What is it about Italian terra cotta? Living in Southern California, we have all seen plenty of Mexican terra cotta, or should I say Mexican CLAY products (since they really aren’t terra cotta). It looks great in the California sunshine, but the clay seems to melt or disintegrate immediately with the constant spray of water from the Rainbird sprinklers working overtime throughout the summer, and winter can be even more destructive.

But not even all Italian terra cotta is created equal. Much of the pottery arriving in the United States from Italian factories is machine-made from mediocre clay found throughout the many regions of the country, but the terra cotta pottery at Eye of the Day is made from Galestro clay, found only in the Sienna Grossetto area of Italy, near and around Florence.

Most terra cotta (whether Italian,  Mexican, Greek, or French) requires a sealant to be applied at least on the interior of each pot to be planted in order to protect the integrity of the material. Terrecotte San Rocco products do not need to be sealed, the quality of the clay will hold up to extremes in temperature as well as constant contact with water.  Terra cotta from San Rocco is long-lasting and frost-proof, guaranteed to -15 degrees; the mineral content found in the clay, when combined with high firing temperatures, insures products of the finest quality and highest durability.  And it is beautiful.  Just say no to poor quality terra cotta, say yes to terra cotta for the centuries.

Many of us have a particular place we think best and where we feel whole. I have always been most comfortable in my garden. I can remember all of my past gardens. When I was five years old, I lived across the street from Mr. Mitchell. His entire backyard was a lathe house where he grew topical plants and had water gardens. Moss and ferns flourished. I can see it in my mind’s eye now 5o years later. I often wonder if that is what turned me into a life long gardener and lover of landscapes.

Everywhere I have lived I have been hyper aware of my garden and the light in my house through windows looking out into my garden. 541 and 554 Gower Street, my balcony in Newport Beach, my apartment on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, my first home on Granville Avenue and now my garden in the Santa Ynez Valley. The living, growing buffer zones protecting my house and my psychological space are important to my life and wellbeing. These are not the only places I have lived but they are the ones that provided gardens for my dreams and memory.  A residence without a garden, no matter how small, wouldn’t be a place for me to live for long.

I need to plant my environment to a standard allowing me to sit and feel my soul mellow and calm and echo those feelings and dreams that matter most, the ones that put warmth in my heart and soul. When my daughter Daisy lived in Brooklyn, I helped her to create an environment rekindling the warmth of the gardens she grew up with, giving her advice about her potted plants, walking together through Central Park and Prospect Park, all to share and extend my garden dreaming.

Daisy and her new husband Greg are now living in Los Angeles in a home with a little scrap of a garden. I often make deliveries to Southern California with its requisite concrete driveways and parking areas.  First thing I did was take them some pots planted with huge bamboo and some espaliered citrus and created a private and comfortable patio, instantly.  When I spend the night with them, I rise early to return to Eye of the Day, but not before I water their garden, picking weeds, harvesting lettuce, or just tending to the orange and lemon trees.

Photo courtesy of Wendy Harper

When Jane Abascal and her husband Manny moved into their home on a quiet, tree-lined street in Altadena, California, they noticed the garden across the street had a lovely, welcoming feel they wanted for their new space. After a reasonable amount of time, Jane approached her neighbor to ask if she would share the name of their landscape architect. Lucky for Jane, she was speaking with exactly that landscape architect, Sally Farnum of the eponymous SE Farnum Associates. Who could ask for more than a designer in the neighborhood? Sally and Jane hit it off as neighbors while their professional relationship flourished. As it happened, Sally had worked with the previous homeowners to renovate the back of their property, but the front was due for a serious update and overhaul.

Jane had some specific wishes and Sally, no shrinking violet, had some strong ideas as well.  At first, Jane wanted to keep the lovely lawn that the previous homeowners had so carefully tended.

Sally’s plan called for moving an existing, water impermeable asphalt driveway and removing the lawn. When she discussed this idea with Jane and described a courtyard plan using gravel, decomposed granite with brick accents, Jane was intrigued. Sally envisioned an allee of white crepe myrtles lining a long, narrow, shallow fountain, creating perspective. When the plans were finalized, they agreed that Sally’s vision would be excellent for water conservation, would accent the “French” feel of the Abascal home and would have a completely new look.

Ms. Farnum designed a low plastered wall and wrought iron gate to enclose the courtyard and the fountain constructed with poured concrete walls and a bluestone cap. French Anduze Vases at the gate on the courtyard side and a mature olive tree from Eye of the Day planted on the street side of the wall along with sage, lavender, and other Mediterranean plants create a water-efficient design that is a great fit with the French look of Jane and Manny’s home.

