Rooted in the Yard: September 2019 Note from the Editor

Photo by Jennie Sullins.

Our September 2019 issue is on newsstands now!

When my husband Scott and I moved back to San Diego a little more than two years ago, we weren’t quite sure where we wanted to live. With two young children, school districts were important, but we decided that outdoor space would play a big part in our decision. Having moved from Dallas where it’s too hot and buggy to keep anything open during the late summer months, we desperately craved the indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

We found the perfect home in La Costa. While the interiors needed an update (and still do), the yard, which backs up to a canyon, was nicely landscaped and had plenty of space for our plans—a playhouse and swingset, an area we could turn into a lounge with a fire pit and enough square footage for a pergola, an outdoor sectional and a dining table.

We finally finished the hardscaping last winter, so now I’ve been adding containers with plants, some with seeds (so the kids get to watch them grow) and planning out the plot for a small edibles garden. It’s an odd shape so I’ll have to have the raised beds custom made. Then, taking advice from garden columnists Kevin Espiritu and Katie Mullin, I’ll grow what my family eats—zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries and some leafy greens. Wish me luck!

Whether you’re embarking on a backyard overhaul or just making some additions, like me, you’ll undoubtedly find inspiration from our Gardens of the Year winners. There’s an artful Zen oasis, a California-style cottage bursting with color and hardscaping that cleverly maximizes a tiered slope. Kevin shares a simple how-to for pickling abundant harvests in “From Harvest to Shelf,” Katie talks about the flowers she’s propagating in her yard—and giving to friends and neighbors as gifts—in “Share and Share Alike,” and Phoebe von Reis turns Italian eggplant and tomatoes into a towering stack with a delightful sauce that freezes well in “Hot Tomato! (+ Cool Eggplant).”

Our plant love doesn’t stop in the garden section this month. Local photographer Jasmine Fitzwilliam invites us into her favorite space in her yard—an intimate dining nook—in “Hooked on the Nook”; editor Marley McCaughey gets an expert’s advice on decorating your interiors with plants in “Potable Polish”; and we enjoy a fine-dining, plant-based meal at a hilltop vineyard in “Harvest Dinner Vegan Style.”

We hope you find something (or lots and lots of things) in this issue you really dig!

Wendy Manwarren Generes