Po-ta-Toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew?" -

Time to harvest our Po-ta-Toes!

Here in So Cal, where we have a "to be desired" growing season,  I started the potatoes back in December.   Sometimes I have a few little "seed potatoes" leftover; but, each year, I get a couple of pounds of  organic potatoes from the local health food store and sprout them.

I like to plant the potatoes in 15 gallon tubs with an olla (clay pot irrigation).  Seems to be successful.

Digging up the tubs filled with potatoes

Cutting down the potato greens to get to the tubers

Olla and purple potatoes

Pulling out a clump of fingerling taters

Colorful spuds

Potato au gratin

You can tell by the photo line up, it  pretty much sums up what our weather's been like.  Hot, for a couple of days, then cold.

This season, I grew purple, fingerlings, yukon gold and red ones  which all turned into a pretty decent harvest of nearly 100 lbs.

If you never had a homegrown potato before, you are missing a real treat.  We've been enjoying  potato salad with pickled squash and carrots from the pantry.

Back in the old days, seems folks would eat potatoes raw like apples.  Watching the Lark Rise to Candleford series, there's a scene  with Mr Timmins munching on a raw potato.  Hmmm,  I thought, eating raw potatoes are bad for you; well, that's what they tell you.

Not quite sure I'll try raw potatoes anytime soon.  When we roasted potatoes, I'm often reminded of Wilder family in Farmer Boy.

Setting the table

Lemon slices

Fruit n flowers centerpiece

Hand cranking cream

Tea sandwiches

Tea isn't just for Girls! Guys (with cowboy hats and plaids) are invited too!

Lemon scones

Cake and "Bollywood" movie!

With the cost of gas and food going up, it’s  becoming more economical to throw your own parties at home.

Once again, it was time for "Laura Ingalls to meet Jane Austen" and pull out our grandma’s tea set and china.  (Jordanne’s motto is “What good are pretty things if they collect dust?”)

This time the tea party came with twist.  We topped off the afternoon of English tea with a lighthearted Bollywood movie/musical which everyone enjoyed.

With much of the food coming from the garden and pantry and nothing spent on decorations, we turned our dining room  into a tea parlor.   (It is still a bit cool/dreary for an outside tea party.)   The total cost amounted to what it would cost for one person to go out to a local tea room for tea.  Talk about savings!

Living simply doesn’t mean you have to be austere; actually, you gain imagination, learn a new skill(s) and save money, too! Too often these days, we let even party planning get into the hands of “experts.” There’s a concept in our society that we have to spend more to have more fun. Or that we have to “go out” to find excitement when you can bring all that home.

Tips From Our Tea Party

Thrifty: make do, use what you have or do without - decorations cost us NILL, nothing!
Upcycle: give something a second life , wrap presents in something old like fabric, skirt, pillow cases.
Garden & Citystock: grow your groceries, especially herbs!  Keep a small flock of chickens for eggs.
Kitchen: cook, bake from scratch, take a step further and learn to preserve the harvest.
Crafty & Handy: re-skill, do things yourself.  Invite friends over to help!
Home: bring the revolution home and have fun...at home

On the menu at this Tea Party were  sandwiches, homemade Meyer lemon scones (See Recipe) with home-grown/canned blueberry jam.

Chopping up the pickles!

Quite colorful and tasty too

Anticipating the time in the future of adding some fish into our diet (see ETHICAL EATING),  we have been adding more tuna to the menu.

Since turning vegetarian in the early 90s, we’ve occasionally eaten fish.  So fish we is what we are  used to,  but it’s been awhile since we went fishing!  Actually, on our 10 acre homestead in Florida, we had a fresh water pond filled with bass.  I used to fish "Huckleberry Finn" style with a simple pole.  Sometimes, I got lucky!    Grandpa loved to fish and  he would take us kids with him on his fishing trips to Tampa Bay.    And Grandma would make a mean snapper dish that was famous far and wide.

We aren't fishing any time soon.   Canned tuna is cheap, so we figured we’d start with that.  We bought a couple cans of "dolphin safe"  from Trader Joes. I know there's probably a better (fresh)  fish selection at Whole Foods (or 'Whole Paycheck' as one of our friend likes to call it) but we've committed not to shop at Whole Foods since it  admitted to selling GMO's

Recently,  I decided I should make an easy peasy tuna pasta salad.  But, of course, my habit is tweaking recipes to fit what we have in our home canned pantry stock.

Opening up the cupboards,  I find sweet zucchini pickles and dilly carrots.   Hmmm, this could work!

