Bon Voyage!….For now.

” The use of our bodies for work or love or pleasure, or even for combat, sets us free again in the wilderness, and we exult” -Wendell Berry

The time has arrived, dear readers, to venture again into our own version of the wilderness to explore things more intimately, more vividly, more extremely.  As we might have mentioned before, 2/3 rds of the Amyitis crew have decided to temporarily leave our beloved city of San Francisco to re-vision our path in agriculture.  While the adventure of Amyitis has been an education in itself, we see the value in revisiting some more classical types of experiential education.  For better or for worse, we hope to bring back  a new insight to our practices here in the city by taking an intensive peek at green thumbs the world over.

After my recent journey into permaculture with Kevin Bayuk and David Cody (who begin their winter PDC next week) my inspiration drove me to dive more deeply into the world of holistic thinking and design.  Permaculture had its origins in Australia out of necessity in the 1970’s.  Brackish soils and paralyzing drought were some of the issues dooming Australian farmers and landowners everywhere. A, then, slow-moving idea (or more accurately a group of ideas) called permaculture housed a group of time-tested, environmentally conscious, and highly productive strategies and techniques under one set of clear principles.  Nearly 40 years later, permaculture has now become a fast growing and ever-more widely accepted design strategy having communities, courses and certifications available globally.  One of these communities is the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia run by Geoff and Nadia Lawton.  Designers using permaculture’s design lense strive to create and encourage systems that are beyond sustainable; regenerative.  People like Geoff have spent a lifetime training them.  I have decided to spend 10 weeks on Geoff’s farm to learn to see through this lense a bit more and gain a mastery of some of the more popular techniques made famous by permies. I hope to return empowered and inspired to see Amyitis through to its next phase.

Katie Conry has taken advantage of her work situation to explore S. E. Asia and beyond willingly working on organic farms in places like India, Malaysia, and Japan.  I feel encouraged and inspired that Katie’s interest in food has driven her forward both in the world of the blogosphere and into the garden.  I trust Katie will also come back inspired and ready to apply her energy with a new lense.  We wish her well and await her safe return.

Eben Bell will be here to take care of your Amyitis queries, comments, and collaborations.  Look for him at the Free Farm Stand on Sundays in the Mission, or perhaps you local Mission street corner.  Keep posted as Katie and I will be sending posts from the Southern Hemisphere.

Until then, Happy Gardening!

-David

Better now than ever

The article that David posted, Out of Reach, raised some good points and was inspiring to us here at Amyitis. In thinking about this issue and doing some follow-up research I ended up on the San Francisco Permaculture Guild website and saw a posting for volunteers for something called the Free Farm Stand. I immediately got in touch with the folks who organize this remarkable program in our very own city. The stand is “funded” by a community of gardens and gardeners from the mission who bring their harvest together every Sunday. In the spirit of mutual support for our community and fellow gardeners I woke up earlier than normal on my one day off and harvested the greens that have grown, albeit slowly, through a relatively cold bay area winter.

When I arrived at the Farm Stand there was already a veritable bounty of food and a line that stretched out of the park. I introduced myself to Tree, one of the organizers, and was happy to meet a gentle, generous soul happy to have some more to add to an already overflowing table of food. The table was split in half with locally harvested produce on one side and donated food on the other. As I squeezed our greens in I sensed the line of people was eager to get their turn at making their way down the table and getting some of the very free bounty awaiting them. There were baskets of greens, fruit, bread, grains, and volunteers to refill them as they were quickly diminished.

The local side

Eager foodies

The Free Farm Stand happens every Sunday from 1-3pm in Treat Commons Community Garden at Parque Niños Unidos at the corner of 23rd St. and Treat Ave. For more information about the stand, volunteering and the latest blog from Tree head over to their site at:

http://freefarmstand.blogspot.com/2010/01/breadbasket-case.html

Programs like the Free Farm Stand and the food stamp program at San Francisco farmers markets are a good step in the right direction for helping improve access to healthy food for all. One other thing that I would like to add to the problems of access the article Out of Reach covered is the very corrupt system of farm subsidies. They are one of the most important factors contributing to the problem of the cheapest food being the unhealthy preservative and sugar-loaded packaged food. If the subsidies that our tax dollars contribute to went to healthy food we would have far better access for all and a healthier population that would go a long way in reducing the cost of health care in this country. However, that’s a topic for another time and Michael Pollen has covered it pretty thoroughly in recent speeches. I’d like to assert, though, that if we diverted a fraction of subsidies handed out to big agriculture for this purpose we would have a better idea of what a more sustainable food system might look like and whether it would improve both working conditions for farm workers and access to healthy food for all.

Better late than never

Out of Reach (Dec 2-8, 2009) SF Bay Guardian.