“Jane was a great client,” Farnum says, “she was open to new ideas while having plenty of her own.  We worked so well together to achieve what has become one of my favorite projects and I’m so happy to have been able to design a beautiful garden setting–without a lawn!–for my neighbors.”

Brent and I have now been traveling for many years to Europe to find the perfect pieces for Eye of the Day, but at one time we were star-struck novices and our first trip to Paris to shop for the store was one miraculous impression after another.  A circuitous route to Just Eat It, I know, but together we had a culinary revelation that led to the recipe I am about to share with you. At a small restaurant on the left bank we ordered a Salade de Roquette. No big deal, right? But somehow, this salad attained celestial status to us. Arugula. Olive oil. Salt. Dates.

Now, fifteen years later, Arugula Salad has become ours. We grow arugula so spiky, so small, so spicy and Meyer lemons so juicy and, well, lemony that we think we are now higher on the evolutionary scale than we were on that first trip. This is OUR arugula salad for two (feel free to multiply liberally):

FREITASALAD

2 cups emerald green, spiky, spicy, fresh arugula

1 juicy Meyer lemon (or a regular one if necessary)

A few healthy glugs of Cretan olive oil from our last shipment of pottery from Crete

Maldon sea salt, a little more that you might think

2 Tablespoons of pan roasted pine nuts

4 Medjool dates, pitted and quartered lengthwise

1/3 cup or so of golden curls of Parmigiano Reggiano

Pepper

In your favorite salad bowl, place the cleaned arugula. Squeeze the lemon juice over the arugula, add the olive oil and salt and toss together. Divide between two plates and split the pine nuts, dates and Parmigiano Reggiano between the two salads. Grind a little black pepper over the top if you want more spice. And it is. Over the top.

I bet if a nineteenth century man learned that in the future hundreds of books would crop up to teach people how to grow their own food, he’d laugh, and then cry. How could a practice so central to human survival for thousands of years suddenly come off as a new hobby? Well, that’s exactly what’s happened, and this trend marketing must be working, because in November my husband and I put together a raised bed, poured in some good soil, and planted kale and beet seeds. We also planted garlic cloves, and if it isn’t already obvious, we were making a “super foods” garden. We feel stronger already.

Patti Moreno, the author of Gardening By Cuisine, would certainly approve, as her book advises readers on the requirements and merits of herb pesto gardens, Mediterranean vegetable gardens, Asian stir-fry gardens, marinara sauce gardens, and other themes that lead from a seed directly to a recipe.

This fun idea of Moreno’s appeals to brand new vegetable gardeners by covering beginner’s steps for setting up an organic garden from scratch. She deals with drip irrigation (perhaps the most important thing a new gardener must embrace), soil, sunlight and pests. Before anyone has a chance to get bored, she delves into harvesting, drying, freezing and all manner of preserving. The crescendo comes with her delightful recipes for meals around the clock, detox drinks, desserts–all organized by your cuisine of choice. Thanks to her, I’ll be making a Triple Herb Potato Soup with Red Winter Kale & Manchego Cheese, with red kale I grew myself.

Gardening by Cuisine, available through , published by Sterling in 2013.

Best Practices for Container Gardening During a Drought

Those of us who garden have seen the effects of the lack of rain, and enjoying our gardens is going to take more work. Longtime Californians have already experienced this kind of shortage and we know the drill. You turn on your shower in the morning, you grab a handy bucket kept nearby to catch those first 60 seconds of cold water you wouldn’t dare step foot in. Later, you carry that bucket outdoors and hand-water your beds, borders and trees, or maybe just one bed depending on the size and fullness of your bucket. This becomes a daily tradition.

If this seems far-fetched, consider that the politicos and water managers have finally weighed in and declared that we are actually in a drought. Not just a minor water shortage, but a state of extreme drought. Now we are not just encouraged, but, in some areas mandated to reduce water usage immediately.

One solution to having handsome specimen plants to adorn our outdoor living spaces is to plant them in containers. Planters are small, “contained” gardens after all. Everything from our favorite tropical plants like cannas and palms to flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs like citrus and even camellias can be grown in containers. When planting in a pot you can tailor the soil mix to maximize water absorption and retention and closely monitor just how much water is needed and used.

While I still encourage you to keep that bucket handy in the bathroom, you have other options with containers, such as low-flow and efficient drip irrigation systems. Take this opportunity to embrace the world of container gardening and do your part to conserve our most precious resource, water. And check back here for lots of specific tips on growing your favorites from ornamentals to herbs and vegetables, even a mini water garden. Also, look for future posts that will teach you how to choose the right container for your needs and tailor the soil for the plants you want to grow.