Growing Beans, Squash & Pumpkins in Southern California

Here are some updated pics of the bush bean, squash and pumpkin seeds that we planted on August 11th. These pictures were taken a couple of days ago and reflect the growth of our seeds at day 50. They still have a long way to go, as you can see.

Bush Beans. These beans are supposed to be yellow, so we are waiting for them to change color a bit before harvesting them. The seed packet says that they will be ready to harvest in 60 days, so we're almost there.



Squash. The seed packet says 53 days to harvest. We don't even have gourds growing yet to harvest at 50 days, so we'll wait patiently and see what happens.



Baby Mini Jack Pumpkins. We have some big, beautiful flowers that will be pumpkins some day. The seed packet said 90 days to harvest, so we hope to have some pumpkins in November.

Summer Isn't Over Yet

Summer isn't over yet! There are still SO MANY days left until Autumn Equinox, when summer is officially over and Fall officially begins. This year Autumn Equinox is on September 22, that means that we have 57 days left. That's nearly two whole months! Here are some things that we have done in Southern California this summer that might be of interest to those of you who want to live it up for 57 more days!

Santa Monica Pier



Will Rogers State Beach, Los Angeles



Temescal Canyon, Pacific Palisades



Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica



Newport Bay, Newport Beach



San Diego Zoo



Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego



Las Flores Creek Park, Malibu



Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles



Gordon Biersch Brewery, Burbank



So ignore all of the back to school propaganda and go out and live it up for 57 more days! That is what we are going to do.

Our Edible Garden

By growing an edible garden, Tennessee and California are learning how to be sustainable in a consumer-based society. My hope is to one day have a garden large enough that will yield fruits and vegetables to share with the poor and disadvantaged. Right now, we only have enough to share with the birds and squirrels...they love us for it though.

Tomatoes (picked off the vine this morning by California)



Grapes (Cabernet)



Blueberries (pic taken in the Spring...notice the hummingbird)



Everything in our garden is 100% organic. Edible gardens lower the carbon footprint of food and provides an interconnectedness within the community by uniting family, friends and neighbors around a common cause. Be a part of a common cause! Grow an edible garden in your yard, on your deck/patio/balcony.

El Nino is Baaaack

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), El Nino is back and ready to change things up a bit across the United States. Although El Ninos are usually associated with chaotic weather patterns, the truth is that there are pros and cons to El Ninos.

PROS

Much needed rain is brought to arid regions of the Southwest which is has been going through a drought for years. This drought has caused a water shortage across the Southwest and Southern California.

The likelihood of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean decreases, which means that the United States will most likely experience a "light" hurricane season.

More rain in Southern California this Winter, which means I will finally have a reason to buy super cute raincoats, boots and umbrellas for the kids...and they will have puddles to jump in! I have my eye on this raincoat for California (see below).



CONS

Southern and Central California may have more fierce storms during the Winter months, bringing high winds and heavy rain.

Flooding in the Midwest portion of the United States

More tornados throughout the Southern United States and Southern portions of the Midwest.

Here are some links to learn more about El Nino:

El Nino to Return

NOAA

El Nino for Kids

Santa Ana Winds Blow in Again

Southern California is experiencing Santa Ana Winds again. For the fourth straight day, it has been warm ad windy here in the Southland. Click HERE to learn more about Santa Ana Winds and to see a satellite image of these winds. We decided to take advantage of the hot, dry weather and go two miles west from our house to the beach.

Here are pics of the two mile drive:




It is usually windy at the beach but the beach isn't usually the epicenter of a sandstorm. Look closely at the pic below. You can see the sand pelting me as I sit in the sun. Ouch!



After two or three bouts of stinging sand upon the face and body, we decided to create a shelter for California and Tennessee as seen below:



Tennesse chose to stay down by the shore where there was less sand to be blown around...he took a few dips in the icy Pacific Ocean. Yes the water is cold here.



Here he is with Daddio:



California decided to take matters into his own hands:



...and L.A. Mama decided to work on her non-existant tan ;)



Here is the forecast for the rest of the week:

Today: Sunny and windy. High 79F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes.

