Herb Farms For Sale Articles & Resources

HAWAII SUPER MARKET

NO, IT'S NOT A NURSERY, BUT ETHNIC markets frequently sell produce with seeds that can be grown and eaten. Of the many in . that do, the Hawaii Super Market is exceptional. Unlike at Gelson's or Bristol Farms, where everything is trimmed and tidy, here vegetables (leeks, lettuces, greens) often have their roots attached, so they're still fresh enough to transplant. Water chestnuts, lemongrass shoots, and watercress cuttings go right into your water garden. Pluck just-dug shallots and seed potatoes from the bins and pop them into the ground. 120 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, 626-307-0062.

HAYGROUNDS ORGANIC GARDENING

ABOUT 16,000 SEEDLINGS ARE TAKING over his backyard, but Jimmy Williams isn't concerned. Williams, whose garden-design firm specializes in edible landscapes, is .'s leading purveyor of plants indigenous to Africa and the Caribbean. The variety of plants he propagates and offers for sale is astonishing. You may have bought his heirloom tomato seedlings (notably Goose Creek, an award-winning 300-year-old variety passed down in his family) at local nurseries, but where else can you find rattail radishes? African eggplant collards and Caribbean chocolate habaneros? Or peppers and eggplants that stand taller than a pro basketball center? 567 N. Bronson Ave., 323-216-0379. By appointment on weekends. Catalog available on request.

LOS ANGELES MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY

IS IT POSSIBLE TO POINT TO A GRIMM'S fairy tale forest of mushrooms in your backyard and say, "Yeah, I grew that"? Yes. There are mail-order kits available online that will help you grow everything from buttons to portabellas, but a more adventurous route is to join the Los Angeles Mycological Society. Between December and May, members trek around . to hunt for the wild mushrooms that sprout after a good rainstorm. Many of the 400 to 500 species that thrive here are edible, and their spores can be successfully cultivated at home. The group's monthly meetings teach what is safe to eat and other fine points of fungus foraging. 323-292-1900 or .org/lams.

THE ORANGERY

SINCE OPENING LAST YEAR, THIS small, obliging nursery has become a major source for fruit and vegetable gardeners. The staff holds your hand through rows of raspberries, espalier fruit trees, mulberries, a dozen or so grape varieties, roses that produce edible hips each fall, and blueberries that will grow here. What it doesn't have it will order. Recently the Orangery contracted with the horticulture program at nearby Fullerton College to custom-grow small quantities of unusual vegetables. 403 W. Chapman Ave., Orange, 714-639-8183.

PEARSON'S GARDENS AND HERB FARM

GARDENERS, GOURMANDS, AND WICcans, take note: Pearson's, one of Southern California's finest growers of annual and perennial herbs and other aromatic plants, is now open to the public. While many nurseries carry a respectable selection of herbs, Pearson's offers not dozens but hundreds of them. Stock up on the basics--20 kinds of lavender, 10 oregano, 20 mint, and an alphabet of sages--or fill a flat with stuff you don't know, from agrimony to arnica, shiso to stevia, vervain to virex. 1150 Beverly Dr., Vista, 760-726-0717. Open weekdays only.

VEGETARE

TONY KIENITZ'S FIRM DESIGNS SOME of the finest edible gardens in . After discovering that commercially available plant choices were limited, Kienitz decided to address the shortage by growing vegetables geared to the climate of the Southwest. We thought we knew a lot of vegetables but were impressed by what we found on a recent trip to his backyard growing ground: chicory, kale, sweet and hot peppers, perennial beets, and rare tomatoes from France's premier tomato-seed source, Le Prince Jardinier. 626-791-4047 or . By appointment only.

VERDUGO PET SHOP

RAISING CHICKENS HAS GONE UPTOWN with exotic fowl pecking in some unexpected zip codes. Part one-upmanship (others get eggs from Whole Foods, you get them from your backyard), part ancient hobby; keeping chickens and other fowl closes the garden loop: They eat vegetable waste on one end and produce rich fertilizer at the other. If you don't know a pullet from a pallet, learn about local ordinances, then head to Verdugo Pet Shop for a fine-feathered selection and sensible advice. 5022 York Blvd., Highland Park, 323-255-2327. Chickens are also available by mail order from Murray McMurray Hatchery, 800-456-3280.

Tools of the Trade

HERE IN OLD TOWN ORANGE is the most extensive selection of garden tools in the country--wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Under its own Red Pig label, DENMAN AND CO. forges 45 tools--hand plows, spades, trowels, hoes--that are available only at the store. Denman's can customize any tool to suit a gardener's personal grip--it will even make a replica of a beloved set of pruners, for instance--and build the pieces on-site, sometimes while you wait. When you need a solid, does-the-job garden tool and you need it now, head to the Hollywood branch of ANAWALT LUMBER for a well-edited stock of high-quality tools; the same brands sell for much more at local nurseries. Anawalt Lumber, 1001 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, 323-464-1600. Denman and Co., 401 W. Chapman Ave., Orange, 714-639-8106.