I meant to post a link to this article when it came out about two weeks ago and well…forgot.  It is a really well-written article that highlights a really big concern with the food movement world-wide; how do we make good food accessible to everyone?  Amyitis’ initial mission was to provide produce to Boogaloos restaurant as a reaction to this very issue.  I thought, “get a restaurant employee (me) to grow local organic produce for a greasy-spoon style diner= affordable prices for priceless food, violla!”  Well, for those that have been following our story here at Amyitis, you know that, while we made some waves, nothing quite worked out as planned.

Streams of resistance from many points on high lead us into the heart of this quandary when we started growing for The Corner.  We started out aiming to make healthy food cheap and accessible as we thought possible (and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but even eating out at a diner isn’t cheap anymore) but instead ended up growing exclusively for the most upscale restaurant in our fleet.  Why?  Well, for so many reasons, not the least of which being, menu, client volume, and product consistency, the upper-crust Corner was the only establishment truly equipped to handle the produce.  We were well-intentioned but foiled.  Why?  Frankly, the roots of the issue go deep and touch on many different sources.  The blogging world nor I are prepared (or even interested) in the type of diatribe I could go on about food, accessibility, and equal share to all parties concerned.  For the record however I will suggest that the heart of this issue is that our cultural movement around food has caused us to open our hearts and minds but not always our wallets.  Though a generalization, it is clear that developed nations (primarily the US) don’t value the true cost of our food, that which sustains us.  Why, I ask, do we live in such a way where being a farmer is a dead-end job?  Better yet, how do we change that?  If we all understood and supported with our mouths and our wallets the true costs of food, what would our world look like?  What would our schools look like? I want to live in a world where the local hero is the woman who grows my tomatoes and our national heros are the suits who are figuring out how to make access to good food the rule not the exception.  Here at Amyitis, we are scheming for ways to bring fresh food to people who need it and pay our rent at the same time.  While we don’t have all of the answers, we know the issues.  Maybe with your help we can all make some headway.  Read the above article and make some waves with us.

Happy eating,

-David

What IS going on in Copenhagen?

An interesting video explaining Cap & Trade and what’s going on in Copenhagen. (Via The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia.)

detroit:green

More on the Detroit urban farming movement. A video from Sara Cross:

Jack Frost.

Around the gardens here in The Mission, we’re packin’ up for winter.  As I write this, record low temps are due for the entire Bay Area tonight that dip below 30*.  This frost is most certainly a game-changer for our greens.  While there are many ways to prevent frost damage, luckily Amyitis doesn’t have all that much to protect at the moment.  Most of our space is now occupied by frost-hearty cover crop or planted deep with garlic and potatoes.  Some of these root crops have sprouted and I am curious to see how the frost affects them, the garlic shoots in particular.

In Vermont, November garlic plantings very quickly faced low temperatures and light.  This didn’t allow them time to sprout before the snows of winter; they lay protected under the ground until spring.  Here however, all of the garlic planted in November has seen the light of day due to our easy climate…. and now BAM!  An edge event like this frost can be quite destructive for a region unprepared for such weather.  I guess I’ll see tomorrow morning.

Frost occurs when a (deposition) surface temperature falls below that of the dew point of the surrounding air.  Plants not protected by a thermal mass or with exposed foliage quickly fall below dew point temperatures on these extremely cold nights and begin to collect ice crystals.  These ice crystals can destroy cell walls of many vegetable plants turning them black and rendering them “compost” within an hour.

Above and below are a couple of pics from a potato planting day.  The cut halves of the seed potatoes are dipped in ash ( highly alkaline) to prevent seed rot.  Tomorrow I will be experimenting with potato towers to examine the difference between methods.

Until next time,

Happy gardening.

-David

WWOOF on

“World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms” (or  “WWOOF”) is an international organization that connects volunteers with sustainable organic farmers all over the world. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation, and organic farming knowledge. My own interest in WWOOFing led to a “WWOOF” search on Flickr, which led to some pretty amazing results. Below are my favorites (out of about a thousand photos). All these photos have been tagged with “WWOOF.” Click on a photo to view the original Flickr photo.

WWOOF on Flickr:

Colorado

New Jersey

Spain

India

Minneapolis

Japan

Sicily

France

Japan

Nepal

Japan

France

Chicago

New Jersey

Upstate New York

Japan

France

New Jersey

Oregon

France

Japan

Norway

India

Costa Rica

Norway

Japan

Upstate New York

Upstate New York (Same lily pond, 1921)

New Jersey

Japan

Scotland

California

Japan

San Francisco + food movement + tomorrow

Hoping to spend tomorrow discussing sustainable & safe food systems? Well, you have *two* intriguing events to choose from December 1st 2009.

The first promises some controversy. Our friends at Slow Food SF are organizing a panel discussion featuring panelists from both sides of the food movement aisle.