Tonight: Clear with gusty winds. Low 51F. Winds NE at 25 to 35 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes.

Tomorrow: Sunny skies. Gusty winds in the morning. High 77F. NNE winds at 20 to 30 mph, diminishing to 5 to 10 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes.

Tomorrow night: Clear. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.

Wednesday: Windy with sunshine. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

Thursday: Windy with sunshine. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

Friday: Mainly sunny and windy. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

So it looks like the Santa Anas are sticking around longer than usual. Remember that the liklihood of wildfires increases dramatically during these conditions...

Great Southern California ShakeOut!

I was recently contacted by a representative of the Great Southern California ShakeOut campaign in an effort to inform the readers of Raising California of the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history. This drill will take place on November 13th, 2008...in TWO days!

To get you started and ready for the ShakeOut on 11/13...

View a real-time simulation of a 7.8 magnitude quake in Southern Calilfornia HERE.

You should also know the following information regarding the ShakeOut:

At 10:00am on November 13, millions of Californians will “drop, cover and hold on” at the same exact time – in schools, businesses, community centers, etc.

It’s all part of making sure Southern Californians are prepared when for disasters and know exactly what to do when the “Big One” hits.

Already 4 Million teachers, families, parents, business owners – you name it – have signed up. Over 5 million are expected to sign up. If you would like to sign up; go HERE.

Go HERE for an interactive site that provides clear and simple instructions for what to do during an earthquake.

Come back to Raising California on 11/13 to watch a webcam demonstration of how L.A. Mama, Tennessee and California participate in the Great Southern California Shakeout!

Pumpkin Picking in Southern California

We went pumpkin picking at Underwood Family Farms today. It is located at 3370 Sunset Valley Road Moorpark,CA 93021
(805) 529-3690. They are smack dab in the middle of their 11th Annual Harvest Festival. If you live in the Los Angeles area, this is worth the drive as you can see below.



When we arrived at Underwood Family Farms, we were greeted with friendly faces and good old fashioned common courtesy. Underwood Family Farms is totally sustainable and uses no pesticides on their produce. They supply produce to 12 farmer's markets in the L.A. area.



Kids love searching for that perfect pumpkin! Here is a pic of Tennessee and California happily wondering through a real pumpkin patch(unlike the one's you see up on every corner in urban L.A.).



Posing with Mama.



Posing with Daddio.



Here is a sunflower forest!



This is the wagon we rode in to tour the farm. The horses names were Mark and Spencer. We think Mark is part donkey. He didn't pull his weight and Spencer had to do most of the work. During the tour, we saw fields on lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, corn and thickets of nectarine, avocado and apricot trees. We saw the fields being primed to plant strawberries for harvest next Spring. We also saw the most darling baby crows.



There were several vendors there. We found a man who made wooden toys with the utmost attention to detail. California loves wooden toys and immediately fell in love with the wooden train below. We also bought a wooden caterpillar that holds a package of 24 crayons. This man was also kind enough to supply the crayons! These toys are true treasures!



We stopped by the market at the farm on the way out and bought farm fresh corn! I immediately cooked the corn and served it to the family. Tennessee said "It is so cool to eat corn that wasn't bought at the store...and it tastes so much better!"



Here is a pic of our bag of goodies! We also brought home three large pumpkins that are outside. We will be making something yummy soon with the sugar pie pumpkins. Stay tuned and Happy Harvest to you all!



Go HERE to find a Southern California pumpkin patch near you!

Earthquakes. They're what's for lunch.

I was just going about my business, making a salad (organic romaine lettuce, condo grown organic tomatoes, organic red onions from YUMMY.COM and organic Avocados...with low fat Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing)...I had just told Tennessee to take his library books upstairs. California was climbing up the outside of the banister/railing(as usual)...see pic below:



Tennessee reached the landing at the top of the staircase and dropped his load of books then suddenly the condo started shaking...

I said "Did you do that?" then with more intensity, "Are you doing that???"

He said "What? NO! That isn't because of my books."

