Can't believe last week went by and I only took one, ONLY one, photo of our meals last week.  Sorry to disappoint but I have a list of excuses people! Guess that shows you how busy I am. Going to have to tie that camera around my neck. I'll try to do better next time.

On the food front...

The figs are finally ripe so we devoured our first fig quesadilla of the season. I know, sounds odd but it's soooo delicious!

Harvested another 50 lbs of honey yesterday bringing the harvest honey totals to 130+lbs. There's probably one more honey harvest and then we'll leave the rest to the bees for winter.

In the kitchen, we are putting up peaches, apples, tomatoes, grapes, beans, carrots and more!

In the garden, time to get a jump on fall plantings.  Not too early to kick start the fall garden.

On the web front, Jordanne is working on a program that will allow us to publish our recipes online so stay tuned for that. Not only that but she is working on some other stuff, but for now that's under wraps!

Busy, busy, busy!

Summer's nearly over... my how time flies!

Finally, figs!

Fig quesadillas

WEEK OF EATS AT THE URBAN HOMESTEAD

All food items are homemade/homegrown/home preserved unless otherwise specified

Our Food Pledge

If not from backyard, then locally produced
If not locally produced, then organic.
If not organic, then family farm.
If not family farm, then local business.
If not local business, then fair trade.

SATURDAY

Breakfast - blueberry pancakes with strawberries
Dinner - flour tortillas with spanish rice, topped with sauteed green peppers and red onions

SUNDAY

Breakfast - french toast and honey
Lunch - Saturday dinner leftovers
Dinner - cream of tomato soup with tabbouleh

MONDAY

Breakfast - french toast and honey
Lunch - veggie patty with cucumber and tomato, basil salad
Dinner - leftover tomato soup with homemade bread

TUESDAY

Breakfast - apple crumble
Lunch - veggie patty sandwich with cucumber, tomato and basil salad
Dinner - summer veggie pasta - pickled peppers, tomatoes, peppers and basil

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast -apple crumble
Lunch - veggie patty with rice and cucumber, tomato and basil salad
Dinner - fig quesadillas

THURSDAY

Breakfast - french toast and honey
Lunch - summer veggie pasta - pickled peppers, tomatoes, peppers and basil
Dinner - herb pizza dough topped with tomatoes, basil, peppers, garlic with carrot, raisin citrus dressing salad

FRIDAY

Breakfast - french toast and honey
Lunch - tomato, avocado sandwich with cucumber, tomato and basil salad
Dinner - no knead bread, fresh tomato sauce (tomatoes, onions, peppers, parsley, basil) over spaghetti with salad

What summer time treats/feasts are you enjoying in your neck of the woods? Are you "Eating Closer to Home?"  Then join our food challenge to reduce your FOOD PRINT

Veggie pot pie filling

Veggie pot pie warm out of the oven

Pasta cooked in the solar oven

Slice of veggie pot pie and salad

Vegetable casserole version one

Version one casserole with salad

Veggie soup

Vegetable casserole version two

Version two with salad

Whew doggie!  It's been a busy week here at the urban homestead   Busy with bees (getting ready to harvest some honey!), battling bad bugs, moving the tender greens to cooler spot in the yard and getting things ready for a major can-a-thon.  I might as well admit to the fact that it'll be awhile before we come up for breath!

The summer produce has been, for the last few weeks, lapping at the dam.  This week it finally topped and now the fun begins.

When the trickle becomes a tidal wave.  you gotta be prepared for the onslaught.  It can come at you fast and, if you aren't prepared, can bowl you over, leaving you buried under a load of veggies and fruit.   For me, this time of year,  there are just too many darn veggies to choose from!  Should I make this dish, or that, or how about this one?   Heck, there are only three meals in a day; but, with the baskets of fruits and veggies, I feel like a kid in a candy store!  I want to eat them all.

This week with so much work, we opted to "keep it simple" and stick with "one pot" meal for lunch which we then can re-heat in the solar oven for dinner.   Saves time and uses a LOT of veggies at once - not to mention it's filling!

The trusted ol' casserole ruled the week as we tried out two versions.

WEEK OF EATS AT THE URBAN HOMESTEAD

All food items are homemade/homegrown/home preserved  unless otherwise specified

and ...

