Sunflowers for Sallie

The Revolution Continues...

Ok- sorry you guys. I just finished the book Plenty by the couple who invented the 100 mile diet. It was so very good. I could do nothing else but read it... Anyway, here are the two beautiful quotes I am using in my paper:

“Hebda, when he gives talks to the public, often suggests something he calls the One Bean Revolution. Everyone, he says, should plant at least a single bean in a windowsill pot. He will always recommend a bean over, say, a tree because a bean reinforces an original truth: that human beings are sustained by the natural world. The thing we call nature is not, as a tree can be, just something to look at on weekends out of the city. It is what keeps us alive. This is so basic a fact that it seems tedious to say it, and yet this understanding is not among the founding principles of civilization as we know it. There was a time, though, when we felt this knowledge every time we ate.”

“The garden is a constant reminder that our depleted global environment is linked to the gap we have constructed between our food and ourselves, but a deeper truth is rooted in paleoecology. The science bears witness to changes enormous in scale, the fact that even the continents are works in progress. It can make a person’s brief existence seem meaningless; more than that, though, it staggers the mind with the duty of care in our everyday lives. The universe seethed a million years to give us a row of cabbages, or a quail’s egg, or a broken heart.”

Right? Enough said.

Woo- Hoo!

So, I was the lucky hostess of our west coast contingent this weekend, and we both happily left our serious lives behind and reveled in frivolity. It was lovely, and so very summery.

There was a honky tonk!



There was shopping...


We acted like good vegetarians at a whole festival dedicated to such....















And, of course, there was food. Melissa is one of my earliest inflences of the food kind. As we cooked this weekend, we shared stories of the importance of food to each of us, and wound up with stories of the people who had brought our appreciation to new levels. I got to thank Melissa for her many lessons. We even discussed the pros and cons of naming children after lovely food items, (Kale? Olive? Ruben? Rosemary?) Anyway, pictured is a gorgeous Dashi/ Miso soup, inspired by the fresh shitakes I got at the market this week. And yes, we ate it all.... SO GOOD.







As a proud owner of the Cuisinart ICE-20, I now use any excuse to make ice cream. So, this is a apricot, peach, plum and blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream. ( And yes, we ate it for breakfast as well.) Mmmmm Hmmm.


So, thanks for the super fun weekend, Melissa- Don't forget to send photos of Seattle!

Spring into Summer (an essay in pictures)

Happy solstice, y'all!

Bonfire and a potluck?

And who's to say we can't start with a bonfire and a potluck? It seems all we need is a nice big open field, at least for starters. After a raucous weekend at Bonnaroo (whew, we actually did it) I'm feeling like starting small is a great idea. Not that we could...or should ....ever.... attempt to attain the scale of 'the roo'


The long car ride was aided by the new Kingsolver year of eating locally, check it out...

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

It truly is everywhere, and I think the time is nigh to jump on the growing local food bandwagon and at least start thinking about how to start, however small. I know the majority of the troupe is otherwise occupied for the 4th but Ned and I have decided to start the first of our quarterly seasonal food fest/feasts- Whatever we can find fresh and ready is on the menu, maybe grillin' a little tomato, corn, summer squash. A sort of mini bacchanalian, solsticesque and perhaps a smidge orgiastic.... at least in spirit.

You are of course all welcome, we figured why not practice now? Community anyone?


Oh and while we're being shameless, here's one for the other team!

But in all seriousness...

But in all seriousness, I did just get invited today to a campout at a farm in Pennsylvania not far from here that is a Pagan retreat center kind of thing, and so I think orgiastic Pagan festivals are definitely the right mindset to be in. I also recently heard about someone who bought some property in WV, about 100 acres, a little west of here, and set it up as a campsite. They have a bonfire/potluck every Saturday night and there is a bit of a community feel to it, not just straight camping. And that speaks to the idea Sallie was having about the fact that so much of our "offering" is a sense of community.

Here's the blueprint ->

Also, a couple years ago Ted and I went to a fantastic party at a cross-country skiing property. They had the BEST Moosewood style food, a huge bonfire, old-time string bands and a real green feel. They don't have lodging but I think mostly make their money from skiing and the restaurant which is on the property. Here is the link to their cafe: http://www.whitegrass.com/cafe.html

Check it out, because that's an interesting model for us too, presumably minus the skiing.

