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april 21-27, 2016 LasVegasWeekLy.com 9W

� Who’s in charge? Leslie Doyle, tomato expert extraordinaire, who for around 20 years has been run-ning her organic test garden and consulting for seed producers in the five-state area.

Mission: To make it possible for anyone to have a bountiful harvest, especially of big and delicious toma-toes—desert heat and all.

Location: 5910 Sheila Ave., 702-490-5217, sweettomatotest garden.com.

Active season: January to March.Grounds: The huge plot behind

Doyle’s home looks like the Garden of Eden (if Eden required elbow grease). Piles of composting dirt abut sheds overflowing with tools on the right side of the property. The bulk of the lot, though, is taken up by rows of raised beds producing every variety of vegetable imagin-

able. Fruit trees and a shaded area for the chicken pen complete the portrait of urban garden bordering on high-volume farm.

What grows? Tomatoes (of course), peppers, eggplant and any other summer veggies participants choose for that season, vending some weekly at the Downtown 3rd and Downtown Summerlin farmers’ markets.

Classes: The Test Garden offers 35 classes, from growing basics to how to combat pests organically. Costs range from free to $26 includ-ing supplies.

Why check it out? On the cut-ting-edge of desert gardening, Doyle offers students her pioneering tech-niques that, as she puts it, “allow you to take all the credit and feel an enor-mous sense of pride in the delicious produce you grow.” –Molly O’Donnell

� Who’s in charge? The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, an outreach college designed to share knowledge through classes, Master Gardeners and all-around expertise.

Mission: Demo gardens illus-trate how to develop and maintain a healthy garden and desert landscaping through water-efficiency, raised plant-ers, soils, composts, ground covers and small-space gardening methods.

Location: 8050 Paradise Road, 702-275-5556, unce.unr.edu/counties/clark.

Active season: Year-round. Open to the public Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., with Friday tours at 10 a.m.

Grounds: Pathways take visitors through different gardens—rows of produce, raised planters, flowering perennials, desert trees, ground covers and shrubs. Grown for education rath-er than entertainment, the flora has a relationship with the environment shown in growth behavior, mulch,

irrigation techniques and shade. That there isn’t much shade affirms Master Gardener claims that with the right soil and water, we can grow anything here.

What grows? Everything you’d expect and some things you wouldn’t, from roses and fruits to herbs and grains to agave and palm trees. There are also test gardens, including one where they’re trying to cultivate 20 varieties of milkweed.

Classes: Workshops are offered throughout the year. Topics range from preparing rose gardens for summer heat to problem-solving pest issues.

Why check it out? This garden proves that growing in this climate can be fruitful and relatively easy once the soil is amended, water-ing is strategized and planting style is determined. Paths through the area allow for educational sight-seeing of thriving life in the desert. –Kristen Peterson

his is where the essence of true

life is. It is this basic beginning,” Roz Brooks

says, fingers resting on the damp earth around a perfect spear of asparagus. With an almost musical snap, she offers the thick green base—the part I always toss because it’s dry and woody. But nibbling through this five-acre island of a farm, radishes and carrots to saffron and chives, I’m becoming a believer.

Clean and sweet on my tongue, natural sugars at their

peak, this tender spring bite reminds me of the wild stuff that grew in our horse pas-ture when I was a kid, and makes me regret every starchy grocery-store stalk. “We want people to get their hands in the dirt,” Brooks presses. “We want people to experience fresh food.”

For six years, that has been the former school teacher’s mission with Vegas Roots, a nonprofit community garden on Tonopah Drive just north of the 95 that she summoned almost single-handedly from

an empty lot. It was donated by retired NFL running back and local developer Frank Hawkins, who knew Brooks was a health coach with a dream of combatting inner-city food deserts. There was just one teensy problem. “I had never even planted a seed.”

Taking in the patchwork rows and raised beds, the orchard and chicken coop, the playhouse, classroom and outdoor kitchen, the painted tree trunks and grapevines beautifully consuming the pic-nic area, I can’t believe what

Brooks and a handful of vol-unteers have manifested. The mural-covered fence might as well be a force field around this lush little world.