If not from backyard, then locally produced
If not locally produced, then organic.
If not organic, then family farm.
If not family farm, then local business.
If not local business, then fair trade.

SATURDAY

Breakfast - blueberry pancakes with strawberries
Dinner - flour tortillas with spanish rice, topped with sauteed green peppers and red onions

SUNDAY

Breakfast - grapefruit from Farmer Sergio
Lunch - garden tea party!

MONDAY

Breakfast - skillet granola (organic oats, sugar and oil) with strawberries and yogurt
Lunch - vegetable soup (onions, green peppers, turnips, carrots, winter squash and greens)
Dinner - leftover veggie soup that was warmed up in the sun oven

TUESDAY

Breakfast - french toast with honey
Lunch - veggie pot pie (green beans, carrots, turnips, winter squash, herbs) with salad
Dinner - leftover veggie pot pie that was warmed up in the sun oven with salad

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast -skillet granola with strawberries and yogurt
Lunch - veggie medley "Casserole I"  (green beans, carrots, turnips, winter & summer squash and greens) with shredded carrot and lettuce salad
Dinner - leftover veggie soup that was warmed up in the sun oven with sun cooked pasta

THURSDAY

Breakfast - french toast and honey
Lunch - veggie medley "Casserole II"  (green beans, carrots, turnips, winter & summer squash and greens) with salad
Dinner -herb pizza dough topped with tomatoes, basil, peppers, garlic with salad

FRIDAY

Breakfast - grapefruit
Lunch - leftover veggie "Casserole II" with salad
Dinner - no knead bread, fresh tomato sauce over spaghetti

Care to share what you've been enjoying, eating recently? Are you making more meals from scratch or homegrown ingredients. What new dishes have you tried and liked?

Monterey Bay/Asilomar, EcoFarm Conference Jan 20-23

Before the conference started, we needed a place to stay for night or two before we were given our designated rooms on the conference grounds and were blessed with a place to stay beachside. (A big thanks to the Bakke family who made this possible.)  There we rendezvoused with friend and farmer, Sergio, who stayed the night with us and who also was there to attend the conference for the first time.

We did get a chance in between raindrops to take a small walk along the beach which was nice.

The 2003 EcoFarm Conference is where Farmer D gave his very first urban homesteading presentation.  Seven years later, we were back - to cover all that has happened here on the homestead.  The topic was perfect: "Big Rewards from Small Spaces."

Unfortunately, the rain just wouldn't let up - just went where there was a break, another deluge would drench the conference grounds.  Wave after wave of rain pelted the coast from the huge storm that covered the whole state of California.

So we couldn't really enjoy walks on the beach (bummer) but instead spent most of our time indoors - talking with people at our booth in the Exhibit Hall, checking out a few talks, attending plenary sessions with Wes Jackson, Eliot Coleman and Frances Moore Lappé,  taking part in the ever-fun seed swap (where we loaded up on more seeds) and hanging out in the dinning hall listening to some wonderful conversations about farm life.

At the farm conference, we met Chris of Chauffin Family Farm, who saw the film in Nevada City and invited us to visit their farm (will take a rain check on that, thank you!).  Thanks, Chris, for the wonderful and engaging conversation - not to mention the jar of olive oil from your farm.  You'll definitely be hearing more from us!

Also, Frances Moore Lappé signed a copy of Diet for a Small Planet for us. On the shelf here on the urban homestead, we have an old and tattered copy from the 1970s, so now we have a new, autographed copy (sweet!). We brought greetings from John Robbins, who is long-time friends with Frances Moore Lappé. She and her daughter, Anna, also work together - yet another example of passing a legacy to the next generation.

Saturday morning was time for Farmer D's Urban Homesteading presentation, which drew about 200 people to Merrill Hall, the main conference venue. (We didn't check the Chapel so don't know how many were there listening in to the live feed.)  The presentation must have been a popular one because when we got to the desk to pick up a CD of the talk, the stack was all gone!

Farmer D opened the presentation with a screening of the ever-popular Homgrown Revolution. We don't know quite what it is about this simple film-that-wasn't-supposed-to-be-a-film.  One of the EcoFarm vendors told us that her husband was in tears at the end of the film - it touches something deep down in people.

