I’m scratching my head trying to relate this potato soup recipe to our Sunnyvale garden. Maybe carrots. Yeah, carrots. It’s raining and cold and potato soup is comfort food.

The bleeding heart plant (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) has heart-shaped flowers that hang in rows on arching stems above soft, green foliage. This spring-blooming perennial has a short growing season. By midsummer, the whole plant dies back to the ground. Bleeding heart is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. Common Name: bleeding heart Type: Herbaceous …

The Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve is known for its showy display of wildflowers in spring. In summer, the hills turn to gold with the late evening sunlight. Autumn, when the fog recedes, is the ideal time to enjoy the ridge views of San Francisco Bay, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean through the crisp, clean air. Winter …

Prep Time: 60 minutes Start to Finish: 4 hours

There are two major types of persimmons commonly available in America: fuyu and hachiya. Fuyu persimmons are squat and round and can be eaten out of hand like an apple. They have a crisp, almost waxy texture, and a sweet flavor slightly reminiscent of gingerbread. For hoshigaki, however, you will need to use hachiya persimmons. These are longer and pointed. …

This recipe has no ingredients from our Sunnyvale garden. But it does have a very tasty Mole Poblano Spice Blend from Oaktown Spice Shop that our daughter Shauna gave us for Christmas. Yield: 4 servings Prep: 50 minutes Cook: 1 hour 10 minutes

I am adding my wife’s recipe for Spanish rice so I can find it.

We have a Bearss Lime tree in a large pot in the corner of our yard. The Bearss lime is ripe in December and January. It is golf-ball sized and when ripe the rind is yellow instead of green. This year there were several dozen limes. What can you do besides play golf. Preserve them! They add a great flavor …

Lemon Verbena has a citrusy fragrance and a pretty light green foliage. The leaves can be used in a variety of cooking: including limoncello. I grow it in a foot-square patch under a fruit tree It’s an herb with a strong lemon flavor.. Lemon verbena’s flavor is also rounded out by the lack of acidity that comes with lemons, and …