Wild and Feral Southern California

NATIVE SPECIES

Blackberries (Rubus ursinus) Perennial Cane - Rose Family
Cycles : Greenish red foilage hibernates over winter with it's leaves intact, although possibly redish or purple brown. New green growth in spring, small white flowers emerge, from which the greenish blackberries protrude. They turn red, then black and are tart to sweet as they age.
Habitats: Close to creeks, shaded areas, swampy areas, bottoms of canyons, edges of meadows from Canada south into Mexico
Uses: Berries can be made into baked goods or eaten fresh, or dried, leaves and vines made into varoius concoctions for ailments from stomach ache to diariaha. Roots also used medicinally by Native Americans of the west coast from Canada to Mexico

California Bay (Umbellularia californica) Perennial Tree - Laurel Family
Cycles : Loses a few leaves in fall, slow growth in winter and faster in spring as flowers growth in winter,
Habitats: Bottom of slopes, near streams, chaparral, open areas and shaded canyons from coastal Oregon south to San Diego.
Uses: The leaf is very similar to store bought bay leaves (Lauris noblis), but the California Bay is much more potent. It's leaves can cure headaches and toothaches an relieve mild stomach pain, but if used in excess can also cause them. The leaves are used as a tea, flavoring for foods, as a flea repellent for animals and to repel pests in storage areas. The nuts or fruits can also be harvested. They are green and turn purplish black like olives. They are dried, roasted, then cracked open and eaten, they possess a coffee like flavor.

Oak Tree (Quercus agrifolia) Perennial Tree - Oak Family
Cycles : Acorns are brown in fall and litter the ground, some branches die and turn yellow gold, in spring new leaf growth and flowering turn the colors to light green and yellow
Habitats : Areas below the pinyon juniper forests, below 4,000 feet, canyons, hillsides, creeks, ravines, streams
Uses : As a wood, one of the most important to humans, the nut, acorn can be made into meals, soups, breads and flour, but must be boiled or leached well

Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) Succulent Perennial - Cactus Family
Cycles : Tunas or fruits of the cactusappear in summer and fall, with new pads growing in late winter, early spring that can be eaten raw, in salsas or fried with other veggies.
Habitats : Rocky hillsides, ravines, sunny slopes, desery canyons, gardens, farms, sandy soils, clay soils, requires good drainage,
Uses : many of the feral vareites have been improved to have less spines, the fruit, young pad are edible and prepared in many ways

Walnut (Juglans californica) Perennial Tree - Walnut Family
Cycles : Leaves and fruit are shed in early winter and new growth begins in late winter, with flower clusters, and green walnut fruits by early summer, turns brown in fall
Habitats: Creeks, lower canyon areas, hillsides, foothills, coastal areas, oak forest edges
Uses: the nuts are very nutritious, like miniature store bought walnuts, but smaller and harder

FERAL SPECIES :

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Herbaceous Perennial - Sunflower Family
Cycles : In the fall and winter dandelions (tooth of lion in french) slow their growth, during spring and summer, they flower and seed, but many dandelions in the same location may be at different stages of growth.
Habitats: in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils
Uses: The flowers have are used to make dandelion wine, the greens can be eaten raw or braised, and the root makes a tea with a earthy taste similar taste to coffee, reportedly good for the liver.

Fennel (Foniculum vulgare) Perennial Herbacous Shrub - Parsley Family
Cycles : Dies back to root in late fall and winter. New growth in late winter early spring, producing yellow flowers in spring and seeds in the summer and early fall.
Habitats : Disturbed hillsides, canyons, chaparral, creeks, roadsides, sidewalks,
Uses: The leaves are edible as early as possible, as well as the bulb, and the seeds are also edible, cleans teeth,

Loquat - (Eriobotrya japonica) - Perennial Tree - Rose Family
Cycles : Dormant in fall and flowering in winter, fruiting in early spring, new leaf growth in the summer
Habitats : medians, front lawns, empty lots, alleys, landscaping, parks
Uses : as a delicious fruit, dried or fresh, oten peeled, with a large seed that can be dried and roasted as a coffee substitute

Mallow (Malva pariflora) - Herbaceous Annual Mallow Family
Cycles : New growth in late winter early spring, producing producing purple flowers and pods
Habitats: disturbed soils, clay soils, empty lots, medians, farms, wildlands
Uses: in a salad, stir fried, in soups, colon cleansing and weight loss tea,

Stinging Nettle (Urticca spp.) Herbaceous Annual - Nettle Family
Cycles : Dies back in fall and winter, new growth after first winter rains in garden beds, creeks, canyons, forests,
Habitats: garden beds, creeks, canyons, forests, sidewalks, empty lots, alleys
Uses: Harvested carefully with gloves and tongs, cooked like spin

Loquat Lust

The only difference between love and lust is trust - ?

