Locavore Heaven! Ferry Plaza Farmers Market - San Francisco

Pomegranate luv! at the San Francisco Farmers Market

San Francisco's beautifully restored Ferry Building at the Embarcadero: Gourmet shops and the Farmers Market offer the finest local foods: breads & pastry, seafood & meat,

herbs, olive oil & flowers.

Tourists flock to the area for the engaging ambience, not to mention chocolates & gelato.

Buddha's Hand : Citrus medica

Saturday was reserved for a winter day in the sunshine.

During my graduate studies, I lived in the city for two years, but I still can't get over the dress code in San Francisco -- Flip-flops throughout the year, no matter what the temperature!

Although the peel of this citrus variety is quite thick, it is an extremely fragrant fruit that grows on a small tree or shrub. I have no personal experience growing it, and wonder....

have you ever grown this tender plant indoors or in your garden?

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Beaux Arts-style Ferry Building was constructed in 1898, with a clock tower some 245 feet tall situated at the foot of Market Street. Restoration was completed in 2003. You must see the building's stunning interior if you visit. It's a breathtakingly beautiful architectural space, with a 660-foot long sky lit Nave and marble mosaic floor.

Visitor Information

Amazed by the Beauty! A Winter Day at Quixote Winery

The Stags Leap palisades create a dramatic backdrop, while seedheads of ornamental grasses soften the surroundings on a winter's day at ...

Quixote Winery, located in the Stags Leap AVA - American Viticultural Area - of Napa Valley.

Former owner Carl Doumani, an avid art lover, once said: "The minute I saw [Hundertwasser's design) I knew it was what I wanted."

Playfully colorful, flowing and undulating, Quixote's design represents a rare example in the U.S. of a site (buildings and grounds) created by the artist, Hundertwasser. Always aware and concerned about the environment, Hundertwasser often added green roofs to structures.

Hundertwasser's paintings and architectural work incorporate an organic aesthetic meant to enrich one's everyday experience, in sharp contrast to the stark, geometric architecture that he loathed.

Ornamental grasses planted throughout add a naturalism to a landscape

designed by Landscape Architect Jack Chandler.

The Quixote vineyards are organically farmed.

"The kind of day that makes you want to live forever."

I basked in the warmth of the Irish: In this instance, the above greeting by Quixote's Wine Club Concierge, Ireland-born Anne White.

Anne's hospitality will enhance your visit to the winery: open by appointment only.

A note: In 2000, Hundertwasser died on a voyage on the RMS Queen Elizabeth, and is buried in New Zealand.

Quixote produces finely crafted Petite Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Celebrating Gardens

Aristolochia californica .. a very early blooming native vine in Alice's Garden 
Photo Copyright © Alice Joyce

The image of California pipevine befits the notion of the brilliantly green 2-year Blogiversary, celebrated with the readers of Bay Area Tendrils!

Surely one of the most interesting 'flowers' a gardener could ask for, and a host plant for swallowtail butterflies - the vine's leaves being the only food source the caterpillars consume.

Despite the region's heavy winter rains, it's plants such as this vigorous vining species that enliven my days as a gardener in the Bay Area. It's not unusual to see the plant flowering on and off throughout the seasons. This pipevine has spread widely in the garden, climbing up latticework, and scrambling under an arbor into through a border along a fence on the western boundary of the property.

The postage-stamp size garden I left behind in Chicago may be familiar to those of you who have followed the blog from its early days. A scanned 35mm slide shows a corner of a tiny gem of a space brightened by the hue of Chinese-red enamel on arbors I constructed, the wooden shutters and door to my studio. In Chicago, it always seemed we went directly from winter into summer, when a spell of intensely hot days would descend and roses would open... only to immediately wilt in the heat. But annuals grew lushly, thriving for months on end as the evenings contained the heat of the day.

Photos Copyright © Alice Joyce

The garden I created in my new home is a retreat from the daily grind: Another outdoor room, in fact, to expand the space of a tiny house. With plants that bloom year-round, the garden is filled with buzzing bees (despite the decline in bee populations), hummingbirds, and butterflies that feed on the pipevine; keeping us company while we have lunch under the umbrella.

In this 'before' shot, you'll see the new fence built to protect the space from our small town's over-the-top deer population. I'd been working for a couple months when I took the photograph, spending much of the time down on my knees, digging up broken glass and concrete rubble in order place the pavers that define the shapes of beds and borders. I eventually built up mounds for planting, having implemented the depleted and compacted hardpan with plenty of compost. I layered newspapers over the future pathways, as the El Nino rains of 1998 & '99 poured down over me.

UCSC's incredible FLORA: Banksia ericifolia 

Photo Copyright © Alice Joyce

Moving to the West Coast has been an eye-opening journey for a self-professed fanatical plant lover. It all began with my first 'major' journey about an hour and a half south to the Arboretum at the University of California at Santa Cruz! Here, collections of plants encompass members of the Proteaceae family from South Africa; the stunningly enormous cone-like flowering clusters of Banksia species from Australia; and yes, California native plants in the Elevenia Slosson Research Gardens: All provide an exciting horticultural experience.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Native Plants .. Slipper Orchid 

Photo © Alice Joyce

New York Gardens on Bay Area Tendrils

I want to thank you all for dropping by to share in my adventures.

New York City's Battery Gardens: The Bosque designed by Piet Oudolf (Photos © Alice Joyce)

Chicago's 'Crown Fountain' by Jaume Plensa .. Millennium Park (Photos © Alice Joyce)

Chicago's Green Destinations on Bay Area Tendrils

I remain extremely proud of the city where I was born, raised, and lived for decades. It's the equal culturally and horticulturally of any city I've ever visited! I need to travel to the midwest to experience the vibrant atmosphere of Chicago at least once a year.

Barcelona's Historic Parc de la Ciutadella (Photo © Alice Joyce)

The sophistication and panache of Barcelona is unique.

It's 2011.... amazing how time is flying by. I plan to continue writing about my travels here

and on my web site: Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

...to connect with virtual green thumbs in the year ahead,

and especially those of you I'll have a chance to meet in real time!

Ciao ... à bientôt ... Hasta pronto ... Até breve ... Until next time!