I want to share with you some of the exceptional places that I come across from time to time. These places are gems and not to be missed if you are in the area, or they could even be a destination. Most have a “garden thread” to them. “Places To Know” can be retail, restaurants, nurseries, and other. Whatever the place, expect the unusual.

Can't find Chocolate Mint, Dark Opal Basil, or Cat Mint at your local nursery. You can find them all at Pearson's Gardens, along with about 800 other herbs. Pearson's Gardens is a specialty nursery who grow potted herbs, potted heirloom vegetables, scented geraniums, unusual edibles, and ethnobotanical herbs. (Ethnobotanical, is an adjective describing the scientific study of traditional knowledge and customs of a people relating to their use of plants for medical, religious, and other uses.)

Tucked away in the hills of Vista, this nursery is a treat to visit. All of Pearson's Gardens plants are naturally grown in rich organic soil, and plain ol' Southern California sun. No chemicals or pesticides are used here. If you are not in the vicinity their herbs may be purchased online, too.

Whether you are new to incorporating herbs into your life, or a veteran in gardening and cooking with them, Pearson's Gardens will still surprise you at their vast selection and "herb niche" they have created. Thank you, Cindy and Mark, always kind and gracious when visiting them on site, were happy to respond to my e-mail interview questions about their business below. Pearson's Gardens, 1150 Beverly Drive, Vista, CA 92084. (tel) (760) 726-0717, Monday through Friday, 9am - 4pm.

1) How did you and Mark get started in the herb nursery business? Was it a hobby that blossomed? Your intention all along to grow herbs? Why herbs in particular?

We began growing herbs out of personal interest and as a sideline to our indoor & exotic plant business. Personally, I didn't think it would ever amount to much because herbs had such low regard in the gardening community. However, with better cultivation techniques herbs broke into the mainstream of both culinary and garden circles. As public demand grew, our herb selection grew from about 50 common varieties to over 800!

Why herbs? Both Mark and I are lifelong health nuts. We have always sought out natural, healthy, homegrown foodstuffs. Herbs were a pursuit waiting to happen....

2) With the popularity today of growing your own edibles, has this trend affected your business in any way?

The recent explosion of interest in growing edibles has encouraged us to expand our offerings to include a significant selection of gourmet vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, and more truly unusual edibles from around the world.

3) Is there anything that you would like to say about herbs, (growing, cooking, in the garden), that people might not know about? You can be general or specific.

In the realm of herbs exists the story of history itself. Herbs have been carried in ships by early explorers, by wind and birds, and in pockets of immigrants seeking a new homeland. In their travels they bring part of the culture from the place the journey began.

4) I think I heard you speak of culinary chefs seeking you out for certain harder to find herbs. Please name some of them, and what they might be used for.

Yerba Santa/Hoja Santa Piper sanctum is used in Mexican and Central American cuisine as a flavor infusing wrap, as well as to flavor sauces and entrees.

Mentuccia/ Nepitella Calamintha nepeta, native to Tuscany, might be thought of as a minty oregano flavor that is paired inseparably with mushrooms.

5) Who are your customers, local and online? Do you have specialty clients for certain herbs?

Since we grow an extensive selection of international culinary and ethnobotanical herbs, people from very continent walk through out gate!

6) You sell over 70 lavender varieties. Which is your favorite and why?

It's hard to narrow it down to just one. We favor Sweet Lavender for its year-round color. For fragrance and culinary use, it's a tie between Provence and Grosso.

7) If someone was new to growing herbs, and wanted to start using culinary herbs, what are your top ten basic recommendations?

The short answer is - the ones you use!

1. Basil 2. Parsley 3. Sage, Berggarten or Sage of Bath 4. Chives 5. Mint, Kentucky Colonel 6. Oregano, Greek 7. Rosemary 8. Tarragon, French 9. Dill 10. Cilantro

You are now growing heirloom vegetables and tomatoes besides herbs. Is this one of your new directions? Are there other directions you are going?

We are definitely continuing to expand our offerings of vegetables, tomatoes, as well as international and exotic edibles.

9) Are there any trends with selling herbs that you have noticed?

We are seeing more men, as well as young adults with a new found interest in herbs and edible gardening

10) Is there anything you would like to add, or mention? There is an exciting trend of edible landscaping and co-mingling herbs and vegetables within ornamental gardens. In doing so, gardeners should always remember to use food-safe products and practices.

Please comment if you use herbs in your life now. Please share which herbs are your favorites.

