April Showers Bring May Flowers by hilloah

I keep saying this to people who are tired of the rain. We all love flowers and in May the roses should start to bloom as well as the rhododendrons. And we might still have iris and perhaps the daffodils.  Our dahlias are growing so soon we will have those as well. Yippee!

Then the fruits and veggies will start. Our peach, cherry, apple, and fig trees are all starting to blossom. Everytime we see a bee, whether one of our mason bees or honeybees,  near the trees, Archie goes up to them and points out the other blossoms and gives them directions to the other flowers to pollinate. How cute is that? Next will come the squash, corn, pepper, cucumber and tomato plants. Archie will be a busy man!

 Have any of you gone to Living Light’s salad bar lately? Man, it’s great! It starts with fresh mixed lettuce, then romaine, shredded carrots, shredded beets, cucumbers, shredded red cabbage, celery, cherry tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts. And then each day has different selections: cooked and sprouted black or garbanzo beans, steamed rice, sauerkraut, or something extra like a mixed marinated veggie salad. Three or four dressings are available: Dijon Mustard dressing, Ranch, Liquid Gold, or Tomato Basil. I truly gorge on Living Light’s salad bar!

Compost happens! by hilloah

One of the raw recipes from Living Light that Archie and I enjoy is the Green Giant.  We grow our own kale, spinach and romaine lettuce. This year we will also try to grow our own celery. We did last year, but it was the wrong kind and didn’t taste good. (Oh well, the compost liked it.)  Sometimes we add ginger root but we rarely add lemon as I am not a fan of a lemony taste. Come into our cafe on St. Patrick’s day, and whether you like lemon in your juice or not, you may be able to get a great deal on a Green Giant - we’re having all kinds of specials on green stuff that day!

 Archie has most of the seedlings for our garden in small pots in the greenhouse right now. Their names are on popsicle sticks. Names like delicata squash, space tomatoes (the seeds actually went into space), a bumpy winter squash called Galeux d’ Eysines (a french heirloom that gets bumps that look like warts – the more bumps, the higher the sugar content!). My girlfriend hates the look of this squash, but Archie and I like it. Archie told Sandi that he will scrape off the bumps to make it look more appealing to her! What do you think? Do you like the bumps or not?

In addition to the Mason Bees, this year we will be introducing praying mantises and ladybugs to our garden. We love sharing our property with other life forms!

To Add or Take Away, that is the Question – by hilloah

Weekends are so precious! Sometimes they are full of chores at home, events with friends,  and then getting ready for the work week. This last weekend I had nothing planned, which felt great on the Friday before.  So how did I fill in the time?

On Saturday Archie and I had the bottle of champagne he bought me for Valentine’s Day. A few weeks ago I read an article in AARP about a woman who got in shape “accidently” by walking on her lunch hour. So I started to briskly walk for 20 minutes a day Monday and Friday and enjoyed it.

That started me to thinking about a book I had heard about a few years ago. This book was about getting into shape mentally, physically, and if you wished, spiritually. It advocated that you add or take away one thing a week to help you towards your goal. Walking is what I’ve added so far. Stay tuned next week for the take away!

Meanwhile, back at work, The first Gourmet Raw Food Chef Certification is over and now we are heading for the Science of Raw Food Nutrition series. I have taken Level I and was very impressed by Rick and Karin Dina the instructors of the series. In that class you learn where to get your proteins, calcium, vitamin B12, those essential amino acids, and so much more. Too many people become vegetarians, vegans, or raw foodists without a thought about a balance of foods to serve our needs. Did you know that a head of romaine lettuce has 44% of your daily requirements? Not only that but it is a complete protein – it has the amino acids that are so important for our health  ! Awesome!

Volunteering Can Be Fun by hilloah

The Fort Bragg Food Bank means much more to our city than just giving food to those who are having an economic hard time. They also accept clothes to give to participants. The Cheshire Book Store aligns with the Food Bank and encourages their patrons to buy books and then  gives them to the Food Bank to distribute to the children in line.