Farmer D then talked about what we had learned over the 20+ year urban homesteading experiment, especially when it came to front yard edible gardening (very timely with the bad PR some of these projects are getting - I'll touch on that in a later post).  Lots of people were taking detailed notes. He emphasized that

"Change happens slowly, but you must start now-small can be beautiful and productive"

Perhaps in our spare time (huh) we can have our friend Dan put up the entire talk on YouTube....lots to do!

On the last day of the conference, the sun finally came out - but, alas, it was time for us to go.  We all headed down to the beach after lunch for quick walk - the air, ocean and sunshine were mesmerizing.

We all were extremely tired - don't know why (actually,  in my case I think it's because of the sheets - yep, sleeping on bleached sheets something we aint used to here the urban homestead) and it's hard to be on the road moving from place to place.

Not to mention the worry of how things were at the urban homestead and Sergio's farm with one of the biggest storms we've had in years.  Thoughts of the long drive home brought us back to reality, and we said goodbye to the sand and surf.

With such a land based lifestyle, even when on the road, there's never really time off - your mind wanders back to the farm/homestead as you wonder what's going on and the projects that await your arrival.   We, and even farmer Sergio, were on the phone calling home - wondering the same thing: "How are things there - animals, garden OK?"

At the closing plenary session there was, shall I say, an "interesting" exchange with Elliot Coleman and Gary Hirshberg (of Stoneyfield) Definitely raised some interesting questions though we saw both sides seemed we sided more with Coleman.

Did leave us with a lot to think about - the future of food and organic agriculture.

Now for some photos!

Ahhh, the majestic ocean

Jordanne, me and Sergio enjoy a walk in the beach

Pelicans

Justin and Sergio wonder if they should bring some of the kelp home for their gardens

Enjoying the sand, surf and blue skies

Boardwalk

Welcome!

No better place to have a conference in the world than Asilomar!

Jordanne, Justin and Sergio checking out the tables of information

Justin and Sergio intently listen to a lecture about beneficial plants and insects.

Three farmer's hang out - Sergio, Chris & justin

Meeting up once again with Frances Moore Lappe

Jordanne & Sergio listen in on a talk in the lovely Chapel

Eating together

Hanging together

And now for the most anticipated event of the conference - seed exchange

Justin, Sergio and Jordanne check out tables full of all sorts of seeds

Justin and I fill up envelopes

Nothing makes a farmer happier more than seeds.... well, perhaps rain and a bumper harvest.

Man hands! Pen and little envelopes in hand, Justin fills up on seeds

Farmer D gives his presentation

The highly acclaimed and anticipated HomeGrown - 21st Century Family Farm (by Robert Mcfalls) is now available for community screenings via : http://homegrown-film.com/host.html

Please note: (Since we are constantly asked this) --

Despite popular belief,  we have not received any monetary benefits from HOMEGROWN .  Zip, zero, nada, zilch, nothing.  So, although we greatly appreciate the support of kindred travelers and the effort of getting the message of sustainability to others, we just want our readers to know that hosting a  HOMEGROWN community screening will NOT benefit our fund raising efforts. The screening fees for this film do not go to us (the Dervaes family).

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US

To be honest, right now we are in need of extra funds- funds to purchase licensing fees of some exciting new documentaries (including Homegrown) that we'd like to screen at our community Film & Food Nights.

Right now I have on my desk nearly a dozen new documentary titles sitting on my desk on subjects like bees, weather, consumerism, dirt, local food and more. But to purchase these films at community screening prices cost a fair amount of money, so please consider supporting more community events.

Thank you.

HomeGrown will be screening at the Corona Cork Film Festival in Ireland. Our first showing in Europe! And here are a few more screenings to be aware of.

Environmental Film Festival in the Nations Capital -Sneak preview screening
Wednesday, October 28 at 6:30 PM, Latelier theater, Washington DC
http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/news.php

Corona Cork Film Festival Cork, Ireland
Thursday, November 5th at 11:30 AM
http://www.corkfilmfest.org/

Ojai-Ventura Film Festival Ojai, California
Sat. Nov, 7th at 3 PM and Sun. Nov. 8th at 10 AM
www.ojaifilmfestival.com

Colorado Environmental Film Festival Golden, Colorado
Saturday Nov. 7th at 4 PM
www.ceff.net

Asheville Film Festival Asheville, North Carolina
Saturday Nov. 14th at 1 PM, Asheville Community Theater
www.ashevillefilmfestival.com

Farmer D on Canadian radio with host Carol Off. The interview will air on tonight's edition of As It Happens, along with a credit for this weekend's screening of Robert McFalls documentary Homegrown at the Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto.