PASTA TUNA SALAD
© 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

1 1/2 c. sm. pasta
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen peas, thawed  (substituted a two handfuls of homegrown celery)
1 1/2 c. chopped carrots  (substituted chopped dilly carrots & sweet zucchini pickles)
1/4 c. finely chopped onion  (substituted homegrown green onions)
2/3 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dill weed   (too early for fresh dill in the garden yet, substituted fennel)
1 tsp. salt  (I used 'celery salt')
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 sm. can tuna

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain well. Cool (rinse with cold water to cool quickly; drain well). Thaw peas completely; drain well. Combine cooled pasta, peas, carrots, onion and tuna in a large bowl; mix well. Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, sugar, dill weed, salt and pepper in a small bowl; blend well. Pour mayonnaise dressing over macaroni mixture; toss lightly. Chill. Garnish with paprika and serve on lettuce leaves if desired.

Happy to say, everyone enjoyed it!  Even Jordanne, who's not too keen on tuna.

I can't believe it's already a year since our family visited India as urban homestead ambassadors.  It was truly an amazing trip, made even more special by the fact that we got to stay with wonderful families. (read our India adventures)

On Sunday, one of the families we stayed with in Udaipur was visiting relatives here in So Cal and we were able to return the hospitality.  Unfortunately, we couldn't give them the wonderful Cal sunshine as  it was dreary and rainy all day.

We were surprised by Manish Jain's phone call informing us that his family and in-laws were in town and would like to visit us.  Not expecting visitors ( and SEVEN to be exact) and, with such short notice, I panicked!  Oh dear, there's no food in the house!  Well, there is food, just not prepared.

Lucky for us, we had some fresh food and fruit on hand.  Farmer Sergio had brought us boxes of jujubes and so we whipped up a jujube rice pudding that was delicious and received good reviews from our visitors.   Pulling from the pantry, I brought out some of the jalapeno jelly to slather on crackers. That jalapeno jelly knocked their socks off!

I was worried, knowing how much food and hospitality mean (aka Monsoon Wedding) in their culture.   Happy to report, we pulled off a pretty decent spread in the nick of time.

Over food, the conversation was lively and sometimes serious.  We caught up on the latest Bollywood movies,especially the one  (Peepli Live)  which deals with the horrific epidemic "farmer suicides" (thanks to the likes of Monsanto) and the anti GMO protests.  Also, brought up was the new  "Feed the Future Initiative" - a partnership between the US Government, Monsanto and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Have you ever been surprised by drop-in visitors?

What's your favorite "go-to" dish or food?


As I was taking stock of what we have here in the urban homestead's pantry for our next co-op order,  I remembered a recent comment from a friend that got me thinking. Been doing a lot of that lately, especially when it comes to our food staples that we don't grow.

Now, I am all for choices but sometimes I think Ma Ingalls had it, well, "easier." Ok, before ya'll go off on me, I am talking about  easier as consumer, that is.   There was the General Store and that's all there was to it. No aisles on top of aisles on top of aisles of  who knows how many products shipped in from all over the world. These days we are bombarded with so many brands, so many choices. Living the simple life, is, well, not exactly simple!

So, here's the deal. We purchased a case of Organic Non GMO corn starch from the co-op which we use for a variety of things from baking to beauty. Now that strawberries are in season, Jordanne's been whipping up trays of these tasty bars and ,to thicken the bright berry sauce that tops a shortbread like bottom, we use the organic, non gmo corn starch.

I am well aware that there are other natural thickening agents. Our friend recently suggested (hence this post topic) potato starch or tapioca. Of course, her suggestion got me thinking which thicker agent should we buy? Which starch is more sustainable, local?

Though corn has gotten a bad rap (ala the film King Corn) my reasoning for buying a corn product is that we live in California and corn is much more of a "local/native" crop than  potatoes or tapioca.

Care to weigh in on my reasoning? Should I keep corn starch as a staple in homestead pantry or not. Should it stay or should it go?

I have to place our co-op order by next week so ya'll be so kind as to speak up.

On a cold, drizzly, gray day in February two chefs were dropped off at the Urban Homestead.

See what happens when they have to whip up a tasty meal with ingredients from the garden and pantry in this "foodie's" drama.

For "behind the scenes" photos check out our photo montage

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

As Seen On

So for those of you who are wondering where you can get supplies for your very own Urban Homestead most of the items featured on the Food Network segment can be purchase at our very own online stores either Peddlers Wagon or Freedom Seeds.

Don't forget what minimal profit we make from sales helps keep this site going and growing!

Few "featured" items....

Salad Mix, Produce & Preserves - local pick up from our front porch farm-stand

"Organic" Sign - handmade out of recycled materials

Bike Blender - pedal power!

Sun Ovens - low impact cooking

Tromboncino Squash - grow your own

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds - start your own garden!