The Slow Food SF Eat In, September 2009

Starting at 6:45pm at the S.F. Public Library’s Koret Auditorium (100 Larkin & Grove) the panel will feature Douglas Gayeton (author of the book Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town),  Sarah Rich, Sam Mogannam from Bi-Rite, farmer Casey Havre, chef Michelle Fuerst, and Slow Food SF’s very own  Dava Guthmiller. After this spirited debate Slow Food will be hosting a book signing/exception/reception at 18 Reasons in the Mission. (Via Mary Ladd & SFoodie)

Looking to learn more about Permaculture in the Mission tomorrow? Look no further! December 1st 7-9pm Movie Night @ The Red Poppy Art House (2698 Folsom Street @ 23rd Street) will be showing the Geoff Lawton  film, Introduction to Permaculture Design (What I’m sure will be)  a spirited Q & A will follow the screening with Kevin Bayuk and David Cody answering your questions.  Given David Stockhausen’s recent and very positive experience with Permaculture this event is too tempting for us to pass up. Hope to see you there!

Katie Conry vs. Sugar

Sugar, in many of its forms, cannot be a part of my diet. This limitation  has lead to some interesting kitchen experimentation. Those with sugar allergies like mine, really shouldn’t have anything sweet at all, but dessert can be an inevitable part of a special occasion, special occasions like Thanksgiving for example. Pumpkin pie particularity was my favorite food growing up and I used to eat it ferociously every Thanksgiving (I have a clear memory of one Thanksgiving sneaking one slice too many and throwing up on my dad’s shoes).  What can I say? I love food, and sometime I let that love get a little out of hand. Making pies with my mom has been a tradition for a while. The good news for people with food allergies like mine is that there are low glycemic index sweeteners, and while they are not ideal, they are much better than good old fashioned sugar. Cafe Gratitude, the raw food restaurant, makes maybe the best desserts I’ve ever had, and their desserts are vegan, raw, and sweetened with any of the following- dates, agave nectar, and yacon syrup.

The question is- can I re-create these pies and be able to partake in Thanksgiving pie feasting? How will my family feel about these raw vegan pies? I decided the best thing to do would be to try and make them the week before and see how they turn out. The plan was to make a pecan and a pumpkin pie- whichever one turns out best I will make for my family and make a traditional version of the losing pie. Keeping the traditionalists happy.

Here’s how it went (for the full recipes, see the end of this post):

To make the crust for the pecan pie I blended 2  3/4 cups of macadamia nuts in my food processor. The recipe warned to not blend too much- the nuts would release an oil making a more liquid than dough-like consistency. Ignoring this warning I went ahead and blended too much, and made a mixture more like liquid and less like dough. To combat this, I added some quinoa flour to make this substance more doughy; this worked pretty well.  I pressed this nut dough into the pie tin. I’d recommend greasing your pie tin with some coconut oil first. Note: the blended macadamia nuts made an absolutely-delicious-way-better-than-butter spread. In and of itself, an amazingly delicious sugar free desert.

After the macadamia nut adventure I got to work on the filling. I followed the recipe and blended the ingredients including something called Irish moss. I poured the filling into the crust and stuck the pie in the fridge to chill. Done.

Apparently Irish Moss is a seaweed that is utilized to bind raw desserts. I tried to buy fresh Irish Moss at Rainbow Grocery but they were out, so I bought dry Irish Moss instead.

The pumpkin pie recipe called for butternut squash instead of pumpkin. I bought a pumpkin anyway, cut it in half, removed the seeds and stuck it in the oven for a good long while. Yes, this pie is no longer raw, but sugar is my main concern here not raw food living.

I made a crust, this time by blending pecans, dates, vanilla and salt. It was good, but the macadamia nut crust had set the bar much much higher.

Pumpkin pie is essentially pumpkin + sugar + milk + egg + cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. At least I can include all of the spices- and that’s a big part of where the taste comes from. Instead of milk, I used coconut milk (from a bottle, but I vowed to use an actual coconut if I made this pie again), lecithin is used instead of egg (a soy product that binds like egg and is available at Rainbow), and agave is added instead of sugar. Also thrown in is some coconut butter- I tried the mixture before and after, the coconut butter made a huge yumminess difference. (Coconut butter by itself makes a totally delicious low sugar dessert. I like to heat some up in the microwave every now and then.) The filling was quite tasty, and I ended up eating quite a bit of it before spooning the rest into the crust and sticking it in the fridge. Done.

Which dessert was better? Were either of them good? Taste got an A. Consistency- an F.

Roommate #1 checks out the pies

is consistency really that important?

