Tackling the green beast: swirling mass of greens and garlic.

Sadness comes but once a year: Fava beans at the last harvest. They bow out gracefully, the plump favas, though we try to give them enough time to give us one more little pod.

Feeding frenzy: Our red wrigglers are about to receive a biological feast. Full of coffee, orange peels and fava bean discards, the meal promotes cardio and muscular development in the little guys.

Digging for gold: The little fava beans come individually nestled inside a stiff cocoon, and these are lined up 3, 4 or 5 in a row inside a fur sleeping bag. From the original pile of pods, to shedding its many layers, to being stir-fried with garlic, it’s definitely a what-you-get-is-not-what-you-eat situation.

Guardians: If you’re tooling around Monterey Park you might as well stop in at the San Gabriel Nursery. If you make it past the Orchid zone, the air starts to smell like Sweet Ozmanthus and pretty soon you’ll be trying to fit two pots into the back of your car. Not a bad way to go. If you’re looking for Michelia Alba, they have these too, but you have to bring a forklift and your black Amex card. 

It’s not easy being green: You can get bunches of cilantro for 50¢ at the Hollywood Farmer’s market. What a deal. $1.00 worth gets you at least a day’s worth of chutney. We washed and dried the cilantro, stems and all, and put them in the Cuisinart with shredded coconut, ginger, jalapenos, 2 lime’s worth of juice, sugar, salt and a special ingredient we can’t say. We will be slaughtered if we tell, so we can’t.

Natural predators: these guys might not look so tough winding their way up to the best view of the garden but they’re on the lookout for aphids and mealybugs and all sorts of other pests. Grrr!!

Globes of light: these juicy balls are just getting pumped up with sugar. Come June we’ll have freshly squeezed juice coming out of our ears.

Teenagers: the progression of our little sprouts have become cauliflower and beets. So far so good.