I want to share with you some of the exceptional places that I come across from time to time. These places are gems and not to be missed if you are in the area, or they could even be a destination. Most have a "garden thread" to them. "Places To Know" can be retail, restaurants, nurseries, and other. Whatever the place, expect the unusual.

Nearly six years ago I met girlfriends in Paris, for a pre-Christmas splurge and getaway. Paris is always enchanting, but even more so around the holidays. Ever since then, I associate Paris with Christmas time. What a grand pairing!

A few Decembers ago, I borrowed from my "Christmas Time in Paris" experience, and helped create for one of my garden groups, a Parisian Holiday Tea, hosted at the opulent (and closest venue to Paris that I could find in the San Diego area) The Grand Del Mar, just east of Del Mar, California. Holiday teas can be a special gesture to share with good friends, nieces, sisters, moms, grandmothers, granddaughters, and loved ones.

Like a thread I could weave, I picked the "Christmas Time in Paris" theme and wove details for a Parisian Holiday Tea. Here are some of the styling details that helped create a special holiday tea.

1) The invitation was created from one of my favorite photographs in sepia, from that earlier Paris trip. For more on that trip, see Christmas Time In Paris.

2) Setting was an intimate fireside seating just past The Grand Del Mar foyer with all of their holiday decorations, grandeur, and holiday tea menu.

3) Special "Parisian" favors were created using a gold sheer bag tied with gold/bronze fleur-de-lys ribbon. Inside the party favors, there were special vintage pink alabaster glass cameo charms from French General, fleur-de-lys chocolates from The Royal Sweet an extraordinary chocolatier out of Georgia, and least but not least, an "April in Paris" sweet pea packet from Renee's Gardens.

4) A few words spoken about how Parisians, and those in the French countryside celebrate their holidays with Pere Noel, and their grand "reveillon" traditional feast.

5) One of our members spoke about "Bachelor's Preserves", and gave everyone a gift-wrapped jar of it and recipe to take home. Bachelor's Preserves is the French technique of preserving summer fruits with liquor.

Picking a theme for a party or event makes planning and creating your event easier, and adds a certain element of surprise. Please share if you have enjoyed "tea" with friends or family around the holidays. Please comment if you have been to Paris at Christmas time.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme...

VintageGardenGal wishes everyone Happy Holidays!

I want to share with you some of the exceptional places that I come across from time to time. These places are gems and not to be missed if you are in the area, or they could even be a destination. Most have a “garden thread” to them. “Places To Know” can be retail, restaurants, nurseries, and other. Whatever the place, expect the unusual.

You are probably familiar with picking your own blueberries at a blueberry farm, or picking your own strawberries at a farm stand, but have you heard of picking your own pumpkins out of a field-size pumpkin patch? That is exactly what Mike and Libby Pierce encourage you to do at their family pumpkin farm, Lavender Hill Pumpkins. Located in Fallbrook, California, Lavender Hill Pumpkins is within easy driving distance of San Diego, Riverside, and Los Angeles.

Mike Pierce and his family started growing their organic pumpkins in a serious way about 5 years ago, and the momentum continues. Nearly 3 dozen different types of pumpkin varieties are carefully started each year in June to July.  An empty fertile field nourished with well water, and lovingly tended to by the family quickly erupts into a maze of crazy vines, and eventually hundreds of pumpkins.

The Pierce Family endearingly name some of their prize pumpkins. These special pumpkins are set aside in a "museum gallery setting" for everyone to enjoy, and are eventually used for next year's seed starts and field of pumpkins. Lavender Hill Pumpkins has all types of pumpkins, and all sizes.

Every year, on the last weekend of September, Lavender Hill Pumpkins open up their artisan wood gates for every one's enjoyment. Lavender Hill Pumpkins is open every day this October, weekends 10am to 5pm, and weekdays 2pm -5pm. Special times are available by appointment for designers and special interest groups. Bright orange carts are available to walk the fields and collect your pumpkins. Reasonable prices are determined by the size of unique hose rings which straddle the girth of each pumpkin.

The afternoon I was there, with a dear friend and fellow pumpkin enthusiast, we happened upon a group of seasoned artists comfortably nestled under the trees, magically recreating beautiful pumpkins on their canvas.

Nothing says fall like pumpkins, and to see this mass of incredible pumpkins together is a visual euphoria whether you are an artist, gardener, pumpkin aficionado, passer by, or a lucky child anticipating Halloween. Or maybe I should say it another way, it is "all treat" and "no trick" at  Lavender Hill Pumpkins, 1509 East Mission Road, Fallbrook, California 92028, (tel) (760) 715-8495

Please share if you grow your own pumpkins. Please comment on where in your area you like to buy your fall pumpkins.

