Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Harvest Season, Napa Valley - Before the Storm!


Formerly: Go Fish restaurant, St. Helena

Yesterday, the ebullient harvest season in Napa Valley reigned!
After a delicious lunch at Go Fish,
an afternoon spent photographing winery gardens beneath overcast skies.

On the drive home, the clouds forecast the threatening rain.

Après le deluge ... a drenching storm blew in overnight, 
its blustery winds and rain
unabated this morning.

Let's focus on the scene on Monday: 
Napa Valley restaurant gardens, featuring an abundance of edibles & ornamentals. 


Mustard's Grill, one of many Napa Valley restaurants that cultivate lush kitchen gardens.


A welcoming water feature at Brix restaurant, Yountville.


Mustard's Grill - another section of the gardens, with a structure providing some shelter.

Opus One Winery colonnade....

Fuyu Persimmon

Edible blooms ... the peppery flavor of nasturtiums adds spice to a salad.

Click on link below for entree to a trove of.... California Wine Country destinations

16 comments:

  1. Wow! What splendor to behold! Napa Valley restaurant gardens are beautiful. What a treat. Fall brings out so many wonderful plants and colors.

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  2. Hello,

    It is hard to pick one thing that I love most, but I think I will choose the raised planters. I love California wine country and will definitely need to visit some of the restaurant gardens.

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  3. Nice gardens Alice. I like the restaurant gardens so they are able to use freshly harvested produce to serve in their eateries. The spires of the salvias in the top photos really stand out. Great color combinations.

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  4. Great to know about these restaurants... when next in the area I will be sure to visit. I love the persimmon! The colors in that photo are fabulous! Love Go Fish's garden too and the photo with the sideways urn is lovely.

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  5. Lots of inspiration here! Great cloud shot by the way and I love that big jug.

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  6. Great pics. What wonderful places. All on my list of places to see now. thanks!

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  7. Delicious-looking greens in the raised beds. And are those flower buds on the cactus in the background?

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  8. What a great post, makes me want to take a trip north! Lovely gardens all of them.

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  9. Hi Alice, hope you didn't get washed/blown away! We have been to Napa and couldn't believe the lushness of every bit of gardening space, the climate and soil must be near to perfect. Love the raised beds of greens, yummy!
    Frances

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  10. Lovely photographs and commentary! Oh, wouldn't I love to visit there.

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  11. What a bounty of awesome restaurant gardens! I LOVE those big chunky raised beds at Mustard's Grill - just gorgeous!
    What a magnificent idea for restaurants to greet their guests with edible gardens of every stripe. They say we eat with our eyes first, so why not start snacking while we're walking into the place we're about to dine? What a way to whet the appetite, and to encourage a broad, expansive palate (palette)!
    Does that qualify as a double entndre? i hope so - I was tryin'!
    Many X's and O's to you, Dear Tendril!

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  12. Hey my friends, Thanks for dropping by to peruse this very brief snippet of Napa gardens!

    I'll be featuring the new gardens at Darioush Winery in Napa soon - so be sure to check back in.

    Helen is referring to the Opuntia, which can be seen in the background of the raised beds photo when you enlarge it. Helen, what you're seeing is the colorful fruit that has formed on the Prickly Pear cactus. It's edible, if a bit complicated to prepare.

    Germi,
    The locavore movement is alive and well in the Bay Area!
    Why not supply your own food if you've got the climate and capability, n'est pas?
    I wish I had had more time to scope out all the specialities that were growing in these gardens, but the impending rain had me on the run unfortunately! Will return soon, when I'm not so rushed. Your double entendre is perfecto, btw ;~) Such a way with words.

    Hope everyone is warm and dry tonight. We needed all the rain that fell,
    but as is the case when there's a deluge, our area had some flooding, many trees came down, and the highways were hellish.

    Tom rode his bike to work in the downpour - I cannot get him to take the car even in the worst storms. That's my guy!!

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  13. Spent a cold,cold day in my armchair, by the fire, traveling to far-off destinations in other folk's garden blogs. Yours brought back happy memories!! Pamela

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  14. Well that was a wonderful visit to napa gardens i must say. The foliage, blooms, water, cloud pics, edibles, roses, horses i enjoyed every bit.

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  15. We are storming here too but our aftermath doesn't look as nice as yours!

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  16. What a surprising collection of contrasting photos, Alice.

    Esther

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