how to set up a database for laravel 5? (connection refused error)

I am trying to get a laravel5-example project working. One of the steps seems very basic but I do not know how to do it:

Create a database and inform .env

With laravel 5 my .env file looks like:

APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_KEY=B0ST6bRoqxVJ2JtUNPtittJup6mRJef2

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_DATABASE=laravel_base
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

CACHE_DRIVER=file
SESSION_DRIVER=file

When I try to seed the database I get an error:

   $ php artisan migrate --seed


  [PDOException]                             
  SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Connection refused 

How do I create a database so I can run my laravel application on my mac? I have postgres installed and ready to use

$ psql --version
psql (PostgreSQL) 9.3.5

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