I want to share with you some of the exceptional places that I come across from time to time. These places are gems and not to be missed if you are in the area, or they could even be a destination. Most have a "garden thread" to them. "Places To Know" can be retail, restaurants, nurseries, and other. Whatever the place, expect the unusual.

If you are familiar with San Diego, than maybe you know about beautiful Solana Beach, 20 miles up the coast, with its shopping plethora, Cedros Design District on South Cedros. Well, North Cedros is starting to get some attention now thanks to Claire's On Cedros, a scrumptious breakfast and lunch hot spot. Hot, because of its natural ingredients and tasty menu. Hot, because it is a green and sustainable restaurant landscaped with edible gardens.

Claire's On Cedros is a successful collaboration of  friends, Terrie Boley, on the entrepreneur side, and Claire Allison, on the food side. Their menus are seasonal to take advantage of the freshest local ingredients in a classic bistro style. Breakfast is served all day, along with in-house baked goods. For lunch you have your choice of generous salads, sandwiches, and specials.

What once was a neglected cottage on North Cedros with a large lot and garages, has been transformed into a cottage style restaurant, edible landscape gardens, parking, and professional office space. Claire's On Cedros has been deemed a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) restaurant, and has been certified by the Green Restaurant Association.

The charm and footprint of the cottage has been kept, and been nicely  transformed into a jazzy, hip, happening bakery and cafe. Recycled and re-purposed materials, plus off-beat clever decor touches instantly invite you in. You enter Claire's On Cedros through the front porch, where in the fall, you might even be greeted by a Halloween scarecrow. Although, it seems Claire's is always bustling, you have your choice of eating inside or outside on the back patio.

That's not all. Claire's has been professionally landscaped-designed and installed  by Eco-Greenscape. You are encouraged to stroll the edible gardens, and are even provided with a "Strolling Garden Guide" and map. Mature trees kept, stand tall and proudly appreciate this property's transformation.

If you are looking for a great place to meet a friend, celebrate a birthday, or just indulge on a Sunday morning, try Claire's On Cedros. You will love it.  Claire's On Cedros, 246 North Cedros, Solana Beach, California  92075,     (tel) (858) 259-8597   Hours:   Monday - Friday, 6am -3pm, Saturday & Sunday, 7am-3pm.

Please share if you have a special spot in your community which serves local seasonal food, in a green sustainable-minded locale. Please comment if you have been to Claire's On Cedros.

While attending Garden Blogger's Buffa10 in Buffalo, there were many exciting places on our itinerary. One of them was Urban Roots Community Garden Center, an innovative community garden co-op. With over 600 community owner-members and growing, this garden center is a mecca for Buffalo's gardeners. Urban Roots sells plants for the garden, tools, artwork, hosts a slew of garden workshops, and much more.

Urban Roots was a brain storm of a group of people who wanted to have a garden center for its community in the heart of buffalo. In 2005, in an up and coming neighborhood, literally minutes from any "Garden Walk" garden, they began modestly with a plant swap and heirloom seed sale.

Borrowing the "mission statement" right off of their website, Urban Roots, their mission is a beautiful idea which obviously is growing and flourishing for Buffalo. Perhaps, there are many garden co-ops across the country, but this is the first I have seen, and there are certainly not any in my neighborhood. Once again Buffalo, what an innovative garden idea. Hum....

Our Mission Urban Roots Community Garden Center is a consumer cooperative business whose mission is to provide quality products for gardening in the City of Buffalo and be an active and enriching member of the community. • We will offer affordable, unusual, heirloom, organic and local plants, and gardening supplies. • We will foster a working relationship with the greater neighborhood in order to encourage beautification and urban renewal. • We will engage the community through education, employment, outreach, expertise and volunteering efforts.

Although it was a rainy Friday afternoon, we all hopped off our bus, ready to eagerly explore this community garden co-op. It was busy, despite the rain. There were two lectures in progress, one on "backyard chickens" and the new city ordinance allowing chickens in Buffalo, and the second inside the Urban Roots shop and next to a sinfully-scented bakery, it appeared to be a well-attended "plant" lecture. Needless to say, my fellow garden bloggers and myself, generously spent and supported Urban Roots in our brief visit.

If you are ever in Buffalo, for Garden Walk, Urban Roots Community Garden Center is a must stop destination, and a "place for you to know". We all could benefit from an Urban Roots model in our communities.

Please share if you have a garden co-op in your community. Please comment on some of the innovative garden ideas you have ongoing in your community.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme....

If I have given you enough of a tease on on Buffalo's beauty and innovative garden sense and want more, check out Buffa10 for more beautiful writing and photos from my fellow garden bloggers.

