Table of contents for Harvest 2021 in Sunset

I’m finally saying goodbye to my lawn. It’s been harder than I thought it would be. For 20 years, it was a good, if fickle, friend, providing soft landings for my children when they were young, offering me a soothing hit of pseudo-nature-bathing serotonin when fully (rarely) green. I enjoyed hand-watering it on cool weekend mornings, a cup of coffee in my hand, waving at neighbors, fulfilling a nostalgic aspiration inspired by some long-forgotten 1960s TV show. It also prompted pangs of guilt with every drought, mailings from the utility department telling me I was a water hog (a broken sprinkler, that wasteful hand-watering). We loved the volunteer dandelions in spring. We hated the crab grass with its woody tendrils. When the sprinkler system fully failed, I petulantly refused…

When it comes to cleaning up our energy habits—reducing our use of natural gas and electricity generated at coal-and-gas-powered plants—people in the West are ready to change their ways. Nearly three-quarters of Californians said that they would prefer efficient electric appliances powered by clean energy instead of fossil gas, according to a survey conducted by FM3, the California-based research organization, and released by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm. And the state energy commission aims to put standards in place that would require newly constructed homes to be electric-ready. In June, on the hottest day in Oregon’s recorded history, lawmakers passed groundbreaking legislation requiring the state to convert to 100 percent clean, “responsible” energy by 2040. At press time, 48 cities in the country had outlawed natural gas in construction…

OPTIMISTIC ALLIUM If you only plant one thing this fall, let it be garlic. “Planting garlic is a metaphor for life,” says Andrea Bemis, a farmer and cookbook author who owns Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale, Oregon. “My husband and I like to joke that by the fall you’ve already had your big mistakes in the garden, so garlic is a clean slate. It gives you hope for the future.” To plant yours, pick your fattest cloves to replant, or buy garlic from the farmers’ market. Hardneck will give you garlic scapes; softneck can be braided after it dries. It’s a hearty plant, so a spot that gets sun and has well-drained soil will work, but make sure you plant before the first hard frost. To make a night of it, make…

Damian in the Arts District of Los Angeles, legendary chef Enrique Olvera—known for New York’s Cosme and Atla, and Pujol in Mexico City—is further evolving the definition of what Mexican food can be. The dishes at Damian (and its taco annex, Ditroit) incorporate California’s rich bounty into Mexican preparations tweaked just so. Ingredients like uni are combined with market greens in an inventive take on Caesar salad. Yukon gold potatoes are delicately hand-mixed with freshly ground white masa to create a tamal that becomes a potato-studded vessel for salsas of every kind. The dishes come out of the kitchen into an indoor-outdoor dining space covered in the greenery typical of Mexico City: Abundant monsteras and plume split leaf philodendrons hang overhead as custom cutlery is placed alongside handmade Oaxacan dishware.…

“You have all of these moments in your life that are just waiting, and you’ll miss them if you’re scared. I feel I’ve been very lucky to not be scared regarding design.”—ERIN MARTIN 1. Brand Napa Valley Martin left “love letters” to the “glam” family behind this St. Helena winery throughout her design. A mirror from a London dance school, for example, pays homage to the owners’ ballerina daughter. An entry console from arborist Evan Shively rounds it out because, as Martin says simply, “I love wood.” 2. Trinchero Family Estates “It’s chockablock, it’s full, but everything’s telling a story,” Martin says of this St. Helena winery design. A Catholic starburst sits above the winery door, while the signatures of each Trinchero family member are etched into the glass of…

At Stemple Creek Ranch in West Marin, white safari tents and modular cabins sit clustered next to an edible garden in a dell ringed with wildflowers. Farm-to-table meals are grilled over a fire fueled with fallen oak. Guests learn the inner workings of the ranch by day, eat food cooked by Michelin-pedigreed chefs by night, and doze off reading about ecology in their well-appointed tents. Welcome to the future of agritourism. Stemple Creek, which produces grass-fed beef on its solar-powered ranch, is home to the first overnight farmstay and culinary experience hosted by Sagra Farms, a hospitality startup connecting travelers with farms in stunning pastoral locations. Inspired by the decades-long European tradition of farmers hosting guests at, say, olive oil farms or wineries in Tuscany or Provence, the founders of…

Pumpkin carving isn’t the only Halloween activity on our list: We’ve got our eye on some organic lollipops that are more than just delicious—each one is filled with edible flowers or herbs, like marigolds. They’re an opportunity to connect with your kids in the garden. Amborella Organics lollipops may look like any typical version of the popular candy, but they’re far from it. You can plant the biodegradable stick in the ground to grow the plant or herb that inspired each flavor, from Baby Blue Eyes to mint. The goal, co-founder Taylor Clarke says, is to encourage people to “think about the things they consume a bit differently, and get into nature and have a relationship with plants.” The idea for the pops came from Taylor’s husband, Brennan Clarke, who…

