by Frank Sabatini Jr.

Chef Paul McCabe of L’Auberge Del Mar has exactly what it takes to be a master green thumb: he’s obsessed with growing things. No matter where he’s lived, he has always kept a garden.

A resident of University City, he admits, “I can’t even remember the last time I bought produce,” referring to his prolific yields of assorted lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, beets and, in particular, English peas.

McCabe’s garden measures about 160 linear feet, designed with raised beds that run about 36 inches deep, which maximizes his growing potential. The garden not only puts food on his family’s table, but also supplies him with the necessary ingredients for devising new recipes in a garage test kitchen that will land on the menu of L’Auberge’s renovated restaurant, due to reopen in September.

The chef and his children devote about ten hours a week tending to the garden, and he considers himself lucky that weeds and rodents haven’t afflicted the fruits of his labor. But other challenges exist, such as his ongoing attempt to grow Brussels sprouts.

“I’m having the hardest time with them, and I’m doing some research to find out why,” he says. “It could be because of a lack of alkaline in my soil.” And living in San Diego’s often-cloudy coastal strip, he’s learned to plant his tomatoes later in the season. “They don’t take well to the May gray and June gloom,” he adds.

Fruits such as avocados and oranges, along with a myriad of herbs also occupy his soil, competing with this year’s profuse crop of English peas that he’s been giving away to friends and neighbors.

“My kids love peas,” he quips. “But they’ve started saying to me, 'Hey dad, that’s enough.’”

Skip Pesticides: Companion Planting and Beneficial Insects
by Ondine Brooks Kuraoka

Marigolds, herbs and ladybugs are heroes in the home garden. “Plant marigolds among your veggies — they deter soil nematodes that can turn your tomato roots into sawdust. Also, if you don’t notice ladybugs in your garden, go buy a carton — they keep the aphid population down,” Arlene says. Carrots are good companions for tomatoes; they nurture the tomato roots. Mint fends off the tomato hornworm.

Other good teams:
Basil, tomatoes and peppers
Sage and beets
Bush beans and corn
Cucumbers, savory and onions

Good Gardening Book Resources
Burpee: The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically (1997, Wiley) by Karan Davis Cutler, Cavagnarok David, Barbara W. Ellis, and David Cavagnaro.
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening (1998, Storey Publishing) by Louise Riotte.
The Complete Guide to Gardening in California (2008, Cool Springs Press) by Bruce Asakawa and Sharon Asakawa.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Edible Gardening (2002, Alpha) by Daria Bowman and Carl A. Price.
Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden (2000, Rodale Books) by Sally Jean Cunningham.
Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening: A Month-By-Month Guide (1999, Chronicle Books, revised edition) by Pat Welsh.

Online Resources