path that we installed two years ago.  His garden has seen lots of dill, mouse melons and those obnoxious striped petunias.  He's had baby lettuce and baby beets and baby carrots and tiny ears of strawberry popcorn.  This year, I'm hoping we can orchestrate a more productive edible landscape, and possibly forgo the obnoxious petunias altogether.  To this end, I've recently purchased Seed Savers' Children's Seed Collection for him.

Seed Saver's 2013 Children's Seed Collection

Included in the collection are seeds for Taiyo Sunflower, Tom Thumb Popcorn, Rattlesnake Snap Bean and Grandpa Admire's Butterhead Lettuce as well as a little booklet telling the story of each heirloom, and information on how to save the seeds from each individual variety.

I've also extracted from my crowded bookshelves a few books to inspire new garden ideas, namely:

"A Child's Garden - Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents" by Molly Dannenmaier (hardcover now out of print)

This is a huge, gorgeous book with tremendously beautiful photographs.  The chapters focus mainly on landscape design and would be best suited to those with LARGE areas to devote to a child's garden. 

There is also a more recently published paperback version available.

"Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots" by Sharon Lovejoy

An adorable book, with pages and pages of whimsically illustrated ideas for parents and kids.  There is A LOT of good information presented in a fun, lighthearted narrative, with easy-to-follow instructions for everything from medicinal gardens to TUB O' SPUDS!  You'll find something appropriate for any size garden space, including containers. 

 "Growing Up Green - Parents and Children Gardening Together" by Alice Skelsey & Gloria Huckaby

This book was published in 1973 and is now out of print, though several used copies are available at Amazon.  As a homeschool mom, this is my favorite -- it covers keeping a naturalist's notebook, arranging flowers using Feng Shui, spore and seed prints, terrariums, bonsai and more.  It includes biographies of various scientists, like Charles Darwin, George Washington Carver, Rachel Carson, etc.  And of course provides information about seed starting, harvesting and preservation.  And more!!  Phew!  Illustrated using black and white photographs (of lots of shirtless dudes) and simple line drawings.  Highly recommended!


A simple search yields dozens more books on the subject of gardening with children, but the above three cover such a broad swath of ideas, instruction, techniques and history that I can't imagine needing more.  At least not until our next trip to the bookstore. 

2012 travels continued.. Tim Burton at Disneyland and not at Annie's Annuals

We rented a car and drove down to Disneyland.  We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel, from which you can exit right into Downtown Disney and California Adventure.  Our stay took place just before Tim Burton's Frankenweenie was released and there was an exclusive sneak peek going on at California Adventure.  Being the Tim Burton fans that we are, we did that first thing and it was AMAZING!!!!!

Sure is sunny.

The eight minute preview was presented in the Muppet Vision 3D theatre, and was billed as being "4D"...  AND IT TOTALLY WAS!!!  The preview included simulations similar to the Soarin' Over California ride -- when it rained during the preview, it rained on us.  Fog filled the room, lightning flashed, thunder shook our seats, etc.  Maybe I'm just a simpleton from Iowa and this sort of thing is not such a big deal to the big city plebs, but as far as I'm concerned, it was SO COOL!!!

In addition to the movie preview, the Animation Building at California Adventure was hosting "The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition", which included original sketches, props and sets used in the creation of the stop-motion animation film.  Some of the sets had been made interactive for the exhibit, which Tristan found really interesting.

Switches activated various lights and effects!

Tristan wishing I'd stop taking pictures already.

The detail in these sets was astounding.  I found the exhibit to be really profound in helping to illustrate just how much time, effort and imagination goes into a stop-motion production.  Behold the myriad miniscule minutia:

And while we are on the subject of Tim Burton, I will mention that we chose this specific time to visit Disneyland not only for the Frankenweenie business, but for their Halloween Time festivities.  Halloween at Disneyland involves a lot of themes from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which happens to be one of our favorite films.  At the top of the list of Nightmare-related attractions was the opportunity to meet Jack Skellington!  And meet him we did.  After about two hours of waiting in line.