I thought the shaking had stopped and it was just construction or something but then it started again. It kept going and going and going. The staircase was shaking and rattling. I could hear metal and parts of the condo rattling. I quickly noticed that the staircase was only anchored in two places and envisioned the heavy glass block wall crumbling down and said "It's an earthquake." with unmistakable urgency. I told Tennessee to get down right now...grabbed California off the ledge and waited for the shaking to stop.

I looked at the clock. It was 11:42am. The shaking lasted for about 15 - 20 seconds. Maybe more. We immediately looked on the USGS Earthquake website and found out that we had just experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake (it was later downgraded to a 5.4). We noticed the chandelier swaying again at 11:48. We later found out that was an aftershock measuring at 3.8.

We had at least 30 aftershocks...but we only felt two.

To be honest, I wasn't that surprised. Sure it caught me off guard and I did freak out a little, but I have been expecting this for a while. After all, we live in EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY and WE PREPARE for things like this; right?

The cell phones weren't working but the landlines were.

Later in the day, we had a blackout...we still haven't discovered what caused this as it happened hours after the earthquake.

Click HERE for disaster preparedness information (if you didn't click on WE PREPARE above).

Tell us your earthquake story. What are you going to do to prepare for the next one?

Tornadoes Touchdown in Southern California

First of all, I feel like I need to explain that the only time it usually rains in Southern California is in the winter...between the months of November and February. We hardly ever get thunderstorms but it does happen occasionally. Well today...and remember it is almost JUNE, we had tornadoes, hail, heavy rain, flooding and mudslides. I witnessed my day go from sunny to dark, followed by lightening, thunder and heavy rain.

I thought all we had to worry about were earthquakes and wildfires! Put your seatbelts on everyone,it looks like times are a changin'. Take a look at these pics taken today (from the L.A. Daily News and L.A. Times):



The tornadoes flipped a 30 car freight train and a semi-truck...if you want to see video of these tornadoes click HERE. Please remember that we don't get tornadoes here...this is strange weather for us.

Happy Global Warming everyone :)

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem means "Seize the Day" in Latin and that is what we did on Sunday! Instead of waiting for the most convenient time or the best part of the day, we packed up the car with beach toys, beach towels, sunscreen, water and kids and headed two miles west to the beach!

California found a pet rock to keep him company! It was hard to part with him when we had to go home :(



It was unusally warm in Los Angeles/Santa Monica. The thermometer in the car read 93 degrees on the way there and 91 degrees at the beach! It is usually quite breezy down by the ocean but there wasn't a breeze to be had on Sunday. You can see the effect of the heat on Tennessee's face. RED HOT!



This is what we enjoyed on a hot Sunday afternoon right at naptime for California. We figured since we only lived two miles away, we could zip home in an instant!



It was 91 degrees on the beach but the sand was hotter...approximately 182 degrees by my estimation. In the midst of seizing the day, Tennessee forgot his flip flops. So a dip in the ocean was a must.



California decided it was time for his nap and was very unhappy about the heat, so we went home after being there for about 45 minutes. As we left, a surfer,in a brand new luxury SUV, asked if we would give him our $7.00 parking pass so he could park for free. How tacky is that??!! It would never cross my mind in a million years to ask a stranger, much less a friend, for a parking pass that I have the responsibility to pay for!

Our Beautiful Backyard

It was 83 today, so we decided to play in the backyard. We live in a condo and our backyard is HUGE. We walked two miles to get there. You may have heard of it; it is called the Pacific Ocean :) We stopped at the Coffee Bean on the way to take a break. L.A. Mama got a Mocha Latte and Tennessee & California got a cookie to keep their blood sugar levels high enough to make it to the beach. Then we stopped at the Third Street Promenade to go to Barnes and Noble to get some books and magazines. We finally made it there and found the most beautiful tree.





Look closely! That is the Pacific Ocean in the background.






Here is a better picture of our beautiful backyard.



California passed out on the way back home.



...and then we got a mid day snack at Earth Wind & Flour before coming home to slather aloe vera on our faces!