  | gardeningGrowing chaos Ari Levaux A plant gone to seed has its own kind of beauty. It turns out that if you leave them alone long enough, garden plants are happy to do their own thing. This week, Ari LeVaux explores the aesthetic, philosophical and biological joys of the bolted garden in “Going to seed.” Add a Comment V.21 No.35 | 8/30/2012  Ari Levaux Food for ThoughtGoing to SeedEnlightened chaos in the gardenFood writer Ari LeVaux discovers the joy of a chaotic garden.
Scapes on a train Ari LeVaux Scapes on the plain No, not snakes on a plane. Scapes on a train—or more specifically, garlic stalks stir-fried with pork and oyster sauce in the dining car of a Chinese train bound for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In this week’s Food Section, globetrotting food critic Ari LeVaux talks about the pulse-quickening moment he first encountered garlic flowers and stalks—collectively called scapes. Scapes are in season right now, and preparing them at home is inexpensive and easy. (Unlike some of the other international train rides Ari has taken.) V.21 No.23 | 6/7/2012  Food for ThoughtGreat ScapesThe loveliness of garlic flowersThe first time I ate garlic flowers was for breakfast on a train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The dining car didn't have a menu: You just sat down and they brought you food. A server delivered a plate of stir-fried chopped green things with pork and oyster sauce, along with a bowl of rice. It was years before that I realized that the pencil-thick green things were pieces of garlic flowers and flower stalks, collectively known as scapes.
V.21 No.14 | 4/5/2012  Ari LeVaux Food for ThoughtGreen Mulch MakeoverSummer-proofing your vegetable gardenAcross the Midwest, New England and Canada, high-temperature records are being broken by the thousands—3,125 between March 12 and 18 alone. Meteorologists are scrambling to find anything comparable to weather that has been dubbed “summer in March.” Two days before the official end of winter, temperatures of 94° were recorded in South Dakota.
Webgame Wednesday: Bloomin' Gardens Spring isn't quite in the air, but it sure is nice to think about the impending change in seasons. You can get in the mood for warmer weather with Bloomin' Gardens. It's a puzzle game that asks you to plant different species of flowers in a gridded-out garden. Line up five or more in a row, and they disappear. Work fast, because for every plant you drop, three more sprout up. You've gotta think ahead to plan out your garden, because it's gonna get overgrown mighty quick. Tomorrow! Seed workshop at Plants of the Southwest with expert farmy guys geishaboy500, flickr.com While you're sewing the metaphorical seeds of change for 2012 [see "You, Improved"], don't forget about the literal ones. Two of the state's foremost farming experts—Michael Reed (La Orilla Farm, The Permaculture Institute) and Joshua Cravens (Jardin del Alma, project director of the Arid Crop Seed Cache)—are presenting a pair of free classes in preparation for spring planting. This Saturday's session focuses on the history of plant-human coevolution. Next Saturday, take a 101-style workshop on growing your own organic food from seed. Both weekend's classes take place at Plants of the Southwest (6680 Fourth Street NW) from 1 to 3 p.m. Call (541) 221-2879 or email empressofkale@gmail.com if you're interested in attending either of them. V.20 No.27 | 7/7/2011  Ari LeVaux Flash in the PanRobbing the Compost PileCarrot tops, spinach bottoms and the whole radishThe preparation and consumption of animal offal has become trendy in recent years. From headcheese to braised pig feet, there are all sorts of ways of turning animal refuse into delicacies. And while plant offal hasn't exactly become the new rage, B-list plant parts can be incorporated into tasty meals as well. Ari LeVaux provides recipes for three such underused ingredients: spinach roots and the greens of carrots and radishes.
V.20 No.20 | 5/19/2011  Eric Williams ericwphoto.com FeatureDo It Yourself, HoneyUrban farmers take living well into their own handsA colony of 80,000 bees holds enough sting to kill you—actually, it holds enough to kill about 80 of you. But sitting a few feet away from a hive that’s nearly as tall as she is, Chantal Foster is unfazed as yellow-and-black honeybees whiz by on a pollen-fueled highway. Maybe it’s because, with rare exception, the potentially deadly flying insects seem to have no interest in her. The bees are on a mission, and it’s about getting frisky with flowers, not ferocious with humans.
V.20 No.16 | 4/21/2011  Ari LeVaux Food for ThoughtThree Gardens in OneA springtime strategy for maximum yieldsSearching for the best crops to plant with garlic, Ari LeVaux developed a technique called "tossing seeds randomly." He put all the seeds he didn't get around to planting last year into a jar, shook it up and threw them by handfuls. This experiment produced the "garlic patch friends" and a springtime strategy for maximum yields.
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