Broadcast times are always subject to change if something crops up on the news agenda but, as things stand right now, the edited version of your interview will air sometime in the second half of our program.  There are two ways to listen online, either through the live streaming of the program tonight (to any one of five time zones) or through the posted audio on our website, which will be there tomorrow and will remain online for at least a year.

Live streaming:  TODAY
URL: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ and look at the "Listen Live - Radio One" line-up.

As It Happens will begin to go to air at 6:30 p.m. Atlantic time.  It's a 90 minute show, and there different times here when you can hear Part 2, where they have slotted Farmer D's interview.  There will be an newscast and may be another interview (or two) before ours:
at 3:00 p.m PT (6:00 p.m. ET) - Click on the Atlantic feed
at 4:00 p.m.PT (7:00 p.m. ET) - Click on the Eastern feed
at 5:00 p.m.PT (8:00 p.m. ET) - Click on the Central feed
at 6:00 p.m.PT (9:00 p.m. ET) - Click on the Mountain feed
at 7:00 p.m.PT (10 p.m. ET) - Click on the Pacific feed

Posted audio on CBC website:  TOMORROW OR LATER
URL: http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/logs.html and look for Friday, October 23.
Click on "Listen to Part 2 of As It Happens" and fast forward till you find your interview.

HOMEGROWN - 21st Century Family Farm Screening

Hey don't forget, you can catch a screening of Robert McFalls HOMEGROWN this weekend at the Planet in Focus film fesival iin Toronto Canada

Oh and if Farmer D sounds like he has a cold on the radio - it's because he does.

Anyhow, it's been a busy month for us in terms of interviews, etc.

So here's the latest...

Check out October issue of O (OPRAH) MAGAZINE on page 181 there's a wee little blurb about our "Bite-Size Family Farm."

Also, one of the coordinators for the touring bands with conscious contacted us for some surplus veggies/fruit for Dave Mathews Band preforming at the Greek Theater.  Unfortunately the request came at the time the summer crops are winding down and the fall crops are just being planted.   Though we couldn't produce the produce it was an exciting request nonetheless.

In addition to print pieces, there are some screening news for both HOMEGROWN by Robert McFalls and our little in-home short film Homegrown Revolution.  I will get to that in a later post - it's a BIG list so and there could be a screening coming to a CITY NEAR YOU!

Also stay tuned for interviews with us in October issues of LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE & WHOLE PERSON MAGAZINE.

Check out BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET Episode 303 promo which features the urban homesteaders

Airs on Tuesday, August 18 at 8:00pm e/p

Episode 3: Edibles. Industrial food production has nearly eliminated small family farms and access to fresh food.  Can we imagine a healthy food revolution?  Ideas include urban farming, immigrant farmers and healthy school lunches.  Featuring urban homesteader Jules Dervaes, Simran Sethi, Katrina Heron from the Chez Panisse Foundation, chef and journalist Louisa Chu, Mandy Davis from New Farms for New Americans, and Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey from Revolution Foods.

Last summer a film crew from Sundance Channel came by the urban homestead for a couple days of filming and the episode will finally air this August.  We don't have cable so we'll not be able to see how the episode turns out.  Not sure if they will put it online so relying on a friend to tape the piece for us.

Sundance Channel's award winning series is a fascinating look at "eco-pioneers" who are leading the way in making the planet a greener, cleaner, safer place for everyone.  Season three is one of the best seasons we've had yet, and  we have you and your environmental innovations to thank for that.

New York, NY – June 21, 2009 – Sundance Channel will premiere season three of the award-winning original eco-series “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” beginning August 4th, 2009 at 8:00pm e/p.    The 13-part series airs as part of THE GREEN, Sundance Channel’s weekly primetime destination devoted to environmental programming.  The series is produced by Scout Productions.

