Wine tasting in Temecula

Pure vacation time begins!

Taking advantage of my work trip to California, I extended my stay by a few days, and my friend Sarah Lynn flew out and joined me. It worked out perfectly, because she was planning to fly to Los Angeles the following week for her husband's grandmother's 90th birthday gathering, so she came out early so we could explore southern California together.

Neither of us had been to San Diego before, so we focused our four days there. We chose to take an inland, scenic route from Newport Beach to San Diego, which took us through Temecula.


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It was a beautiful, winding drive through Cleveland National Forest. It really hit home for me how susceptible to wildfires this landscape is. The whole area of southern California I saw was much more arid than I expected, especially around San Diego. I didn't expect to see cacti unless I were to drive inland toward Death Valley, but they were really all over the place.

While the altitude of this particular "national forest" wasn't very high, the quantity of trees were far from my idea of a forest, and the landscape was populated more by scrub-type vegetation.

The weather inland differs dramatically from the weather along the coast of California. Our drive to Temecula was the hottest we experienced, with a high temperature in the upper 80s. I hear so many people say, "Oh, but it's a dry heat, it's not as bad," but I tell you what—it was hot!

Temecula is a town of about 100,000, but it was the local wine country that encouraged us to make a stop there. Last summer, on my trip to Traverse City, Mich. with Mom, I did my first wine-tasting—so I was interested to see how it compared to a California experience.

The area promotes at least 35 wineries—we stopped at four. That was all we could handle! The four we visited:

• Leonesse Cellars: This one was personally recommended by one of my clients, so we went there first.
• Danza del Sol Winery
• Ponte Family Estate Winery
• South Coast Winery: It was chosen Best California State Winery of the Year for the last two years, so we were definitely curious to see if it lived up to the award.

I much prefer white wines over red, so that's what I focused my tasting on. I found a couple Gewurztraminers I liked, and an Orange Moscato at Danza del Sol, but nothing else even came close to encouraging me to buy some. And surprisingly enough, I liked the lauded South Coast Winery the least. Part of it was the atmosphere, part was the service, but I actually didn't find the wine I tried to be anything spectacular.

After a day of sweating and sampling wine, we continued our journey south, toward our hotel near Escondido. We'd heard from friends that roadside fruit and nut stands and avocado groves were plentiful outside Escondido, and since we both are big fans of fresh, local food, we really wanted to see this for ourselves.

I didn't get to see any avocado groves—and I was curious to see avocados in their element—but I certainly saw the plentiful evidence: Sarah Lynn and I were shocked to see roadside stand after stand advertising 25 avocados for $5.00. That's $0.20 each! I'm excited when we can find avocados for $1.00 each in Indiana, so this was unbelievable. Neither of us had a way to really transport or consume dozens of avocados back to Indiana, but we certainly laughed about the possibilities for selling them at a profit!

And let me tell you, we had fresh avocado on everything. Omelettes were topped with it. Salads featured it. Even Subway, which in some Indiana locations offers an avocado spread as a sandwich topping, in southern California had fresh, whole avocado on hand to slice individually for your order. I definitely enjoyed that!

Up next: La Jolla, which boasts some of the most expensive real estate in the country.

Summer travels: California

You probably have a travel wish-list: a list of places you want to visit and see for the first time—or maybe a second or fifth time. Mine includes lots of European and Mediterranean destinations, but it also includes dozens of places within North America. (Not the least of which is a goal to visit all 50 states.) California has always held a spot near the top of that must-see list. The stars aligned for me this year, and I got the opportunity to travel to southern California for a business trip, which I extended by a few days and turned into a vacation. I'll share my adventures with you over the next few weeks!

I've wanted to see California for many reasons: various natural landscapes from north to south, including Redwood National Forest and Yosemite National Park in the north and central regions of the state, and Death Valley and the coastal beaches in the south; city landscapes and environments like San Francisco and San Diego; an abundance of fresh, local, and organic food (year-round!); and the promise of daily weather forecasts that rarely stray from sunshine and 70-75°F. 