The pies were pretty much soup. All three of my roommates agreed it was tasty soup, but soup none the less. Roommate #2 commented that “They are good as long as you change your definition of what constitutes a pie.” Could I serve this soup pie to my family? Well the interesting thing is that the pumpkin pie, left in the fridge over night firmed up to a reasonable level. And it’s also possible that fresh Irish moss really would make a big difference to the pecan pie (I’m pretty sure that the dry moss didn’t make any difference at all). The pecan pie was generally agreed upon to be the tastiest. (Although we all agreed that some whipped cream would greatly improve the pumpkin pie.) So this Thursday I’ll be making a raw pecan pie and a regular pumpkin pie. Roommate # 3 suggested I make the pecan pie in a square pan- presenting the dessert in a the different format would take away the suggestion of a pie, thereby lowering consistency expectations. The idea being that in a square tin everyone would think, oh what a delicious liquid  souffle thing, as opposed to, why is this pie all liquidity? I absolutely see the merit in this suggestion, but I think I’m going to be bold and try it again in a pie tin and hope the fresh Irish moss does its job. Check back to see how this goes.

Roommate #1 tries some pie

Happy Thanksgiving from Amyitis!!! (A true harvest holiday.)

The Recipes (From the Cafe Gratitude Cookbook):

Pecan Pie
Crust:
2 3/4 cup of macadamia nuts
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Filling:
1 1/2 ounces of Irish Moss
1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup agave nectar
1 cup of pecans
1 1/4 cups well-packed finely chopped dates
1 tablespoon yacon syrup
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Topping
1 cup of pecans

Crust:

Process the macadamia nuts and salt to a dough-like consistency. (Do not over-process or the macadamias will release too much oil.) Press into a 9-inch pie pan.

Filling:

Blend Irish moss with water and agave until smooth. Set aside. Food process pecans until a paste-like consistency is achieved. To this add your blended ingredients, as well as vanilla, yacon syrup, and salt; process again until smooth. While processing add the chopped dates in small amounts until smooth. Spoon mixture into crust. Top with pecans. Chill in fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

Crust:
2 1/2 cups pecans
1/4 cup well-packed, finely chopped dates
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Filling:
3 cups butternut squash (shredded and medium-packed)
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teablespoon vanilla
2 pinches salt
2 teaspoons ginger powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon clove
pinch turmeric
2 tablespoons lecithin
1/2 + 2 tablespoons raw unscented coconut butter

Garnish:
1/2 cup pecans

Crust:

Process pecans, vanilla, and salt briefly. Continue processing while adding small amounts of date until crust sticks together. Press into a greased (with coconut oil) 9-inch pie pan.

Filling:

Blend all ingredients except lecithin and coconut butter until smooth. Then add lecithin and coconut butter, blending until well incorporated. Pour into prepared crust and set in fridge/freezer (about 30-40 minutes). Once set, decorate with pecans.

From massive failure comes radical ideas

A city long on the decline, Detroit now finds itself essentially in ruins. And yet, necessity being the mother of invention, Detroit is positioning itself as the forefront of the nation’s urban farming movement, using radical and innovative ideas outlined by Aaron Renn in this fascinating article. According to Renn, Detroit has become “a blank canvas” and “the ultimate arena in which to prove yourself” for urban farming and other alternative urban ideas.

Renn quotes Mark Dowie from Guernica:

“Were I an aspiring farmer in search of fertile land to buy and plow, I would seriously consider moving to Detroit. There is open land, fertile soil, ample water, willing labor, and a desperate demand for decent food. And there is plenty of community will behind the idea of turning the capital of American industry into an agrarian paradise. In fact, of all the cities in the world, Detroit may be best positioned to become the world’s first one hundred percent food self-sufficient city.”

Renn writes, “He documents several examples of people right now, today growing food in Detroit. It wouldn’t surprise me, frankly, if Detroit produces more food inside its borders today than any other traditional American city.”

From Guernica:

“About five hundred small plots have been created by an international organization called Urban Farming, founded by acclaimed songwriter Taja Sevelle. Realizing that Detroit was the most agriculturally promising of the fourteen cities in five countries where Urban Farming now exists, Sevelle moved herself and her organization’s headquarters there last year. Her goal is to triple the amount of land under cultivation in Detroit every year. All food grown by Urban Farming is given free to the poor. According to Urban Farming’s Detroit manager, Michael Travis, that won’t change.”

Renn, “The fact that Urban Farming moved to Detroit is exactly the effect I’m talking about. To anyone with aspirations in this area, it is Detroit that offers the greatest opportunity to make your mark.”

Detroit seems to have turned into a vibrant incarnation of the American dream. A counter point to the idea of the wild untamed west, is this ruined, collapsed and abandoned west. The American imagination loves the idea of making something from nothing, in a setting of partial anarchy. Detroit has become a space to re-imagine urban American. And urban farming, Renn argues has been at the forefront of this re-envisioning.