Vegas Roots has grown like a lot of things do in this city’s unforgiving soil: sometimes spurting, sometimes wither-ing, but tenaciously in bloom. Sustaining it is a balancing act Brooks is still honing. Standard programs depend on patrons, like Adopt a Plot ($500 a year for your own raised bed), the You-Pick Garden ($1-$2 per handful for greens and herbs;

fruits and veggies by weight) and the kid-centric gardening/cooking camp Lil’ Roots ($10 a month for classes and person-alized plots). Brooks says she started the latter in September because she couldn’t make rent on the office building. She’s been creative in trying to monetize, hosting movie nights and sunset yoga. She also does onsite wellness coaching and a 9-week course on beating diabetes, and she’s working with a veteran herb-alist on a garden pharmacy.

But this being a community

space, Vegas Roots is also soil for other community endeav-ors, hosting SOUP (Support Organize Unite People) din-ners that culminate in micro-grants, and soon to launch the Veggie Buck Truck thanks to a $25,000 USDA grant.

Wrapped in produce glamour shots and rocking

a “Veggies” vanity plate, the truck is modeled on a mobile farmers’ market doing great service in Washington, D.C. For the June 3 maiden voy-age, Brooks will visit the local welfare office, and she plans to hit low-income senior cen-ters once the truck is running three days a week. She’s brain-

storming a cookbook featuring local chefs that she could give those customers if others are willing to buy it.

“If I can’t get y’all to come to the garden, I’m just gonna have to bring the garden to you,” she says with a chuckle.

As the sun turns smoky purple and molten orange

behind the hills, I walk the rows and see how much dirt is still waiting for hands to dig in. Like any growing thing, Vegas Roots needs to be fed and watered and loved. It needs us. Putting a fine point on what it means to this urban pocket, a neighborhood kid playing around the fire pit

takes a monster bite of a whole raw cucumber. I ask if he’s really eating that. He gives me this priceless look, like he can’t imagine why I’m asking.

VEGAS ROOTS Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. 715 N. Tonopah Drive, 702-636-4152, vegasroots.org.

Exotic produce! Cactus heaven! Badass roses! Plus more wisdom from local green thumbs, only at lasvegasweekly.com.

calVin harris by aaron garcia herbally grounded by jon estrada10W LasVegasWeekLy.com april 21-27, 2016 april 21-27, 2016 LasVegasWeekLy.com 11W

GROW KIT

Local outfit Urban Hydro Greens helps you cultivate nutrient-dense baby plants with ease and minimal mess. Just pick up one of its indoor-friendly grow kits at the Henderson or Summerlin Fresh52 farmers’ market. (And try a sampler!) $35-$50, urbanhydrogreenscom.

VEGAN CHEESE

Organic cashew cream might not sound tasty, but try Virgin Cheese and you’ll believe in its artisanal, plant-based sorcery. From brie and smoked gouda to sri-racha cheddar, there’s a healthy flavor for the cheesemonger in all. Saturdays at Fresh52, virgincheese.com.

SUPERSNACK

Made with almonds, cashews and dates, GrassRoots’ nutritious bites come in four fla-vors. For tasty energy on the go, try Apricot Chai, with protein pow-der, maca, chia, cinna-mon, cardamom, ginger, vanilla and coconut oil. $3.50, 124 S. 6th St. #160, 702-550-6444.

HERBS & SPICES

Herbs, teas, edible flowers—Bloomin’ Desert sparks culinary adventure. The smoked sea salt is perfect on grilled fish, steak and vegetables, and the English rosemary, marjoram and flat-leaf parsley make any dish next-level. Saturdays & Sundays at Fresh52, 702-501-5470.

CARNIVOROUS PLANT

For 101 years, Hirt’s Gardens has been growing hard-to-find peren-nials and unusual decorative plants. Unusual, as in, meat-eat-ing. Try Venus flytraps ($8-$10), sundews ($8-$12) or pitcher plants ($8-$15), which have been known to snack on mice. hirts.com.