Preserving Books

The Art of Canning DVD - from our friends the West Ladies of TN

Build Your Own Earth Oven - how to book

Stainless Steel Kitchen Composter - handy counter holder of scraps destined for the compost pile

Wire Egg Basket- nifty basket to collect eggs

Want to start your own intensive garden?  Check out HOW TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES

Wire Harvest Basket - great for harvesting and washing veggies

Scissors - we use these shears in the garden on a daily basis

Keeping Chickens & other Citified Farm Animals

New Blog

Note, we are (if all goes well) upgrading the blog this week so expect some down-time as we launch the new blog!

Chocolate, coffee and encouragement would be appreciated.

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

Saying our goodbyes to all the wonderful folks at Nevada City Wild & Scenic Festival (read all about it in case you missed it!), it was time to mosey down the mountain to a little one stoplight town nestled amongst the pines, Meadow Vista, where we were to meet up with a Freedom Gardener for a social potluck.

After nibbling all day at the film festival, what a wonderful sight to see - the table full of homemade/homegrown food.  The food spread was awesome! Thanks to everyone who brought a homemade, delicious dish - there was even some flavorful home brewed beer via the folks at Foothill Home Companion - perhaps she'll be blogging about our visit soon!

Looking around the roomy and well-organized kitchen, I couldn't help but wander over to the pantry that was lined with lovely glass jars (that looked like mine) filled with staples.

Feeling right at home, we spent the night in an adorable "Mary Janeish" bedroom and woke up to the sound of Julia hand grinding coffee and whipping up a batch of cornmeal waffles (delicious and very filling).  Thanks!

After a lively and scrumptious breakfast, it was time to wake up the ladies (aka the chickens).  While the guys talked about bees and gardening,  we gals went out to meet the hens.   Jordanne checked out the cute chicken coop (it matched our house paint colors!). I was fascinated by the chickens wandering out in the rain looking for bugs in the yard.  I thought, "These ain't no So Cal birds scared of the rain!"  Our chickens are wusses.

Then it was time to tour their Freedom Garden - that included His and Her beehives -very cute.

Julia told us a wonderful story about her seed sowing (her first time starting off!).  Of all the seeds she ordered, our very own Freedom Seeds were the only ones that germinated! That made us proud indeed.

She and Gary also described going out to the garden to pick spinach for dinner - only it never made it into the house because it was so deliciously tender.

Before we left, Jordanne and I knitted a few rows on Julia's friendship scarf while we talked about goats, ducks, chickens and more.  We could have stayed with Julia and Gary for days, but it was time to head down to the coast.

Thank you, Julia and Gary, for your gracious and warm hospitality!

Driving down the mountain to the coast through torrential rains, we commented how this visit was very refreshing and nourishing to our souls.  What a joy it was to see you and your husband recount stories from your homestead, Julia!  It was like we bonded with a kindred spirit.

We even lamented that you weren't closer: "Otherwise we'd be up there every day!"

I strongly sense there are some baby ducklings in your future so look forward to hearing about the latest additions to your homestead.

The beach and our meeting with author and food advocate John Robbins up next.

But, first, some photos!

Awesome & colorful food spread.  Delicious!

Jordanne check out the colorful (green & brown) eggs from Julia's flock of hens while Julia buzzes about her kitchen with apron and 'Homegrown Revolution' tee

Group shot of Freedom Gardeners!

Homemade cornmeal waffles topped with local butter and homegrown blackberry preserves.

Julia's husband and handyman Gary give us a pet Fleaddle to take home.  "Fleaddle" now sits on the fireplace at the urban homestead.  Isn't he a cutie!

Julia shows us photos of her summer garden

Hey there, hennie!

Checking out the bees, er hive , since no bees were to be seen because of the rain

Breakfast club!

A woman's domain.  Girlie chatterings in the kitchen

Even though it feels like fall (for now) we are still enjoying fresh tomatoes and peppers from the garden.  Actually, Justin commented today that we are harvesting more tomatoes than we got all summer!  He's right ya know, it's been a terribly odd year. Summer still lingers on down on the farm.

As you can see after reading post after post of our weekly meals (what has it been a couple years now) you must have noticed that we keep meals and ingredients simple here at our little homestead in the city.  Over the years, we learned  as a modern pioneer one has to/should limit your pantry's supplies and meal ingredients.  I know this sounds hard, but think about it, did Laura Ingalls have coconut milk or someone exotic sounding ingredient in her pantry?   Sure forcing ourselves into this mindset limits us from trying some wondrous vegetarian recipe that I spotted online or in a magazine at the health food store but it keeps our family's food miles down to bare basic necessities.  Not that we have limited them all down -- just yet.  We still LOVE chocolate, one of the vices of being born 1/2 Belgian, 1/4 French and 1/4 Spanish/Guatemalan.  Yeah, I know there's carob - even local carob  growing but it's just not the same.  Ah well.  One step at a time right?

