tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44774630203859527402024-03-13T20:03:48.941-07:00elgin eco houseour forays into green renovation & urban food foresting
in the historic Garvanza neighborhood of Los AngelesRev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-16370736465896404812012-04-05T17:58:00.001-07:002012-04-05T17:58:27.933-07:00why do i waste so much food?
why do i waste so much food?
i've often wondered this,
but as i was cleaning out our fridge earlier this week,
that question hit me in my stomach.
above is a small sample of the many
containers that i dragged out of the fridge,
which had all kinds of food languishing in them.
(salsa, artichoke hearts, jams,
weird things that remained Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-39554075649540419032012-03-28T17:03:00.000-07:002012-03-28T17:03:15.731-07:00the thrill of baking from the garden
last fall i planted carrots -
and to tell the truth,
i pretty much forgot about them.
until now and my big springtime plans
to clean up all the garden beds
and ready them for planting.
so surprise, surprise -
those carrots grew!
i ended up with a bowlful and decided to make
vegan carrot muffins,
using the recipe from the fat freeRev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-73060667958847308892012-03-26T11:07:00.004-07:002012-03-26T11:07:51.410-07:00pink tulip love
i love pink tulips in the spring.
they make me happy every time i look at the mantle.
if i could i would douse the whole house
in pink tulip bouquets.
but since that's not possible (hmm.. why not i am wondering?),
i'll work on my plan for spring vegetable planting.
the big garden clean-up continues!
Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-64259258933455339432012-03-24T13:58:00.000-07:002012-03-24T13:58:26.506-07:00homegrown honey
close up shot of honeycomb, seen below
last year we started keeping bees
(or more accurately, my sweet man started keeping bees
and i cheered him on)
since we are vegans, we didn't think we'd ever use the honey.
the bees can't exactly give their overt permission for us to take it.
BUT - a funny set of circumstances led said sweet man
to bring in one of the frames, Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-68005381653173146582012-01-16T11:58:00.000-08:002012-01-16T11:58:53.846-08:00shiny new countertop finish
the refinished countertops
last year we renovated our kitchen,
and we used reclaimed bowling alley lanes as our countertop material.
they looked beautiful, but we didn't use the right finish on them,
and they quickly became worn and scruffy.
here's a pic of the countertops at the beginning of our refinishing project,
worn and with wood putty Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-52757021189601496412011-12-13T08:14:00.000-08:002011-12-13T08:15:54.710-08:00beautiful look-see for the day
photo from jeffrey bale's blog
i love peeking in at jeffrey bale's world of gardens blog.
today he features mosaic whimsy from Barcelona.
photo from jeffrey bale's blog
this one reminds me of a gingerbread house.
his blog fuels my fantasy of having
lots of beautiful mosaics in the garden.
lots of fun, check it out.
Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-68455587238099887372011-12-12T12:18:00.000-08:002011-12-12T12:18:09.685-08:00beautiful menorahs
photo from nelles etsy shop
last night many friends gathered here
for a winter holiday vegan potluck. yum!
i love this season - celebrating life and light
in the midst of the darkness and depth of winter.
today design sponge lifts up
a whole feast for the eyes
of beautiful, modern menorahs.
hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-82725129414789715542011-11-02T09:18:00.000-07:002011-11-02T09:18:38.848-07:00my general store
a year ago we were in the midst of our kitchen remodel.
this morning, as the sun was streaming in through our
big kitchen windows (free from craig's list!)
and i was putting vegan pumpkin bread into the oven,
i was filled with a sense of abundance.
i'm so lucky my basic needs and beyond are taken care of.
we have food to eat (too much, really).&Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-66566964400467259622011-10-06T09:07:00.000-07:002011-10-06T09:53:04.888-07:00disco garden
photo by blake gardner photography
we finally got to use our yard in the way it was intended!
weeks of cleaning and prepping
yielded a lovely pre-ordination casual dinner party,
underneath the LED light canopy and disco ball
hung by ryan.
photo by blake gardner photography
you can see the disco ball hanging way up amidst the LED canopy.
photo by Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-85404962557037733652011-09-19T09:05:00.000-07:002011-09-19T09:05:47.039-07:00ryan's cleverness = bowling alley table
ryan can do pretty much anything.
he made a beautiful table out of bowling alley lane over the weekend!
i'm so excited about it.
i've wanted a nice, long table for outdoor dining for a couple of years.
the one he made sits 12.
last fall, when we used bowling alley lanes for our kitchen counters,
ryan had in mind he would use the left-over woodRev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-52974605547698465142011-09-10T19:00:00.000-07:002011-09-10T19:00:57.028-07:00jammin' & cannin'
Friend Jackie and I had the best time today making jam!
i felt like such a homemaker puttering around in the kitchen,
making the jam and canning it in those sweet little jars.
and i kept thinking "we're doing this for fun - just think about the times
when women had to do this in order to have food in the winter."
a humbling thought.
jackie and i Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-86178971815144249572011-09-09T20:31:00.000-07:002011-09-09T20:31:12.352-07:00strawberry pie!
i'm back!