Two of my clients at work have headquarters in San Diego and Brea, CA. We've been working with them for about a year and a half, but with the wonders of telephone + Internet communication, we've never before really had the opportunity to head west and drop by for a face-to-face meeting. That all came together last month, though, so I flew into San Diego with two of my colleagues for a couple whirlwind meetings just after Memorial Day.

Our first night, we stayed in La Jolla, a northern suburb of San Diego, at the Estancia Hotel. This destination hotel and spa had some of the most beautiful landscaping I'd ever seen, which not only gave us a fragrant, gorgeous walk to and from our rooms, but it gave the property a private, quiet, secluded feel. In a testament to the year-round nice weather, all rooms were accessed by outside doors, and to get to our rooms, we had to cross a couple interior courtyards. Wouldn't it be nice if all sidewalks looked like this?

I immediately felt transported to a different lifestyle when we entered the lobby to check in and were offered complimentary water (with cucumber, of course) or champagne. Relaxation and pampering were the name of the game at this hotel.

I was personally more entranced by the flora that I'm not accustomed to seeing in the Midwest. So the first thing I did after dropping off my luggage in my room was grab my camera and wander the grounds of the hotel.

We only got the chance to spend one night in this hotel, because the next day was filled with client meetings and a trip to Brea, a suburb of Los Angeles, about 1.5 hours north of San Diego.

We toured the client campus there, and I particularly loved the fact that they had lemon trees growing all across the grounds. They had a bowl of fresh lemons in the lobby that had just been picked that morning (and were the size of a softball), and employees are welcome to pick their fill any time. How great is that?

More and more companies are embracing things like on-site farmers markets (this company has one weekly in the summer), healthier foods, community-supported agriculture, etc. I'd love to have a company garden that included fresh citrus! What about you? 

More tales to come...

An herb garden in the making

An experiment in the making: my first herb garden.

I mentioned in my last post that I have a handful of different herbs growing (or attempting to grow) in pots on my deck. I don't have much experience with growing potted plants (heck, I don't have a lot of experience growing plants in the ground, either!), so I'm learning as I go.

I took a cooking class at Kiss Z Cook earlier this spring called "Cooking with Fresh Herbs," in the hopes that it would inspire me and teach me something about how to use my coming crops.

I'll just say that it didn't meet my expectations. If I'd been out to just cook some recipes in a group setting, I'd have considered it a successful evening. But I was looking for more educational, informational instruction, and I didn't get that at all.

The good news: I paid for the class with a Groupon that saved me more than 50%, so that helped to lessen my disappointment.

Ironically, just a couple weeks later, I went to a free (magic word) gardening fair at the county fairgrounds, hosted by the local Master Gardener's association, and I specifically went at a time when they were presenting a 30-minute session on growing, preserving, and using fresh herbs. This free session knocked the socks off the expensive cooking class. The presenter spoke completely without notes, purely from years of experience, and I took several pages of notes on her recommendations.

Fast forward to mid June, and my basil and oregano look great, but the cilantro and parsley aren't flourishing quite as much. I do love walking past them every day on my way to and from work, checking in to see how things are doing. I've especially enjoyed seeing the pattern in which the basil leaves grow. Leaves appear in 180° pairs, then the next pair grows on top of the previous pair -- but at a perfect 90° angle. I love the order and symmetry of it.

This is actually the basil pot where my toad couple spent the evening last week. I haven't seen the two of them together again (hope they're not on the outs), but their visit doesn't seem to have hampered this basil!

Finally, this cilantro seedling is s-l-o-w-l-y making progress. I like how delicate it is at this stage, yet completely recognizable.

I'm going to keep coaxing these along, and I can't wait to use some. I want to make pesto, salsa...

Are you growing any herbs? What are your favorite ways to use them?

Unexpected garden visitors

Four-legged visitors are usually unwelcome guests in a garden, but I have one that I have to admit I'm enjoying having around.

I've started my first herb garden this year, in pots on my deck. I'm growing oregano, basil, flat-leaf parsley, and cilantro. I tried starting some from seeds indoors, but I've since learned that my house just doesn't quite get enough light to nurture hearty growth. The basil was the only start worth keeping.