The moment the first flavor crystal of sweet nectar bursts in your mouth, a new fruit exists that you may have never noticed. One of the most ubiquitous trees of Los Angeles, yet also one of the most neglected Yes, they taste very uncannily similar to many others, yet unique. I can think of at least 5 fruits that bear resemblance to loquats; peaches, apricots, mangoes, apples and cherries. They have a wide range of flavors depending on variety, ripeness and various other factors such as water, sun and nutrients. They are one of the most forgiving of all edible fruit trees, needing little, being favored by few pests, the humble loquat produces copious amounts of fruit annually in medians, front yards, alleys, abandoned properties, public parks and even gas stations. They are a very useful trees, the leaves being used for medicinal purposes, fruit and seeds (used to make a coffee or tea sbstitute) have all been used by humans for hundreds and thousands of years, with significant improvements in the taste over the last 500 years. Here is a recipe and a slice of history via wikipedia and from the forthcoming book "Feral Culinarian": the mildly wild food book.

^ Raw Loquat Jam
< attributes : vegan, raw, local
< useful tools : vessel
< preparation time : 10 minutes

* loquats

Loquats are known to be of indigenous origin Asia, where they have been domesticated for over two thousand years. They thrive in a wide variety of conditions of climate, soil and light, and after being pollinated by insects, they produce a peachy colored fruit in late winter or early spring. The leaves are analgesic, antibacterial, antiemetic, antitussive, antiviral, astringent, diuretic and expectorant. Quite a resume for such a small fruit. The size ranges from 1 to 3 inches with at least one 1/2 inch pit.

Jam is a sweet pasty substance usually made from combining heat, sugar, fruit (with pectin) and preserved in jars. Most common sugar comes from politically unstable regions where farmers are watched by guards with guns and governments, murderous rebel groups take bribes from international agribusiness firms. Loquats are delicious with their naturally present sugar however, and not often commercially available. Many people regard them as ornamental trees and plant them on medians and front yards, unbeknownst to residents and locals. I suggest appreciating the fruit in it's own season and eating it as quickly as possible, because without sugar and pectin, this will not last more than a week or two. Try using what ever fruit is in season to make a raw jam, strawberries, raspberries and melons can often defy the seasons and grow year round in Southern California and other hot dry climates.

To make, remove the seed(s) and thin peel, then pulverize the flesh into small pieces. Keep the seeds for planting, or roast them on a fire, grind or mill and put the grounds in your coffee making device to make loquat coffee. Continue mashing the rest of the fruit and put it into a jar in a cold place. It is a fine compliment to smoothies, ice cream, yogurt, pies, cake, other pastries as well as salad dressings or salsa. Cut the flesh into quarters to dehydrate.

high noon in the garden of snails sparrows and squirrels

It has been eight years now since it first happened. The constant evolution of space and time in the garden of snails and squirrels allowed me to expand my web of relationships with life. The first day, I don't remember if i actually took stock of my backyard as it stood. I was 17 years old. I had just moved on up to a nearby enclave. "The Cheviot Hills California Country Club Estates" was a fairly tale island of Stepfordesque proportions, named after a developers contest picked the name "Cheviot Hills" and British theme of street names. The neighborhood was once a Spanish Land Grant Rancho, and for a short stint, a golf course, was built in the 50's on a platform that it constantly aimed to pitch itself as a step above every other neighborhood in the immediate area including Palms, Mar Vista and Beverly Wood. The one edible thing on the property was a lemon tree that was hanging over the fence of an adjacent property. Other than that a fine sample of poisonous and exotic mid-century horticultural nightmare. Thorny bougainvillea, rodent dominated ivy, the sappy mess of giant bird of paradise and heavenly bamboo, (not a real bamboo) and the worst canopy tree, the ficus. Above ground, ficus harbor crows, squierrels, below grounds the destructive roots break pipes and sidewalks. A diverse group of animals inhabit the hills of cheviot such as the coyote, raccoon, opossum, crow, sparrow, hummingbird, parrot, duck, squirrel, rat, mice, lizard and an abundance of insect critters were the primary players in this ecosystem. Many of them lived on site, or in the nearby sewer drains, golf courses, freeway underpasses and basements of the area. In the house and yard (and somewhat beyond for brief periods) lived a canine, (owen) contributing feces, urine and fur mostly on the back side of the guest house, and a feline (boo) contributing the same on a smaller, more discrete scale. This area is also where things like urbanite, planters, mulch bags, straw bales and garden tools and fertilizer concoctions were kept, in an area about 3 feet wide.