7.5 weeks away this summer.
but home long enough to make a no-bake strawberry pie.
and to take pictures that give it an eerie glow.
i'm a minister, not a photographer, what can i say?
in the midst of my summer travels we had some house work done:
- drip irrigation installed
- exterior of the house painted
- a french drain Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-76681459907363930262011-08-05T20:44:00.000-07:002011-08-05T20:44:49.583-07:00cinnamon rolls
today i did something i've wanted to do for a long time - bake cinnamon rolls from scratch.
last fall my sweet honey man gave me the cookbook vegan brunch by isa chandra moskowitz. this week i am getting reacquainted with my home life after being gone for almost 6 weeks, and i dove into this cookbook.
her recipe for cinnamon rolls is straightforward, and madeRev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-81880967812799374462011-08-01T13:56:00.000-07:002011-08-01T13:56:27.533-07:00edible landscape, redlands, CA
kat and geoff
saturday i returned home from my "summer 2011 unitarian universalist tour"the way i fondly refer to my travel-heavy summer work schedule.
at our UU family camp, 7000 feet in the san bernardino mountains, i connected with kat, keith, and geoff. we bonded over our edible landscapes.
they live on my way home, and generously offered to give me a tour of Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-55017961523376759752011-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:002011-06-17T22:10:05.176-07:00root simple book signing!
kelly and erik, creators of root simple blog
and authors of two books!
i had a great time tonight at kelly and erik's book-signing at vroman's bookstore in pasadena.
they are do-it-yourselfers, and their blog chronicles their journey toward self-sustainability, in their very urban neighborhood of Los Feliz, or is it Silverlake, or it is HaFoSaFo? (apparently they Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-10492663935498110462011-06-10T13:37:00.000-07:002011-06-10T13:37:14.082-07:00farmers' market flowers
fell for these at the south pasadena farmers' market yesterday.
they are exuberant.
and fill the living room with color and summer-time grace. Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-21756884424252528042011-06-08T19:58:00.000-07:002011-06-08T19:58:49.265-07:00summer office
it's not totally finished yet, but here's my summer office. under the pomegranate tree.
my office mates are the neighborhood kitties, squirrels, and lots of birds. the occasional bee buzzes by.
you can't tell here, but the pomegranate branchesdroop toward the ground, so this is a little hideaway space.
love it! Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-13300221170750303802011-06-04T20:01:00.000-07:002011-06-04T20:01:43.187-07:00purples
purple is one of my favorite colors (ok, i like them all)and we have lots of purple happening right now.
above, a lily of the nile.
one of the artichokes we didn't eat, so we're enjoying the flowers instead.
lavender. love these always.
happy flowers by the front door.
and finally ...
dutch door in the kitchen, painted it over memorial day Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-43158606124728570252011-06-02T15:12:00.000-07:002011-06-02T18:08:05.413-07:00new fave blog - green girl next door
this is my week of new favorites. and my new favorite blog is green girl next door, and that fabulous green girlis vanessa meier.
vanessa's just starting out, but she already wrote an honest, compelling post about the 180 degree turn she took with her shopping habits.
if you're still buying all your clothes brand-new, and all your furniture Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-72519241306373358592011-06-01T21:24:00.000-07:002011-06-01T21:24:58.075-07:00new fave magazine
lucky me, i got to spend almost the whole three-day weekend out in my garden.
while i was picking up some seedlingsi ran across urban farm magazinefor the first time.
i flipped through it and fell in love! lots of great articles on growing food in the city, keeping bees, container gardening, crop mobs, pretty photos.
Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-90364661673564148622011-05-29T10:45:00.000-07:002011-05-29T10:45:48.651-07:00garden serenity in the midst of the city
yesterday i enjoyed a "wow" garden momentat max and steve's house in LA.
ryan knows them from beekeeping activities, and we stopped by so ryan could wax his new bee frames (his hive is thriving, so much so that he is adding in another box).
we were led through a garden gate, and the sound of rushing water filled my ears. the view in front of me was so inspiring -a Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-57413063533521761252011-05-28T17:25:00.001-07:002011-05-28T17:25:36.480-07:00incredible mosaic blog
photo from jeffrey bale's blog
even if i didn't read any posts on jeffrey bale's blog, the header image alone would make me happy enough.
i read about his blog on root simple. thanks for the introduction!
jeffrey has beautiful photos of his mosaics and garden designs, and gorgeous images of the inspirations behind them, both natural and human made.
Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-71025402861706943392011-05-28T11:45:00.000-07:002011-05-28T11:45:02.812-07:00parkway plantings
the parkway in front of our house left a lot to be desired. in the spring, the grass had to be managed, and in the summer, it was a dry, brown mess.
ryan, bless his heart and strong arms,got out there with a pickaxeand removed all the grass and top layer of clay dirt.
we decided on a mix of california poppies, lavenders, and artichokes. we wanted to keep Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-29053946088890770332011-05-25T10:14:00.000-07:002011-05-25T10:14:35.967-07:00under the magnolia tree
when we first saw this house in april 2008, i immediately fell in love with the large, shady magnolia treein front of the house.
it reminded me of arkansas, where i'm from. in terms of landscaping, we didn't want any grass in the yard, and our goal is an edible landscape.
so i wondered what to do underneath the magnolia tree, which sits at the entrance to our Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477463020385952740.post-76846073030421090552011-05-24T09:25:00.000-07:002011-05-24T09:25:19.434-07:00space between beds
we have raised garden beds in our front yard, where we grow our veggies. we bought our first one from conor fitzpatrick, who is featured in the june 2011 issue of sunset magazine!
i added in a round stone bed, followed by another square one made by ryan, using our friend denise's old fence.
i haven't been able to decide what to do in between the beds. Rev. Tera Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517699506544977468noreply@blogger.com1