Sherman Gardens In Corona Del Mar 1/22/2015

Did You Know? - According to the USDA Nutrient Database (2007), cooked octopus contains about 56 kilocalories (Calories) per 100 grams, and is a source of vitamin B3, B12, potassium, phosphorus, and selenium.

Octopus is a low calorie, lean seafood, making it a good way to get protein in your diet without adding too much fat. There are approximately 140 calories per 3 oz. (85g) of octopus, with only 1.8g of fat. Octopus is a very good source of iron, which is a common deficiency leading to weakness, fatigue and anemia.

Octopus is also a source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus and selenium. It provides several important vitamins including vitamin C, vitamin A and several B vitamins, as well as some omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is an important nutrient which may decrease the chances of heart disease, as well as cancer and depression. It also seems to boost the immune system and aid in brain development in children.

Did You Know? - Although known as a classic French dish, the quiche originated in Germany. The word quiche means "cake" which came from the German word Kuchen. Today, quiche is considered as typically French. However, custards in pastry were known in English cuisine at least as early as the 14th century.

Recipes for custards baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to Crustardes of flessh and Crustade in the 14th-century The Forme of Cury and in 15th-century cookbooks as well.

Quiche lorraine (named for the Lorraine region of France) is a popular variant that was originally an open pie with a filling of custard with smoked bacon or lardons. It was only later that cheese was added to the quiche lorraine.

Did You Know? - My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Dale

Did You Know? - One should approach a barrel cactus with extreme caution. A puncture to human skin from one of the spines is considered a 'dirty wound'. If the puncture is deep enough to draw blood, antibiotics may be needed; and could take up to several months for the wound to heal properly. Barrel cactus plants are one of the more dangerous cacti to humans in the desert.

Did You Know? - Christmas cactus, also known as orchid cactus, often blooms around Christmas time. There are a number of different cactus species sold as "Christmas cactus," including Schlumbergera opuntioides, Schlumbergera kautskyi, and Schlumbergera microsphaerica.

Did You Know? - Gardening requires lots of water — most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson

Did You Know? - A group of turtles is called a "bale." Many people use the term "herd" to refer to a group of turtles.

Did You Know? - Espalier (/ɨˈspælɪər/ or /ɨˈspæli.eɪ/) is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame, frequently in formal patterns, flat against a structure such as a wall, fence, or trellis, and also plants which have been shaped in this way

Espaliers, trained into flat two-dimensional forms, are ideal not only for decorative purposes, but also for gardens in which space is limited. In a temperate climate, they may be planted next to a wall that can reflect more sunlight and retain heat overnight or planted so that they absorb maximum sunlight by training them parallel to the equator. These two facts allow the season to be extended so that fruit has more time to mature.

A restricted form of training consists of a central stem and a number of paired horizontal branches all trained in the same plane. The most important advantage is that of being able to increase the growth of a branch by training it vertically. Later, one can decrease growth while increasing fruit production by training it horizontally.

Did You Know? - Green is the color of growing grass, leaves and emeralds. On the spectrum of visible light, it is located between blue and yellow. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength of roughly 495–570 nm.

The modern English word green comes from the Middle English and Anglo-Saxon word grene, from the same Germanic root as the words "grass" and "grow".

By far the largest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll, the chemical by which plants photosynthesize and convert sunlight into energy.

In surveys made in Europe and the United States, green is the color most commonly associated with nature, youth, spring, hope and envy. In western culture It is the color of permission and safety.

It is also often associated with the culture of Gaelic Ireland, and with the environmental movement.

In China green is the symbol of fertility.

It is the most important color in Islam. It was the color of the banner of Muhammad, and is found in the flags of all Islamic countries, and represents the lush vegetation of Paradise.

Did You Know? - Fuchsia /ˈfjuːʃə/ is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic and Haiti) about 1696–1697 by the French Minim monk and botanist, Charles Plumier during his third expedition to the Greater Antilles.

He named the new genus after the renowned German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566)

Did You Know? - The Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule, syn. Papaver croceum, P. miyabeanum, P. amurense, and P. macounii) is a boreal flowering plant. Native to subpolar regions of Europe, Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia (but not in Iceland), Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, one foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long. They were first described by botanists in 1759.

Did You Know? - Radishes can be useful as companion plants for many other crops. This is probably because their pungent odour deters such insect pests as aphids, cucumber beetles, tomato hornworms, squash bugs and ants.

They can function as a trap crop, luring insect pests away from the main crop.

Cucumbers and radishes seem to thrive when grown in close association with each other, and radishes also grow well with chervil, lettuce, peas and nasturtiums.