Seeds are cheap, though, and it was a fun learning experience, even if it essentially failed. I got a start of oregano from my aunt's massive plant, and I bought new basil, cilantro and parsley plants at area farmer's markets and garden centers. The still-living basil starts got transplanted into a couple pots (which, if they all take off, will end up giving me enough basil to last for about five years).

Not 48 hours after I'd potted all my herbs and settled them into their new homes on my deck, I noticed that something had been digging in the dirt around the cilantro. Thinking, at first, that it was a chipmunk (grrr), I was pleasantly surprised when I went to water the plants the next day and discovered what it was: a toad! He was buried in the dirt up to his eyeballs. It didn't look like he'd disturbed the roots, though, so I left him alone (hoping he'd feast on more than his share of mosquitoes).

After some further research into how much sunlight each plant enjoys, I shifted the pots around to better maximize the sunlight in this space. It seemed to have disturbed my toad, though, because I didn't see him again for a week or so (and he'd been nestled into his cilantro home each morning and evening).


Not to fear, though, because apparently it takes more than that to scare my toad away from his new home. Tonight, I got home from a bike ride and found him in a new pot -- a pot that is essentially in the same place as his old cilantro home.

And he'd brought a friend. Don't they look cozy?

He probably feels like he's been downsized, since this pot is in the same place, and it's smaller than the previous one. Unfortunately this couple has now definitely disturbed the roots of my basil seedlings... but since I have two others doing fine, I'm thinking I'll just leave them be.

My other surprise find tonight was this:

It's a squash plant. Growing in my compost heap. And I did not plant it there on purpose.

Actually, let me clarify: it's closer to 50 squash plants growing in my compost heap.

I'm not sure what it is yet, but it's blooming! I tossed some gourds out there at the end of last fall, so we'll see if that's the winner! Last year I found a bundle of tomato plants in this same spot.

This may be the easiest kind of gardening around.

123/365 First snowfall

We've had our first measurable snowfall of the season! If that doesn't wake you up and make you realize it's December, I don't know what will.

Early Saturday morning, as I was gathering ingredients to make five dozen cookies for a party the next day (more on that subject later), I got a call from my grandmother with a tip for this photo opportunity. She let me know that their holly bush in the front yard looked absolutely perfect with the light snow settling on top, and if I wanted to stop by, please do!

How could I pass that up?

So I ventured out, with my purple wellies, heavy coat, hat, gloves, and umbrella to shield my camera and lens. After a few chilly minutes, I came away with some shots that I'm very happy with. I'm thinking you may see this on a holiday card next year!


Thanks to Grandma for the tip!

Now excuse me while I go find some Christmas music to play...

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/100s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 under cloudy skies at about 12:00 p.m.

80/365 Wildflower or weed?

What exactly separates wildflowers and weeds? More than just a difference in name, the two definitely come with rather opposite feelings or connotations.

When I hear "wildflower," I think of freedom, in plant having found its own way and carved out a piece of real estate. I think of natural beauty that exists without the aid of humans. I think of summer, colors, delicate blossoms, and softness.

On the other hand, what comes to mind when you hear "weed"? I'd put money on the idea that it's quite different. Words like nuisance, obstruction, hard work, and kill come to mind.

But a friend commented on a previous post here that considered dandelions, asserting that a weed might just be a plant out of place. Makes sense! If you think of it that way, does that dandelion in your yard earn a promotion from weed to wildflower?

The flower in the photo above is one I'd call a wildflower, but it's not growing in my yard -- so someone else might feel differently.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 100 at about 6:30 p.m.

63/365 Acidic soil and blue hydrangeas

I just recently learned that the color of a hydrangea bloom often depends on the pH of the soil. Dad's are usually pink, being in central Indiana, but he acidified the soil this year to produce these gorgeous blue-purple blooms. They're absolutely stunning. He clipped one to bring inside, so I took it back out into the late-day sun and spent at least 10-15 minutes photographing it from every possible angle.

This influence on colors reminds me of the science experiments we sometimes did in elementary school, where we put a white carnation in water that included food coloring. As the flower drank the water, the petals changed color.

Thinking about that makes me want to turn on PBS and watch kids' shows!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/4 at ISO 100 at about 6:30 p.m.