Landscaper and ceramicist Dustin Gimbel’s new cactus sculptures are of totemic proportions and will add a bright exclamation point to any garden. To make them, Gimble uses an extruder—“it’s like a big pasta maker with clay,” he says—then hand-carves each segment into shape. His sculptures are arresting and covetable, so much so, in fact, that when we spoke to Gimbel he was on his way to Puget Sound, Washington, to pick a site for three totems at Dan Hinkley’s iconic Windcliff garden. (One cactus sculpture there will reach an impressive 15 feet.) Available in four different designs and glazes, the cacti can be ordered by the foot. The price for such artistry is high—$140 for 12 inches—but Gimbel also makes table pots for those with more down-to-earth ambitions. Totems, price…

Malibu Farm is one of the most iconic coastal restaurants in Southern California, and the last kind of restaurant Helene Henderson imagined herself running. The Swedish-born private chef turned restaurant empire builder is a selfprofessed sea-averse, non-swimming lover of the land who’d long dreamed of running a spot in the country—not a café teetering on pilings above the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. After years of running pop-up events and teaching cooking classes out of her Point Dume home, Henderson took over an old diner at the end of the Malibu Pier. Her obsession with fresh ingredients and lean local proteins, and a light touch with breakfast, made that first little restaurant an instant hit—the kind of place you’d see Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece fueling up at after…

Claremont Club & Spa, a Fairmont Hotel The Charles family suggests you stay in this “historic hotel” with “a couple of pools.” fairmont.com/claremont-berkeley Vinca Minor Jason and Emily have worked with old-vine Carignan for nearly a decade—they also produce a bit of Chardonnay. vincaminorwine.com Hammerling Wines Josh Hammerling “is producing some of the most exciting sparkling wines right now in California,” Jason said. hammerlingwines.co Maître de Chai On the weekends, Alex Pitts and Marty Winters often cook wood-fired pizzas in an oven shipped over from Italy. mdc.wine Snail Bar Formerly of Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50, Andres Florez is now “serving up small plates and natural wines.” snailbaroak.com Pizzaiolo This Oakland restaurant is a “great spot for wood-fired pizzas and fresh pastas.” pizzaiolooakland.com Redfield Cider Bar & Bottle Shop Enjoy the…

Indulge us for a moment to talk about kitchen and bath fixture trends the same way we do food fads. Polished chrome is the standard, meat-and-potatoes choice that will never go out of style. Brushed nickel has a caramel macchiato vibe—big in 2005, but a little decadent and there’s a chance you could regret it later. Unlacquered brass hardware is like a poké bowl. It was suddenly everywhere around 2018 but might not be for everyone. Enter matte black faucets, door handles, and cabinet pulls, which are like the plant-based burgers of hardware design. They burst on the scene over the last couple of years, and they took a minute to adjust to. But they’re surprisingly good. When you mix them with gold and brass, they can be very, very…

Gas stoves typically account for about 2 percent of a household’s total gas usage, but the fumes they produce are proven to be dangerous. When you’re cooking with one, use that vent! And when it’s time to buy a new range or cooktop, be ready to go electric. Induction ovens and burners are more evolved, savvier relatives to lazy electric coil burners, and higher powered than electric radiant heated options. And now that 48 American cities (and counting) have banned natural-gas-powered appliances in newly built homes, buildings, and restaurants, cooks who are not yet sold on induction—the engineering marvel that boils water in under two minutes, with magnets—will have to adapt. Here are a few top-performing induction ranges and cooktops that will clean up your kitchen. Sadly, they don’t do…

Five years ago, when Lauren Soloff and Adam Sher first brought their newly blended family to see the 1908 Craftsman they bought in Jefferson Park, a neighborhood in central Los Angeles filled with classic homes in varied states of restoration and repair, the kids did not get it. “The previous owner had worked hard to restore the house and was very into classic Craftsman details like flickering orange light bulbs in the hallway. It was dark. It felt a little bit like we were in an Edward Gorey book,” says Soloff, who has spent the last 15 years working as an interior designer, visualizing dream homes for her largely California-based clientele. The three tweens—Soloff’s son and Sher’s daughter and son, all from previous relationships—were wide-eyed and uncertain. Soloff was undeterred.…

If you stand quietly in the middle of Little City Farm, next to the tall bamboo tripods heavy with climbing bean stalks and the rows of tomatoes, peppers, chard, and onions, you can tune out the sounds of chickens clucking and children playing just long enough to hear the roar of cars speeding down Olympic Boulevard. Look up, and beyond the 100-year-old palm trees that stand at attention on the neighboring streets, you might spot an LAPD helicopter crossing the blue sky. It’s so easy to forget that you’re in the literal center of sprawling Los Angeles when you arrive at this urban homestead, surrounded by hay bales, backhoes, and pitchforks. It’s such a wonderland of edible, growing things that guests (and magazine writers) spend the first few minutes on…

Ashes & Diamonds Picture this: You’re sipping an ’18 Blanc at the Pierre Koenig–designed Hollywood pool house. You’re one of the first to drink it—and one of the few to step onto the historic property—because you’re a member of Napa Valley winery Ashes & Diamonds. And that’s just one of the perks. The winery’s VIPS also get complimentary pool access at the recently renovated Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs in Calistoga, not to mention preferred rates at other hotels and exclusive event invitations—à la the ‘18 Blanc release. Membership levels range from $345 to $1,290. ashesdiamonds.com Hoopes Vineyard Take your pick of five clubs hosted by Hoopes Vineyard, though two are especially experiential. Join the “Oasis Herd” and part of your fee is a donation to the…