About Beans… Dried beans are the workhorses of our pantries.  They are high in protein, low in fat, low in cholesterol, and high in complex carbohydrates (the “good” carbs), too. With so many people making the shift to plant-based diets, beans are taking on a bigg

In other parts of the country, last summer’s garden is a memory and next spring’s garden is a dream. Here in Southern California, however, winter gardening is our best gardening. Really! While the air is cool, the days are short, and – hopefully – we get some rain, this is the time to

Care for Your Garden and Yourself in the Heat It’s hot. Back dripping, forehead wiping, ear perspiringly HOT. This morning’s weather report said temperatures are ten degrees above normal this week, and unusually humid too. So how can you help your garden handle the heat? First, take c

The only thing better than farm-to-fork is garden-to-fork. Little compares to picking your own sweet ripe tomato and pinching off basil leaves for a homemade lunchtime caprese salad. Or, harvesting squash, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and onions to make a delicious caponata This year,

— Nan Sterman When I dine out, my first choice is always farm-to-fork and farm-to-table. When I cook at home, my first choice is my own farm-to-fork. My little “farm” is the vegetable garden where I’ve grown all kinds of edibles, from artichoke to zucchini, for

— Nan Sterman People often ask where the ideas for episodes of A Growing Passion come from. Some come from places I’ve written about or projects I know from the decades I’ve been a journalist. Some are topics that fascinate me or pique my curiosity. Some come from producer Maria

— Nan Sterman They’re sweet, they’re hot, they’re the coolest things around. I’m talking peppers. Big peppers, small peppers, red, orange, purple, yellow, and of course, green. With so many kinds of peppers on the market, you might be surprised to learn that culinary peppers are

— Nan Sterman On this Father’s day, I am honoring my grandfather, Ed Miller. Grandpa Eddie, as we called him, is the reason I am a gardener. In one of my earliest memories, I am standing in a “forest” of tomato plants. They tower over my head and I smell the musty fragrance of t

By Nan Sterman Here’s something I’ve long wondered about. There are more than 4,000 species of bees native to North America, all of which are pollinators. With the problems that European honeybees have had in recent years, are there enough native bees to pollinate our crops instead? E

— Nan Sterman What if you could grow most of your family’s vegetables and protein in your own backyard and do it with just a fraction of the water and resources that your in-ground garden requires? According to the people you’ll meet in this week’s episode of A Growing Passion,