The design parameters have changed about five hundred times, a wide range of species have been encouraged, cultivated, tolerated and contained. This can also be seen as a Venn diagram with these overlapping themes. The original banana was planted near the guest house, so it could be picked from the flat roof, which could be reinforced for a rooftop garden, passive and active solar panels, ovens and dishes. It could be a great place for summer fossil free bbq. Other flora I have tried to include both things that are expensive at markets or just unavailable. Things that you wouldn't see in a neighbors yard. I have taken note of some of the fruit trees in the neighborhoods where i grew up, and everyday I find new trees. Typical fruit trees like avocado, oranges, lemons, loquats, kumquat, blackberries, apples, apricots, plums, grapes, peaches and bananas. A much wider exotic variety exists on a lesser obvious note, (papaya, mulberries, guavas, macadamia nuts, pomegranates)in public and private areas. For over story trees, I have let the volunteer peruvian pepper tree colonize along the fence among the vines. I planted a pear tree that will be ready for grafting soon, a passion fruit vine, a kiwi vine (male and female), chayote, raspberries, blackberries, three large artichoke plants, a suriname cherry, elderberry, pineapple guava and loquat. In the front yard, I have put in more bananas, two dwarf tangerines, a nectarine, low chill cherry, pakistani mullberry, strawberry guava, hawaiian kona coffee bushes, allspice and an apricot tree have encroached their way into the stagnant landscape of suburbia. Most of the trees were planted close enough to be picked from the sidewalk.

I manned the jackhammer for days on end into steel reinforced concrete, every last foot provides space for food, animals, medicine, fibers, and wood for small projects, snacks and barbecues. Once the concrete had been plowed and sculpted to the flow path of my zones and sectors of influence, I had set into motion a modest yet powerfully change.
Long before Craig's list had a farm and garden page, I was perusing from cheap and free plants, mulch and stones. I happened to find a gold finger banana tree for $5-15 dollars US. In small, lesser known suburb of sprawling West Los Angeles, it is rare for the person to be three blocks away when communicating over the internet. The banana sat in the shaded corner of the patio pre-construction for about a year. It grew about two inches and shrunk maybe three. Once I planted it in a better solar location, in deep, rich soil and organic compost with mulch, it has grown to a height of about twelve feet in less than 2 years.

Some of the other pest that are usually tolerated cross a threshold that demands immediate action to prevent further damage. It is best to gather all the interested parties into one area to determine the best outcome. In a recent snail infestation, I began to study the snails in my area. I had been fascinated with them since childhood. My grandmother even made me a snail birthday cake one year. Oddly convenient to find that the common garden snail of California was brought here as an immigrant (by immigrants chefs) of the gold rush era as a delicacy to be fed to wealthy miners who struck it rich.

Today the fauna were in an uproar over the heat wave. The resident squirrel came into my room for the first time, brave soul. When I emerged in the late morning, there were two hummingbirds perched on the line to our house, enganged in a uproar of clickety chatter. The usual large black carpenter bees that live in the wood fence were present at their favorite yellow flower vines I have yet to identify. The parasitic wasp was having a feast of aphids and grubs on the late season brussell sprouts, and I was enjoying the raspberries with the honey bees placidly browsing the white flowers that they turn in to berries. Soon the herbs, raspberries and lettuce will all be in arms reach of my favorite outdoor reading spot, and I will eat the raspberries while laying down and reading. it's even better than being fed grapes.