Our desert vegetation does a body good

By Rosalie Spear

� Did you know that fresh rosemary adorns Las Vegas parking lots? Or that you can get raw protein from crunchy pods straight off the landscaper’s beloved screwbean mesquite tree?

Nevada is home to many plants you’ve seen a hundred times without realizing they have culinary or medici-nal value—and you can cultivate them in your own backyard. With knowl-edge and sun, you’ll be on your way to homeopathically addressing headaches, pain, digestive issues, allergies and other ailments, whether through tinctures, infused oils, salves, poultices and teas or just old-fashioned munching. But if you’re not a green thumb or don’t have space to grow your own, you can head to family-owned Herbally Grounded. For a dozen years it has provided locals with organic products and more than 50 locally made supplements.

Staffer Tatiana Arce comes from a Native American background and

embraces the use of plants and herbs for their medicinal qualities, person-ally using aloe vera, nettle leaf, cramp bark, slippery elm and more to attack health problems and promote well-ness. She and others at the herbal outpost impart that we’re surrounded by natural food and medicine, even out here in the desert. In fact, Herbally Grounded offers monthly classes, stressing that it’s essential for plant consumers to purchase them properly or grow their own, as foraging or wild-crafting is illegal on public land.

The long list of native species rec-ommended by the shop is backed up by Charles W. Kane’s Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest, and the fol-lowing were selected for their abun-dance in the Las Vegas Valley. Most of these plants are available for purchase in some form at Herbally Grounded.

Larrea tridentata: Commonly called creosote or chaparral, this anti-microbial plant was historically used by Native Americans and Mexicans to prevent and treat infection, although it’s also touted for anti-inflammato-ry and antioxidant properties. Kane dubs it “the medicinal hallmark of the southwestern deserts.”

Ephedra viridis: Mormon Tea or Brigham Tea, a straw-like bush all over

Las Vegas, is believed to relieve sinus congestion and, in limited capacity, to drive bronchial dilation thanks to traces of pseudoephedrine (found in many cold medications). And devotees say it reduces inflammation, sooth-ing everything from canker sores to urinary-tract irritation.

Juniperus osteosperma: This fra-grant native of Red Rock Canyon has leaves and fruit equally potent when used medicinally, Kane says. It’s said to soothe chronic cystitis and nephritis, and to help with eczema and psoriasis when applied as an oil or salve.

Pinus monophylla: Besides bearing nuts used as a food source by settlers of the Great Basin (and which I find deli-cious in pasta), this plant is believed to have similar health benefits to the juni-per, and they’re often used in conjunc-tion. Pine pitch, made from pine resin, is an old-school cold remedy.

Acacia greggii: The seed pods have a distinctive onion flavor—and astrin-gent properties employed against skin irritation caused by insect bites, sun-burns, scrapes and abrasions.

HERBALLY GROUNDED Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. 4441 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-558-4372, herballygrounded.com.

� Worms are like bees and

spiders: You probably recoil

from them, and from their

super-important responsi-

bilities in nature’s grand

scheme. For one, plows

have nothing on worms,

whose prolific earth-bur-

rowing allows more water

and air to reach both soil

and plant roots. And

their ravenous appetite

results in nutrient-rich

fertilizer. Not for nothing

is worm poop (or cast-

ings) nicknamed “black

gold,” as both casual

and serious composters

employ the wrigglers—spe-

cifically red wrigglers—to

devour and digest fruit and

vegetable scraps and other

biological detritus to enrich

their soil. Castings are kinda like

multivitamins for plants, full of

magnesium, calcium, phospho-

rus and nitrogen.

Sold on the idea of vermi-

composting yet? You should be,

given the minimal fuss it takes

to maintain such a garden (or

indoor) operation, and the

robust produce that can

come from it. Seek out

vendors with experi-

ence breeding worms

in the desert (lasve gasworms.com or funkyfreshfoods.com), and follow

their advice on

how to place, feed

and maintain them.

