Felicia Friesema

There's an old legend that says in order to achieve truly hot chile peppers, you must plant them when you are angry. Following that line of thought, we suppose recent good news about water allotments for the state's farmers might be blamed for blunting a potentially piquant crop, but we......

We felt a bit negligent with last week's summer tomato primer. To mention tomatoes without including the basil in the basket next door is to gloss over one of the more perfect culinary matches of the season. We were reminded of that this week when we went to one of......

Really, he had us at Laker Baker. But Alex Weiser apparently isn't content to simply wow us with new potatoes. This week he's decided to wow us with an old potato. An heirloom, actually, from the late 1700's called the Ozette, a.k.a. the Makah Ozette, after the Pacific Northwest tribe......

As farmers market-savvy populations go, we're pretty spoiled in the tomato realm. These are a year round harvest for us, sometimes coming from the vine fields of San Diego or a set of long and white hot houses from parts farther north. But the varieties and number of flavor profiles......

Local pickling culture got a boost this week with the arrival of fat and crisp pickling cucumbers and a huge variety of green and yellow beans. This may not be good news to the pickle phobic -- yes, it is real -- but for the growing number of people still......

We stopped counting how many apricot-plum hybrids there currently are. The number grows every year as plant breeders do their best to make sure there is something sellable throughout the growing season. The first of these hybrids to come across our radar this season was the velvety sweet aprium. Now......

If you say you bleed purple and gold, chances are you might be one of those people. You know, face paint, multiple car flags, wrist warmers at the office, color coordinated food for your game viewing party menus. With the Lakers now playing in the NBA finals, it's good to......

Home butchery is the new backyard chicken coop. And sure, you could watch and learn about whole beast butchery from the comfort of your own iPad. But video won't tell you what it feels like when the knife in your hand hits tendon or bone or what that seam between......

Last week we talked a bit about how stone fruit trees need a decently cold winter in order to catch up on their beauty sleep and be ready for spring blossoming. All that sneezing and sniffling everyone's been suffering through is the unhappy outcome of well-rested trees bursting forth with......

It seems a little backward that in order for us to enjoy plentiful, juicy, and sun-colored peaches right on time (that is to say now) we have to have had a long and decently chilly winter. Cold enough to give the trees a good period of dormancy so that come......