Some of our neighbors donate their extra fruits and veggies to the Food Bank, and some to the Senior Citizens Center. The great thing about Fort Bragg, California is the volunteers: there are so many organizations. It will be hard for me, once I retire, to decide for which program I will volunteer. Will it be hospice, the hospital, the Food Bank, Senior Citizens Center, the dog park, Mendocino Coast  Botanical Gardens or other organizations that need help? I am looking forward to making some decisions in a few years!

Living Light often times goes to Big Brothers and Sisters and gives food demonstrations to the children as well as the 4H Club, Harvest (our local supermarket), and the Mendocino Coast District Hospital. We have also given the hospital staff tuition specials for our culinary courses. We particpated in the Salmon Restoration Association Barbecue one year. We got a few dirty looks at first as people thought we were trying to convert them – as if! I told them that we were offering vegan raw salmon cakes as an alternative to over fishing the ocean. I then offered  a sample and they were surprised that it tasted so good! I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was fun to watch people change their minds in a positive way. The children kept coming back for seconds and more! Yes, it was a good day.

Harvest by hilloah

This weekend we harvested as many veggies as possible: pumpkins, green and yellow zucchinis, tomatoes, red bell peppers, jalapeños, and our dahlias. We still have lots of winter squash growing, garlic, green onions, chard, Red Russian Kale, lettuce, and cabbage. Though the pretty green worms got to the cabbages first, so we have decided to let them have a feast!

 This year’s garden was not as good as we had hoped, due mostly to the extra rain we had. Usually the rain ends by mid April; this year it was the end of June. Even our greenhouse veggies did not do as well. That is all right, however, as each year brings different challenges and we learn from them.

Archie in the Greenhouse

 Winter is a great time to dream about next year’s garden. We get out catalogs; look over the seeds we have left over; even look at recipes to see if we should grow certain kinds of veggies: will we really use that much chard? I love the dreaming part, but by February we start the seedlings and by March are ready to plant! 

Another thing I am looking forward to is Pastry Arts – Unbaked! 2. This is a recipe development class and it will be so much fun to see what the students create. One year a student in RawFusion Spa Cuisine created a banana slug: it was beautiful, but not enticing to eat! Pastry Arts will be different!

Banana Slug

Brave New World and Victory Gardens by hilloah

If you read my blog last week, you heard about my Dad, and his journey in America. Today, as part of our Day of the Dead observance honoring our ancestors, I’ll tell you a little about my mother. She was born Virginia Ruth Rowell, and when she was twenty-five (in 1938) she discovered a new religion called the Science of Characteristics that made sense to her (and at the time to my father as well). Everyone in the family changed their names in accordance with the new religion; I am the only one who was born with a “true” name. Her new name became Helen HZ Schuler. I was born Hilloah Heigh Pheigh in 1948.

She really was an amazing woman and ahead of her time. One of the benefits of her religion was that everyone was health conscious (they were the brave new world after all). We were vegetarians and did not eat head lettuce. It was not until I was 21 that I realized that not eating head lettuce, and eating leaf lettuce instead was beneficial to my health and had nothing to do with religion!

During World War II, my mother Helen wrote a column about Victory Gardens and instructed people on how to black out their windows so that enemy planes would not be able to see the lights at night and therefore drop bombs.  As you know, Archie and I have a garden of our own. Everything we grow is organic. We love our fresh fruits and vegetables. Here at Living Light, we only use organic produce, as I always inform my potential students. It makes such a difference to the individual and the planet to shop locally, eat organic and grow your own vegetables if you’re able. It’s still a victory!

I was born after the war and my mother went to work for the State of California. When I was two she and my father divorced, and neither ever remarried. My romantic soul wonders what their hearts are up to now.

My Mom and Dad

Bird House, Raw Veggies, Flowers and the Chef Showcase – by hilloah

Archie's Birdhouse

Archie’s birdhouse sold for almost $200.00 this past weekend at the Mendocino Botanical Gardens . They served wine, fresh veggies and other delicious snack foods. Another birdhouse was bought out right – no bidding – for $1,000.00. Wonderful!

$1000 birdhouse

I went up to the woman who bought it and congratulated her not only on her good taste, but also on being so generous to the gardens. She smiled and was pleased. Later I found out that her husband was the artist. I thought of purchasing Archie’s as I know the grandchildren would love it, but Archie frowned. Oh well, he can always make another for the children!