Happy Halloween!

I am glossing over many, many other interesting aspects of our stay at Disneyland, only because I am so much more interested in sharing my photos of Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA.

This was our second trip to Annie's.  The first time, I had the privilege of seeing Amy Stewart speak about her then-new book, Wicked Plants.  Annie had several of the wicked plants described in Amy's book for sale and planted on the premises, which was fantastic.  Shortly thereafter the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park hosted the premier exhibit of Wicked Plants, which we unfortunately missed, although our relatively local Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, NE hosted a similar exhibit last year, which was incredible.

As last time, we were escorted to Annie's by our pal Mike.

That's Mike on the right.

Annie's is just about the best nursery ever.  Do you need proof?  Here is your proof:

 

 

I just can't get enough of those little rusty goats.

Not only is Annie's nursery fabulous, but you can have Annie's plants shipped right to your door if you don't happen to live near beautiful Richmond, California.  I have placed at least a few orders from Annie's and the plants arrived, miraculously, even in the heat of July in Iowa, looking absolutely just as gorgeous as they do in the open air of their nursery.  They really did!!  The shipping expense is exorbitant, but the selection and quality of the plants is worth it. 

Last year's travels as practice posts continued... At the San Francisco Ferry Building!

So no sooner than we had arrived in San Francisco, we left!!

On a ferry.

Our destination:  Sausalito.  Even though I had previously lived in the bay area for five years, I had never taken the ferry.  And if I'd been to Sausalito, I'd forgotten.  So I decided that we'd take the ferry to Sausalito, which is what a lot of tourists decided to do that day, too.  Which might explain why I'd never done it when I lived there. 

We had a lot of fun in Sausalito, but the only fun we photographed was this:

Tristan checking out the fountain in Vina del Mar Park

After we'd had our fill of fun at the park, we headed over to FISH, a restaurant specializing in sustainably caught local seafood.  It's right on the harbor, which made for some nice boat watching (not something we indulge in often).  The food was incredible, well worth the trip (and the tourists).

After more "fun", including a ride on city bus and use of a public bathroom, we headed back toward San Francisco, just in time to see the fog rolling into Sausalito.

Sausalito

During the ferry ride back to the city, we passed by Alcatraz (yet another bay area institution that I have never visited).

Alcatraz

Upon our return to the Ferry Building in SF, I proceeded to spend way too much money in the fantastic shops and eateries there.  By all reasonable expectations, the place should be a tourist trap, but it is just phenomenal.  Honestly.  How can you not love so many great things all neatly tucked together in one historic building?!  Examples of the Ferry Building's greatness:

• Frog Hollow Cafe -- Little outreach post of the awesome Frog Hollow Farm.  Here you can purchase fresh organic produce as well as jams and jellies and homemade pastries featuring Frog Hollow's own fruit.  The Meyer Lemon Marmalade is absolutely amazing.  Everything here is amazing.  Expensive, but amazing.
• Sur La Table -- Sort of a marriage between Williams Sonoma and Pier 1, just aisles and aisles of miscellaneous kitchen and dining accoutrement, from kitsch to copper.  They sell Le Creuset and offer free shipping to your home for purchases over $100.  And if you're out of state, you don't have to pay sales tax! 
• Kingdom of Herbs -- An unusual selection of organically grown herbs, scented geraniums, orchids and succulents, as well as handmade pottery, books and [activate lisp] accessories.  I always seem to walk away with a scarf or bag or some socks, and my son could spend all day trying on the hats. 
• Miette -- A girly little pastry shop adorned with pinks and pastels and floral décoratifs.  They make the best éclairs.  And I love their little rose geranium macaron (I am just crazy about anything having to do with scented geraniums, to be honest).  Everything is made in Oakland and they use local and organic ingredients.  In addition to their own cakes and cookies and such, they have a neat selection of cute candies and chocolates.  And sometimes they even have ice cream!  Although when I am there they only have signs that say "sorry, we're out of ice cream!".
• Far West Fungi -- Huge selection of mushrooms, both foraged and organically cultivated, fresh and dried.  What more can I say?  How often do you see a huge selection of mushrooms?  Ones that actually have flavor, I mean.  They have other hard-to-find foodstuffs, too. 
• The Gardener, Cowgirl Creamery, and Acme Bread are fantastic, too.  And there are shops and cafes that I haven't even been into because they are so often congested with patrons...  