Meet the Wiggles

RED WORMS HAVE BECOME the "It" players in household composting. As rapid and tireless eaters of coffee grounds and filters, as disposers of celery that has lost its crisp, as lovers of virtually anything that isn't meat or dairy, these wriggly heroes of the compost heap consume more than their weight in table scraps every day. What they give in return are their castings: dark and odorless waste material that is rich in beneficial microorganisms and, when applied to the soil surrounding your plants, acts as a high-performance vitamin pack. Compost worms are inexpensive to house in bins that can be kept tidily under the sink or in a dark corner of the garage. Spring is their season; warmer weather is the best time to find them in nurseries. Bins can be as simple as a plastic tub with a cover from any hardware store or state-of-the-art boxes available from specialty suppliers. Simply Worms, 310-398-1214, sells worms every Wednesday at Santa Monica Farmers Market, Arizona Ave. and 2nd St., Santa Monica. Worms are also available at Green Thumb Nursery. 21812 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, 818-340-6400. The . Bureau of Sanitation holds worm bin sales and classes; call 213-473-8228.

FRUIT TREES

We ask a lot of them--and they deliver

THE PROJECT OF PLANTING a tree is one of those fundamental things undertaken few times in a life--it represents who we are, the character of our private ecologies. The decision to plant a fruit tree says that we seek more than structure and a certain texture of shade from this garden backbone: We want nourishment and, quite often, a physical connection to the past.

The MIMOSA NURSERY LA in East Los Angeles specializes in exotic fruit trees, particularly for a large Asian clientele who seek pineapple guavas, peppermint peaches for Chinese New Year, or lichees and longans for dessert. Behind aisles of sweet-smelling Kaffir limes from Thailand and Vietnamese pomelos are large coops of doves and fancy-looking chickens, which once were for sale but now are kept as pets by the owner, Gilbert Guyenne, who comes from Vietnam. The nursery, which was founded 22 years ago, also carries a nice selection of large, decorative pots.

For many gardeners, a fruit tree represents a kind of travel at home, the backyard a theater whose diva may be a weeping plum or a rare banana or macadamia nut. The PAPAYA TREE NURSERY in Granada Hills is the result of 20 years of travel and experimentation by the Silber family. Founded by Tina and David Silber--an engineer who changed careers to devote himself to the nursery--and now run by their son, Alex, the nursery specializes in organic dwarfs, generally 15 feet and under, and mini dwarfs that can be grown in pots. Although it's maintained at the family home, the nursery offers a wide array of strange and wonderful fruit trees: Persian mulberries, jujubes from Asia Minor, mandarins from Japan, deep purple jaboticabas from Brazil, tropical cherries from Barbados. The plants are tested for three years for suitability to the Southern California climate before they are offered for sale. With proper sun and protection from heavy winds, says Alex Silber, the average backyard gardener in this region can harvest a different fruit each month of the year. (They give fruit samples.)

With 20-plus acres open to the public, BOETHING TREELAND NURSERY at the edge of Woodland Hills has an enormous selection of standard-variety fruits, from the ever-popular deciduous stone fruits to pistachios, olives, and persimmons, many of them in 24- or 36-inch containers for the gardener who wants to start big. Bring a reference guide; many of the labels provide only Latin nomenclature. Look out for a massive valley oak, standing unceremoniously on an access driveway behind a greenhouse.

The SCULPTURE GARDENS of Venice is an exquisite boutique nursery. It offers the lovely and fashionable pink lemonade variegated lemon tree (the fruit, as advertised, is pink inside) and other potted citrus, including a tree called Citrus Salad that bears five fruits.

Boething Treeland Nursery, 23475 Long Valley Rd., Woodland Hills, 818-883-1222. Mimosa Nursery LA, 6270 Allston St., East ., 323-722-4543. Papaya Tree Nursery, 12422 El Oro Way, Granada Hills, 818-363-3680 (by appointment only). Sculpture Gardens, 1029 1/2 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 310-399-0321.

David Cowles's celebrity caricatures ("The Essential Guide to Gardening," page 53) have been published in Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, and Rolling Stone. In 2000, his first animated short, Superfunk & Freaky-Dee, was awarded the Grand Jury Animation Prize at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Cowles illustrated a story about charity fund-raisers in the February 2002 issue of Los Angeles.

Kate Karam ("The Essential Guide to Gardening," page 53) is the former editor of Dig, the award-winning newsletter of the defunct Hortus nursery in Pasadena. Before completing the . Department of Agriculture's Master Gardener program in 1999, Karam was the international media director of Greenpeace for 15 years. She makes frequent guest appearances on Home & Garden Television.