Point is, it can be done.

Now to the subject of competitive eating.

I also think it would be a great idea to get into competitive eating, host hot dog eating contests, saurkrout, doughnut, and rib eating contests. Now just because the Japanese seem to be dominating this arena for the past decade or so doesn't mean it couldn't work here on the East Coast. I hereby submit the future of competitive rib eating:

Ok, that was a shameless ploy to show this adorable picture of Ruby eating a rib in celebration of our first business planning session that went so terribly awry for poor Ted Higson. Trying to rein us all in. Not realizing that the glory of the hobbit people HAS TO BE REALIZED. I do believe I should retire. Tomorrow I rub.

Are we going to be doing this at our nudist colony?

Learning to Love Turnips

I have been reading food books and blogs for quite a while now- and it just now struck me as fairly absurd to write about a sensual experience. I guess that is what my friend Anne Lane calls food 'porn'. Just what are we searching for in our new found fascination with food? Why is an entire section at the bookstore now devoted to our life with food? (Don't get me wrong- you know I love it.) I go back and forth between optimism (we now value authenticity over convenience) and horror (the cereal I bought today promised me 'inner harmony'- I just wanted the ginger and cranberries.)

Anyway, I found part of the answer in Terri Gross' interview with David Chase (the man behind 'the Sopranos'). She asked why he thought so many people were fascinated by the mafia, and he speculated that it might have to do with our desire for a tribe. In some way, local food has brought back a sense of tribal life. Our food comes from a real place, and was cared for by a real person. We celebrate our relationship to the seasons and to sharing food again. Our cooking rites bring connection, between ourselves and those we feed, as well as between the natural world and our bodies. Finding this intimacy is helping us to find our tribe. Choosing what and how we eat impacts the world in a greater manner than we could ever imagine. As Gary Paul Nabhan says, in his gorgeous book, 'Coming Home to Eat':

“The real bottleneck to the revival of native, locally grown foods is a cultural- or more precisely, a spiritual- dilemma. If we no longer believe that the earth is sacred, or that we are blessed by the bounty around us, or that we have a caretaking responsibility given to us by the Creator- Yahweh, Earth Maker, Gaia, Tata Dios, Cave Bear, Raven or whatever you care to call him or her- then it does not really matter to most folks how much ecological and cultural damage is done by the way we eat. It does not matter whether we ever participate in the butchering of our meat, the harvesting and grinding of our grain, the foraging and drying of our herbs. Until we stop craving to be somewhere else and someone else than animals whose very cells are constituted from the place on earth we love most, then there is little reason to care about the fate of native foods, family farms or healthy landscapes and communities” (304).

Okay- go and eat your greens!

farming

"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."

-Masanobu Fukuoka

A secret...

I have to tell you, if a genie asked me for my three wishes, I think one of them might involve knowing Ned Freeman's secret to making shortbread. Yes, yes- the other questions would involve recipes for world peace and true love, but what that man can do with butter and sugar- goodness. I mean, we use the same recipe for shortbread out of the Joy of Cooking- but you cannot believe the difference between his confection and my blahness. That man can make a shortbread flaky (and a lady sigh). I am tellin' you... Just thought y'all should know- in case you ever got the chance to have some. Lucky you- lucky me.

Updates

Just wanted to throw some updates out there so we are all on the same page. Ted was really helpful in getting us to start thinking in smaller terms- like naming our three favorite ideas for the property. He also had a handy spreadsheet that projected up to six years into the future. Grant suggested that we start with our tiny houses- as the people who would come to visit would not want to leave. (Well- ok. The leap is mine.) But, that leads to a fun idea Sallie had about decorating- invite people to bring the things they don't want anymore- linens, towels, furniture, their paint collection, pictures, frames, plants etc., and have people decorate their own room or tiny house! A fun day for all, and free stuff for us.

We had some fun ideas for the farm to table dinners- a picnic in the late spring or early fall, where each couple or family would be met with a blanket, a picnic basket and the choice of where they want to have their picnic on our lovely grounds. A fireside dinner in the winter with hot, comfort food. I can't wait. We also thought of Mystery Theater dinners and roll up movies that are projected on the side of a barn.