The Ferry Building is such an amazing example of why old buildings should be renovated and repurposed in a way that maintains the integrity of their original design and function rather than demolished.  It is worth a visit for the sake of history and architecture alone. 

First post in which I try to.. post.

So here we go.

My son, Tristan, and I did some traveling last year (2012).  

That's us, on a ferry.  It was windy.

Our travel destination for two of our most significant trips was California.  Specifically the San Francisco bay area and DISNEYLAND.

Did I mention that we live in Iowa?  We do.  And our travel to California begins in our car as we drive from our sleepy hamlet in northwest Iowa to the seething metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska.  There, we whet our appetites for exciting bay area foodstuffs at The Grey Plume.  The Grey Plume is not something that anyone would expect to exist in Omaha.  Or the Midwest.  The Grey Plume is unique, probably even among its hip, locavore peers on either coast.  I have had some of the most unusual and delicious food there, like a chamomile-oatmeal crème brulèe.  Which initially sounded like it could be just awful.  Why would you muck up something creamy and wonderful like crème brulèe with oatmeal!!?  Maybe it doesn't sound awful to most people, but I just hate the idea of chewy whole grains in my dessert.  Is it ironic that when I do eat oatmeal it's for breakfast, slow-cooked in whole milk and then drowned in butter, cream and honey?  Hmm.  Anyway, back to The Grey Plume.. the chamomile crème brulèe was amazing.  Everything about it was unexpected, like the fact that it was served in this huge, hand thrown clay bowl and included all manner of edible accoutrement that managed to bridge the gap between the delicate floral creaminess of the custard and the burnt, slice-the-roof-of-your-mouth-open character of the sugar.  I wish I had a photo.  Or could remember more details.  Already I am a bad blogger.  But you can see lots of gorgeous photos and learn more about The Grey Plume here.  The restaurant and its very cute owner/chef, Clayton Chapman, won accolades from Omaha Magazine in their recent "Best of Omaha" issue.  I would also like to add that the lovely hostess at The Grey Plume hands you cookies as you exit.  Which is the best thing ever if you're a six year old boy.  Or so I've been told.

Er.. where was I going with this?  California.  We take the train there!  As in AMTRAK!  The California Zephyr runs from Chicago to Emeryville, CA.  Emeryville is nestled betwixt Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco Bay, and is home to Pixar animation studios and the National Holistic Institute (of which I am an alumnus).  I have lots of photos from our train trip, although unfortunately most of them look like this:

Colorado.  I swear.

Our first California excursion took place in September/October, and the aspen were unbelievably beautiful as we rode through Colorado and Utah.  Unfortunately a cheap camera, filthy train windows and unreasonably high speeds conspired against us in documenting said beauty.

We really did try, though!  Some efforts produced better results than others.  If I had any idea how to use modern photo editing software I could probably make these look okay...

Suffice to say that our time spent on the train was wonderful.  The California Zephyr is cheap and efficient and does not involve the Transportation Security Administration.  It's also the best excuse ever to do nothing besides sit and read/sleep/look out the window for two days.

We did things once we were in California.  I have pictures to prove it.  I will post some of those pictures after I post this.. post.  I'm not privy to the blogger jargon, I think.  I just want to be like Nancy Ondra, and it seems I have a long way to go.