Earlier this week I wrote Whoa, Buffalo! A post on Buffalo's Garden Walk from a "broad stroke" perspective. I described what Buffalo's "Garden Walk" is all about, who started it, when it is, how many gardens, and how the neighborhoods and homes are such a part of Buffalo's rich history and architecture. What I didn't mention, is that the beauty of these individual private gardens, is in the details. Incredible details.

The above photo is one of my favorite settings, I saw on my garden tour. This romantic sitting area is in the back garden of one of the Victoria homes which was built in 1845. This home is a perennial on "Garden Walk", and you can understand why. Wouldn't you like to be sharing wine and cheese or casual Sunday brunch with your friends in this garden room.

While strolling through "Garden Walk" you can see everything from antique to whimsical to zen in the gardens. It all works for everyone. The Victorian homes, often brightly painted to show off architectural details give homeowners freedom to repeat those colors in their gardens.

Garden spaces are generally small, yet densely planted and pleasing, which  adds a "secret garden" mystique element to them. With garden space at a premium, home owners are very resourceful where and how they garden. Spacing between two homes can still be a garden, small and beautiful. Home owners garden in the front, side, and back of properties.

Beautiful hanging baskets are plentiful, and punctuate once again style and color. Water features and koi ponds are abundant. Rain barrels are popular for collecting rain. Vegetables and fruit are intermingled in flower gardens.

I spoke to one person whose family has been living in their Victorian on a corner, and caring for their garden for forty years. Their garden was an utter sanctuary to one's eye. The busy robin in the garden (you could tell) was right at home, and was quite content to share its garden with visitors.

The beauty of Buffalo's "Garden Walk" is in the details, and actually so much more. It is a sharing of ideas. It is a sharing of plants. It is an interaction between gardener and visitor. It is a mutual appreciation of beauty, garden, and architecture. It is a beautiful thing.

I want to share with you some of the exceptional places that I come across from time to time. These places are gems and not to be missed if you are in the area, or they could even be a destination. Most have a "garden thread" to them. "Places To Know" can be retail, restaurants, nurseries, and other. Whatever the place, expect the unusual. This is a first in a new category, "Places To Know"....

On a recent insider's trip to Napa with my garden gal's, The Farmstead Restaurant was a fabulous stop and restaurant on our itinerary. It is located at 738 Main Street in St. Helena, California 94574, (tel) 877-NAPA-OIL, or just south of St. Helena on the famous Highway 29 in Napa Valley.

The restaurant is in a former nursery barn, transformed into a 110-seat restaurant featuring a farm-to-table menu, comprised of seasonal local, sustainable, and organic ingredients. It is a lively and social atmosphere. It was packed with diners the night we were there. Entering the restaurant, an outside light fixture created with vintage chicken feeders luminously greets you. I often use chicken feeders in vintage container design, but I have never thought about turning them into hanging lights. More unusual chandelier lighting hangs in the center of the restaurant made from re-purposed vintage-salvaged hay hooks from the owner's family historic ranch.

If you come for lunch at the Farmstead Restaurant, you might enjoy  intimate outdoor dining lined with living espaliered fruit trees, and an inviting nursery and demonstrating gardens, literally steps from your dining table. There is also on the grounds a wine and olive oil tasting room, too.

The Farmstead Restaurant is one part of a shining example of a vertical integration of a modern, organic, sustainable family farm which comprises Long Meadow Ranch. Long Meadow Ranch is owned by the dedicated Hall family. Their motto is "Excellence Through Responsible Farming." Long Meadow is a 650 acre historic ranch nestled high above Napa Valley in the Mayacamas Mountains. This property has old olive groves and vineyards originally planted in the 1870's. Thorough their sustainable philosophy and organic practices, Long Meadow Ranch make their own extra-virgin oil oil, world-class wines, raise their own grass-fed beef, grow their own heirloom vegetables, produce organic eggs, and more.

Long Meadow Ranch also includes LMR Rutherford Gardens, another historic property on the Napa Valley floor, and not far from The Farmstead Restaurant. Organic seasonal produce is grown for the the restaurant and the Friday St. Helen Farmer's Market. Soon, a farm stand featuring LMR's own produce, flowers, and eggs will be available each morning at The Farmstead Restaurant.

If you are visiting Napa Valley, I highly recommend stopping in for lunch or dinner at The Farmstead Restaurant. The food is delicious, the wines are lovely, and the atmosphere is inviting. Please comment if you are familiar with The Farmstead Restaurant and Long Meadow Ranch.