62/365 Growing baby birds

Much to the chagrin of Mama Bird, I peeked in on these newly hatched baby birds that are nesting in Mom and Dad's grapevine.

Mama B couldn't have chosen a better photo-accessible site for me if we'd chatted beforehand. I was able to peer in at the nest without touching any of the plant around it. She never stopped squawking at me from a few feet away, so I made my photo as fast as I could, then left them alone.

Until they can fly, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the babies stay in the nest and away from the jaws of the Great White Hunter.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 125 at about 6:00 p.m.

57/365 Blooming hostas

Hostas are great foliage to have in your landscaping, because they don't just bloom then fade away -- they're attractive greenery throughout the warm months.

They may not invite the most attention, since they're more subtle bloomers, but I recently added a new lens to my arsenal -- and these had to be among the first captured subjects!

I have at least six hostas growing around my little house. Are you a hosta fan? If not, what are some of your favorite landscaping accents like hostas?

Camera: Canon 40D with 70-300mm IS lens, 1/500s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 7:30 p.m.

38/365 How does my garden grow

I have a garden! Dad and I spent a beautiful afternoon getting it in, and I'm awfully excited about it. I made sure to get before and after photos, which you see here.

I had a small garden last year in a different location that didn't work out so well. From four tomato plants, I reaped about six tomatoes, and they were still attempting to ripen at Thanksgiving. And my cucumber plant's lone cucumber never did mature. The spot was too shady and the dirt in too poor condition. So this year: relocate!

Being surrounded by large maple trees, my yard is largely shaded. Great for the electricity bill, not so great for growing plants. So we chose to put the garden on the south side of my garage, in the one area of the backyard that gets some substantial sun.

The roof of the garage doesn't have gutters, so we also had to take that into consideration and put the plants outside of the drip line. We bought five bags of organic top soil, because we expected the soil to be in starved condition -- but, lo and behold, when we tilled it up, it looked fantastic! I have two bags of top soil left over that I'll have to share somewhere else in the yard.

I now have six lovely plants growing in my garden: two Better Boy tomatoes, one cherry tomato, one cucumber, one red pepper, and one jalapeno. Add three marigolds for bug control, and voila! Six plants doesn't sound like much, but with a good location and plenty of room to stretch out, I expect they'll produce plenty of fresh vegetables for me.

I also didn't want to get in over my head this first year. If all goes well this year, look out 2011!

Camera: Canon 40D
Before photo: 1/250s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 11:00 a.m.
After photo: 1/125s, f/5.6 at ISO 200 at about 5:30 p.m.

15/365 Unfurling hostas

I have four or five hostas growing around my house, and I've found it interesting to see how they sprout in the spring.

Whereas many mostly green plants stick around in the winter, these completely disappear and die off (above ground). But when it came time to greet the spring, they emerged like bright green straws. Their leaves were curled into a spiral tube, then they unfurled when they reached their full height.

I've seen hostas around for years, but I've never really paid attention to witness this part of their growth. It's pretty cool!


Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 1000 at about 7:30 p.m.

10/365 Climbing higher

I love finding plants that are growing in unexpected places. This one isn't exactly growing in an unexpected place, per se, but its vertically-reaching tendrils have found a brick wall to be sufficient for climbing.

This particular extension has woven itself between this decorative shutter and the brick. I like the contrast between the neutral, rough browns and the curving, lush green. That's precisely what has caught my eye every day since I first saw this.

Unexpected. Love it!

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 1000 at about 7:30 p.m.

9/365 A vilified dandelion

Ah, the dandelion. The bane of all grass-growers' existence. And boy, are they everywhere this year.

At the very least, they're an attractive weed. I mean, so many of the other annoying weeds that threaten a perfectly manicured green lawn are just scraggly or will actually poke you if you step on one with bare feet.

So when you think of it that way, are dandelions so bad? Should we be taking the weeds life has given us and be making salad instead?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 640 at about 7:45 p.m.

357/365 Look down: green grass

Americans have a bit of an obsession with green grass, don't we?