As I am on the list for a couple of vegetarian groups, I get these invitations to cooking classes at different restaurants and kitchens. That would be fun for all of us. Workshops are fantastic community builders- soap and perfume (Kathryn!), rammed earth, art of all kinds and cooking! You name it, we could figure out how to host it. (Roller derbies?)

Sal also had a great idea to buy a turnkey B&B business so that we can start making money right away. She is reading 'So, You Want to be an Innkeeper', and has not been scared by what they say.

Anyway, I am looking forward to our research- the journey has been fun thus far. Pipe up if I forgot something! I feel so lucky because I know we can accomplish more together than any of us could alone.

The Crossroads

The picture looks a bit like a redneck dark fantasy... but chalk that up to the photographer. Here we have a main house that looks a bit like a saloon. It's a mess, porch slowly rotting, old furniture piled all over it left to the weather. Directly across the minor road (it's actually a T intersection, not an X) is an old general store, from the beginnning of the 20th century, apparently mostly intact.

Obvious long term neglect of the whole property is somewhat offset by the incredible staying power of theold wood that used to routinely be used for making buildings. There are two more closed-up house-like building across the major axis road, but it's hard to tell how far gone they are. Definitely sagging here and there, but looks like the paint may have protected them surprisingly well.

There is also a decent size field with some sort of barn structure near the back, a handful of old vehicles rotting in the field, and strangely, an old caboose being swallowed by weeds.

There is a space between the main house and the road that I envision as a great main stage area, there's already some sort of raised platform. The road literally goes through the property, but it works because it seems like a tiny town. This was at one time a fairly prosperous little place it appears. The bones of the big house just resonated with energy of history, if you can imagine what I mean. The place has incredible potential. It would also be enough work to keep even a non-lazy farmhand busy for quite a while. It would probably take 6 mo to a year of constant work to get to festival stage, probably multiple years to get to classy B & B level. Money completely undetermined, though I will conjecture that a great deal of the work would be peeling away old layers and cleaning it up, rather than major new building.

Location is good, north from Richmond about 35 minutes, about an hour south of DC (with nor traffic). It is on a scenic byway off of old Jeff Davis Highway (a sign up the road said "The Crossroads of the Civil War", whoa). I won't post the rest of the location details online, but I am working on determining the actual property size and who owns it. Fascinating!

Just having read the book, "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" I would like to put in a bid for a specialization of the resort-ing them to include Wiccan and other pagan and pagan-like practices. We need not necessarily believe deeply in the background of a religion to get into the spirit of an Earth-based orgiastic style of event planning. We provide the circles of stone and cool lights, they provide the ambiance and enthusiasm for strange behavior. 'Course we enjoy strange behavior too, so it's not that big of a stretch. Or at least I do.

Anyway... let's be like Linus and have faith. The Great Pumpkin will arise, but only in the most sincere pumpkin patch.

And hey, we're good at stuff. Green is the new black, and we have a lot of green...

though sadly not a lot of green-backs which is perhaps a limiting factor. Does any one out there have really open-minded mortgage broker? I would love to talk to someone who could tell us what the options are. Unless of course, we (i.e. someone else smarter than me) can dream up a business plan, get investors, and have the Farm Collective, LLC buy the property. I do have a great small business attorney down there in Richmond who is a friend of the family. Sadly, my own pitiful earnings will not go all that far even in The Land of Ash, i.e. Ashland, VA. I would however be willing to mortgage my ass to the hilt if it gave myself and all y'all collective a chance to try something a little different. I suspect we all feel pretty much like that, though also layered with responsibilities in other directions.

A final note: perhaps others have noticed that when you enter "The Farm Collective", Google returns on the first links to sites on the Ant Farm, The Farm of 60's fame and Soviet Russian agricultural servitude/intense poverty. The Ant Farm was a collective of artists and architects who thought it was cool to build weird stuff, including Cadillac Ranch in Texas. The Farm was a psychadelia-infused commune that became huge, had satellite branches throughout the country, broke up many marriages and warped many children. Soviet agricultural society, who can begin to describe. Though all of these models are attractive as lifestyle options, I guess it could be observed that with a project that starts out with such a heavy moniker we might ought to be careful about letting the momentum of the project carry it instead of we all carrying it forward in a mutually beneficial, individually rewarding directions. Plan Ted, plan. I'll call the banker.