I talked about the raw veggies and flowers from our garden last week and this week I have the pictures.

Basket of Dahlias

Lettuce Garden with SpinachGladiolas

Gladiolas

Yes, Fort Bragg can produce (pardon the pun) beauty.

If you can not make the Chef Showcase this coming weekend, be sure to sign up for the Live Streaming of our event. Some people are doing both: that way they can see and taste the food in person, and then watch the video for two months afterwards to fine tune their own chef abilities with that of the Showcase chefs.

Raw Veggies, Wine and a Romance by hilloah

Our garden is truly taking off. Saturday Archie and I had a wrap for lunch. I learned about wraps during FUNdamentals: take lettuce and whatever you have in the kitchen and wrap the lettuce around it for a sandwich. I took a leaf of kale, spinach, red romaine, green romaine, red leaf lettuce, and kale again and layered it with leftovers in the refrigerator. I also put mini peppers (not from our garden) on the plate and a glass each of our cool well water. Heaven!

 On Sunday we went wine tasting at Esterlina’s where they also provided a barbeque for the club members. The best salad was blueberries, strawberries and raspberries without a sauce of any kind. The shish kabobs were great with green and yellow squash, peppers and my favorite: red onions. The onions were so sweet!

Humpback whale breach,

 We went to a couple of other wineries afterward. I wanted to go to Handley’s Winery as they had said our favorite white wine, Brightliner, would be offered this August. In September of 2001 Archie proposed to me with that wine in one of the glens on our property.  We’ve always celebrated our anniversary with that wine. Three years ago they discontinued the wine. My friend Sandi – who also loves Brightliner – always complains about the lack of our favorite wine during the Whale Watch Festival. Last March we complained again and the woman – who recognized us of course – was so happy to tell us that it would be available again this August. Hooray! They had it! We bought ½ a case of it to have it on hand. Of course we gave a bottle to Sandi as well.

Speaking of celebrations, the Chef Showcase - Hot Chefs, Cool Kitchen - is next week! It’s sure to be a real celebration of raw culinary arts. There’s also a non- hosted dinner offered to our studio audience, presenters, etc., by Living Light and the Stanford Inn. The dinner will be at the Stanford’s Ravens’ Restaurant - recently featured in O Magazine. The menu looks delicious; featuring fresh, local produce it’s a vegan’s dream come true. And the atmosphere at Ravens’ is quite romantic. If you’re coming to the Chef Showcase, you really shouldn’t miss this special dinner.

Welcome to Hilloah’s Organic Garden

Archie and Hilloah enjoying a glass of wine in front of their home.

Hello,

My name is Hilloah Tanner, and I’m an Enrollment Specialist at Living Light Culinary Arts Institute. I have one of the most exciting jobs of all: I talk with people all over the world, learn their stories, and help them to come to our school in Fort Bragg as students or Kitchen Angels.

One of my favorite activities outside of school is organic gardening. My husband Archie and I have many fenced gardens. I emphasize many because on our almost six acres of land there are a lot of deer who delight in “nibbling” on our fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other “goodies”  meant  just for them (as they see it).

We have a 1,000 sq. ft. garden for corn, squash, cucumbers, and dahlias; another for our olleberries, raspberries, and loganberries; one for our lettuce, spinach, celery, and basil; one is a holding garden full of potted trees and bushes; and the last is in front of our cabin around a pond. It is full of roses, bush peas, radishes, foxgloves, and much more. The Mendocino Coast is great place to grow a garden, and we are inspired because as members of  the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens we not only enjoy the gardens year round, we are also invited to their great plant sales. We’re also lucky  to have a great “grass roots” organization here, Noyo Food Forest. They teach members of our community, including  the children in our local schools, how to grow and enjoy organic gardens. I love learning new ways to use the produce of my gardens at Living Light, and sharing recipes with like minded people. We all share fruits,  vegetables, and plants  from our gardens. This is  my first post, and I’ll be writing a new post every Tuesday.

Talk with you next week!