We force it to grow where it wouldn't naturally -- in subdivisions in Arizona, in the desert of Nevada -- even at the risk of causing a water shortage. In the wetter climates, like Indiana, we water it just to keep it green when the rain tapers off in late summer.

Where did that practice begin? My guess is that it evolved with the popularity of subdivisions following World War II. Green grass became a bit of a status symbol.

While I don't really support watering mature grass just for the sake of keeping it green, I do relish its return after a long, cold winter. And I love walking on that lush carpet in bare feet. It's one of those little joys that is so simple but loved by just about everyone.

Welcome back, green grass!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/100s, f/2.8 at ISO 800

355/365 Looking down: spring growth

It's the colorful flowers on the other end of the stem that usually get the attention, but I have to say, this part of the plant deserves attention, too.

The part that I most like about this photo is the contrast between the virtually colorless dried mulch and the fresh, bright green of the new plant. That plant had to push its way upward through the hardened soil of winter and the layers of wood chips in order to reach the sun.

And then it just keeps on going, reaching skyward.

You've got to admire that tenacity, don't you think?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/3.5 at ISO 320 at about 6:00 p.m.

268/365 Adopted white poinsettia

Personally, I'm partial to red poinsettias.

I won't turn down a white one (exhibit A, pictured here), but I definitely prefer the red variety.

I adopted this (very large) white one last week, and it's offered a little more Christmas cheer to my sparsely decorated house.

And of course, knowing me, there's no way I can bring a flowering plant into the house and not photograph it. To ignore it would be sacrilege.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 640

242/365 Waving grasses

I spent the day after our return from Chicago utterly exhausted. I honestly felt as sluggish as if I'd been drugged, though I know it was just the relaxation of being home, after walking miles (and trekking through hours of shopping) in a relatively unfamiliar city for several days.

I could barely keep my eyes open, and I didn't venture outside for my photo of the day until close to sunset.

This is the top of some (now dried) ornamental grasses. They remind me a bit of the tassel of a corn stalk, but finer and more delicate. They flutter in the slightest of breezes, but the day was lovely and the breeze was calm -- meaning they held still enough for me to capture.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/2.8 at ISO 100 at about 4:30 p.m.

210/365 Burning bush

When it comes to fall in Indiana, one thing I always look forward to seeing are the burning bushes.

They're everywhere around central Indiana, and while they're just an average-looking shrub for the majority of the year, when fall rolls around, the leaves change and turn a brilliant shade of red. It's beautiful!

Seeing this one right outside my front door every day makes me really appreciate the vibrant colors that can occur in nature. I love being reminded that some of the most striking objects aren't man-made.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/60s, f/2.8 at ISO 320 at about 6:00 p.m.

195/365 Near-harvest soybeans

I've been itching to get a close-up photo of some near-harvest soybeans for a couple weeks.

On Sunday morning, the light was finally perfect, I had the right camera in hand, and I made my move.

I've never considered soybeans to be a terribly attractive plant or crop. You see lots of people decorating for fall with dried cornstalks around their houses, but you never (or rarely) see dried soybeans used in such a way.

The remaining stalk is just a bare stick, and the soybean pods grow fairly sparsley on the plant.

But I considered that to be my challenge: how to make the dried soybean a cool photo?

You may disagree, but I'm quite happy with my final result.

Living in the Midwest, I find it easy to take soybean fields for granted as just an average, everyday crop. But all you have to do is look at the list of ways soy can be used, and it blows me away. It's an amazingly versatile product.

From now on, I'll try to appreciate my neighbor soybeans a little more.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/500s, f/4 at ISO 100 at about 10:30 a.m.

114/365 Tasseling corn

It must be summer, because the corn is beginning to tassel.

Is it just me, or does this year seem to be flying faster than ever before? Can it really be mid-July already? Are we really halfway through 2009?

Part of it, I'm sure, is the amount of activities that have been keeping me busy this year. But it almost feels like I missed spring entirely.

But sure enough, the corn was more than knee-high by the fourth of July, and it's now tasseling. I've even heard some cicadas already, which are definitely an auditory clue that summer is here.

Oh well, there's nothing we can do but enjoy it while it's here!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/4 at ISO 100 at about 7:00 p.m.