Soon, your garden

will blossom, with

your wrigglers having

literally done the

dirty work.

–Mike Prevatt

“Oh my goodness me, yes.

Both regular artichokes

and Jerusalem artichokes

love it here.”

“No, our soils are too salty, and it gets too cold. You could grow it in a pot on a bright

patio if you are willing to basically be married to the thing.”

“I don’t think it’ll kill anybody

to try it ...”

“As long as you protect them from

the worst of the sun, and if your pH is really high you’re

gonna want to lower it a little bit.”

Artichoke? Pineberry?

Avocado?

Lychee?

“Not happening.”

Coconut?

“No problem.”

Jicama?

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da � Want more straight talk from state social-horticulture guru Angela O’Callaghan (including the skinny on the best produce to grow)? Visit lasvegasweekly.com! �

Apricots

Arugula

Asparagus

Beets

Bok choy

Butternut squash

Cantaloupe

Carrots

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Gala apples

Garlic

Green beans

Green garlic

Green tomatoes

Kale

Lettuce

New potatoes

Okra

Onions

Peaches

Pears

Peas

Pumpkins

Spaghetti squash

Spinach

Summer squash

Sweet potatoes

Tomatoes

Vegetable amaranth

Watermelon

Zucchini

MaRCH apRil May jUne jUly aUGUst septeMBeR oCtoBeR

� Don’t have space for a backyard garden? Didn’t inherit your mother’s green thumb? Still want to cook with

fresh fruits and vegetables?Experience farm-fresh flavors at

home thanks to the northwest Valley’s Gilcrease Orchard, where you can pick tomatoes off the vine for that summer salad or harvest a medley of root vegetables for a hearty autumn stew.

Squash, peas, carrots, beets, greens and zucchini are ripe right now, and the farm stand has green garlic and asparagus. Gilcrease sells produce for eight straight months, so we found out what’s in season through the year.

Buy with the seasons at the 60-acre farm nestled in the city

By Mark Adams

Intuitive Forager KeRRy ClasBy,

curator of the

Downtown 3rd

& Downtown

Summerlin

farmers’ markets

Given the flood of organic options

at supermarkets, why shop farmers’ markets? There are two categories

of produce: organically grown on

industrial farms, and organically grown

on small family farms where the owners

are tender caretakers and shepherds

of the land. I’m about the small family

farms and bringing vine-ripened,

freshly-picked-at-the-height-of-flavor

produce onto the table and into the

community. It’s a movement. We’re

sourcing from Nevada farmers all the

time, from Pahrump to Las Vegas to

Caliente to Jean to Sandy Valley.

Diane GReene, founder of

Boulder City

herb & veggie

depot Herbs

by Diane

Why should we buy local

herbs, and how do you grow in the desert?

They’re fresher and they last longer.

[Desert gardening] can be done, but

you need lots and lots of compost.

That’s the main thing, because the

soil here is so poor. Other than that, it

just takes a lot of time and dedication.

Chef Roy ellaMaR, mastermind

of Bellagio’s

seasonally &

sustainably

focused Harvest

In farm-to-table terms, do you have a

favorite season? Every

season has its charm and excitement,

but if I had to choose one favorite it

would have to be spring. Coming out of

the cold doldrums of winter, the green

of spring vegetables—English peas, fava

beans, snap peas—gets me excited to

know that soon more fun ingredients

are around the corner. Spring also

signals longer days, warmer weather

and lighter cooking. I look forward to

spring every year, but I don’t think my

cooks share the same enthusiasm, as it

means so many tedious vegetables for

them to clean!

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GILCREASE ORCHARD Saturday, 7 a.m.-noon (hours change with the harvest). 7800 N. Tenaya Way, 702-409-0655, thegilcreaseorchard.org. For the most up-to-date details on seasonal produce, sign up for Gilcrease’s weekly newsletter.

GET MORE DISH For longer conversations with Clasby, Ellamar and Greene—whose fantastic herbs

adorn our cover this week—visit lasvegasweekly.com.