Still, limiting our ingredients, one can make tasty and wholesome meals that everyone can enjoy.  So maybe I won't be able to make banana cranberry bread any longer (truthfully haven't in years since we started this project)  But the point is,  it's all about eating seasonally and simply.   Even though you may come across a scrumptious recipe think to yourself "what would the Ingalls do-eat?"  Ma Ingalls fed and nourished her family without isles and isles of ingredients from all over the world.   So this holiday season, keep it local, simple.   You'll not only find that your creative juices will start flowing but you may even save money.

So challenge yourself, take stock of your fridge, pantry, freezer contents and ask yourself "what would the Ingalls do."  You may open up a whole new local world of wonders.

HG = Homegrown

SATURDAY

Breakfast - homemade pomegranate pancakes (made with HG eggs) and homegrown honey
Dinner - homemade tortillas with homemade spanish rice ( HG peppers, tomatoes) topped with HG sauteed peppers, tomatoes, cilantro and organic cheese

SUNDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch -  OUT (community event)
Dinner - letovers from Saturday's dinner

MONDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - HG lima beans and Ca organic rice with HG herbs
Dinner - HG veggies (beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs) with CA organic rice

TUESDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Dinner - HG veggies (beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs) with CA organic rice
Lunch - HG veggies (beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs) with CA organic rice with HG baked tromboncino squash

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast - homemade biscuits with HG, homemade preserves
Lunch - HG baked tromboncino squash, HG and homemade baked beans, HG salad greens
Dinner - HG and homemade baked beans with CA organic rice

THURSDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - HG veggies (tomatoes, peppers, green onions) and pasta
Dinner -homemade pizza topped with HG peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and cheese with HG salad greens

FRIDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - HG salad greens and HG lima beans
Dinner - HG salad greens, homemade no knead herbal bread, homemade tomato sauce (HG tomatoes, peppers, green onions, herbs) with organic whole wheat pasta topped with organic Parmesan cheese

With little or no surplus for our clients, we've been concentrating on just feeding ourselves and cutting back on unnecessary store bought food items.

We've cut out buying raw or organic milk (operation goat milk in the works, but that's for another post) instead buying organic milk powder.  We don't use much ('cept for baking) or drink milk so with the urban homesteading going into rationing mode - powdered milk is, indeed, a money saver.

Since the garden in in the the 'tween season (between fall and winter) it's a good time to use up some of the bulk beans we have in the pantry.

We are still losing our some of our green crop to those darn harlequin bugs (never, ever had a problem with these bug -- ever!)   The farmers here are trying everything neem, hot pepper to pyrethrum but still some make it through -- those pesky buggers!  The rest of the salad greens are growing slooower than molasses!  What is up with this growing year anyhow?

With the urban homestead's green shortage, we are forging the Arroyo Seco for goat food (also saves money stretching the animal feed & hay).  On our weekly walks we bring back bags of dried oak and sycamore leaves (which we like to call "goat chips" since our goaties love these leaves so much)

Our "depression era mode" is all about penny pitching, conserving and saving.  A sustainable life is not just about being green but saving green.

HG = Homegrown

SATURDAY

Breakfast - homemade pomegranate pancakes (made with HG eggs) and homegrown honey
Dinner - gathering at the 'stead potluck

SUNDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch -  leftovers from Saturday's potluck
Dinner - organic CA brown rice with HG vegetables (green beans, squash, peppers, tomatoes and herbs)

MONDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - leftover rice and vegs from Sunday dinner
Dinner - vegetarian patty sandwich with HG lettuce and tomatoes

TUESDAY

Breakfast - homemade pomegranate pancakes (made with HG eggs) and homegrown honey
Dinner - homemade flour tortillas with homemade spanish rice (HG tomatoes, peppers) topped with HG sauteed peppers, cilantro and salsa (HG cilantro, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes) and organic cheese

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast - homemade biscuits with HG, homemade preserves
Lunch - leftovers from Tuesday dinner
Dinner - homemade chili (HG tomatoes, peppers) topped with HG cilantro and organic cheese

THURSDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - homemade chili (HG tomatoes, peppers) topped with HG cilantro and organic cheese
Dinner -leftover chili

FRIDAY

Breakfast - organic oatmeal and homegrown preserves
Lunch - leftover chili
Dinner - homemade tomato sauce (HG tomatoes, peppers, green onions, herbs) with organic whole wheat pasta topped with organic Parmesan cheese