Big Ideas for a Small Planet, the seminal documentary series on Sundance Channel and one of the first programs developed for THE GREEN, continues to be on the forefront of the discovery and discussion of green design, innovation, and process. Each week, a different green theme comes into focus through the work of three specific forward-thinking innovators -- from scientists to product and fashion designers; from entrepreneurs to first-time inventors -- inspiring audiences to incorporate green thinking and practices into all facets of their daily lives.  It asks audiences to imagine a world in which we eat, build, and raise our children green, but this season it expands its scope to address communities, animals, and art, as well as sports, music, and greener ways to relax.

This season Jackson Browne, Thom Filicia, Cindy Crawford, Soleil Moon Frye, and the Philadelphia Eagles are among those that will be featured and profiled. The series also showcases a cast of recurring expert commentators including award-winning scientist, geneticist, and author, Dr. David Suzuki; author and host of The Lazy Environmentalist Josh Dorfman; Urban Revitalization Strategist and host of Eco-Heroes Majora Carter; and Sustainability Journalist Simran Sethi.

Tuesday, August 18 at 8:00pm e/p
Episode 3: Edibles.  Industrial food production has nearly eliminated small family farms and access to fresh food.  Can we imagine a healthy food revolution?  Ideas include urban farming, immigrant farmers and healthy school lunches.  Featuring urban homesteader Jules Dervaes, Simran Sethi, Katrina Heron from the Chez Panisse Foundation, chef and journalist Louisa Chu, Mandy Davis from New Farms for New Americans, and Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey from Revolution Foods.

“HomeGrown” is a documentary about a family running an urban organic farm that holds a twofold fascination: The amazing process by which the Dervaes clan reaps such a bountiful harvest from a miniscule piece of land, and the way living in tune with nature binds them together as a family.

Jules is the father, an ex-hippie with three adult children. He raised them on his own after his divorce, and they’re still living with him in their 30s. They all work on the farm — if you can call a standard home plot on one-fifth of an acre a stone’s throw from the highway a farm. They do, and it most certainly is.

The Dervaes raise nearly all their own food themselves, relying on cooperatives for refined things like flour and rice. There are no electrically powered cooking appliances in their kitchen; everything is ground, or mixed, or cooked by hand. Their crops are intricately arrayed around the yard, with just enough room for a person to pass between the rows. They even have a few chickens, ducks and a pair of goats. Jordanne calls the goats “mobile composting machines.”

It may sound like a crazy lark, but the Dervaes are virtually self-sufficient. They grow enough food — an astonishing 6,000 pounds of produce per year — to eat themselves and sell to a few local restaurants who appreciate fresh fruits and vegetables raised without pesticides or other modern additives. Sometimes they go weeks between visiting the grocery store. They also use old vegetable oil from the restaurants to fuel their biodiesel SUV. There are solar panels on their house and the shower is heated by the sun as well.

All this is interesting enough on its own, but the real story is the family themselves. Some may find it odd that adult children are still living at home with their father, and the kids — son Justin and daughters Anaïs and Jordanne — talk openly about eventually going off on their own, and starting their own “urban homestead,” as they refer to the family farm.

There are conflicts. Even die-hard vegans get tired of eating the same meals over and over again. The children have a hard time finding suitable mates, since they find it unthinkable to give up the hardscrabble independence they’ve carved. (Jordanne says she will not abide a man whose hands are not as rough and scarred as her brother’s.) Jules feels like his daughters spend more time running their Web site than working on the farm.

Money has become an issue. Justin reveals that they’ve received an offer to put advertising on their Web site that will bring in $10,000 a month. But Jules refuses out of principle. This despite the fact that they have no health or homeowners insurance. He understands and accepts that he’s getting older and his children are slowly taking over the operation.

“It’s funny. In a life cycle, the parent is the engine. But maybe at the end he’s the caboose.”

Even their friends are dismayed at the prospect of the children striking out on their own, since they see the Dervaes as living an old-fashioned prairie ideal that has become a model again in a modern world with increasingly scarce resources.

Director/producer/editor Robert McFalls delivers this meaty (but vegetarian) message in a lean 50 minute runtime. Its environmental message, and the dynamics of a real family that epitomizes its, is well worth chewing over.

Full article here