Gowan

Cup of tea.

I woke up with a sore throat in Sarah’s house this morning. She’s driving in from Ukiah today, so I was solo in her kitchen and opened her cabinets to find something to make tea. I was overwhelmed by affection, pride, and connection. I made a very strong throat coating tea with dried elderberry thatContinue reading “Cup of tea.”

How to make a pumpkin pie from scratch

Carl Sagan says if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ssV79Qi7mM At my family’s house, (or rather, our clan of houses all clustered together) that was pretty much true. I learned pie from my Great-Grandma, from apples we picked from her trees. As a little kidContinue reading “How to make a pumpkin pie from scratch”

Clean slate

Our Americorp team at Noyo Food Forest is amazing. With their help, we’re totally re-organizing the farm at Fort Bragg High School and designing a system that will be streamlined and efficient enough for me to manage it part time, the way my job was always designed. Its so cathartic and amazing to me toContinue reading “Clean slate”

Gnocchi and friends

My dear friend Stephanie has been letting me crash at her place every so often- I gave up my rental house a month ago to save money… I have a big huge project in the works I need my pennies for! I’ve been staying at a beautiful friend’s farm, where another friend is helping meContinue reading “Gnocchi and friends”

Thanksgiving

This was a really sweet and lovely year. It’s going to be the last year having Thanksgiving in my family home, by the ocean in Gualala. My mom bought the house in the late 70’s, and it’s the only family home we’ve ever had. My Aunt is our next door neighbor, and my Grandma isContinue reading “Thanksgiving”

December 1st

Sarah and I are now entering out 12th month of our local eating adventure. This morning as I sipped mint and nettle tea and ate left over mashed potatoes my mom grilled crispy under the broiler, I thought about a questions my mom, my dad, my grandma, and pretty much everyone else has asked me recently:Continue reading “December 1st”

Summer abundance

Hey guys, Today has been an amazing day. I woke up outside in the misty morning on the farm of one of my best friends in the world. She and her husband and young baby moved onto their new land in January, and with the help of another of my dear friends, its been transformedContinue reading “Summer abundance”

Mama Ellen talks about family and food

My family has had a couple weeks of sleeplessness, grief and gratitude. My beloved Gramps passed away on the eve of our sixth month of this project. I’ll write about him when I’m ready, but for now, here’s what my mom had to say. She is such a powerhouse I rarely get to surprise her.Continue reading “Mama Ellen talks about family and food”

Rhapsody in Yogurt

I’m lucky for many reasons- I’m lucky to be surrounded by beautiful friends, I’m lucky to have such vibrant soil, (I run a wildly successful worm brothel and nightclub) I’m lucky to have the best partner imaginable, the best sisterwife, the best kid, the sweetest Bucket dog. I’m so blessed. And the foundation of allContinue reading “Rhapsody in Yogurt”

morning of our Farm to Table Dinner

This evening we’re feeding dinner to the community. We hope you’re coming! Today will be a lot of rushing around, coordinating harvesting, picking flowers, laying out the jewelry I’ve been making, and watching our beloved chef Matt glide around unconcernedly deciding what he’s going to make out of the mountain of local food we’re assembling.Continue reading “morning of our Farm to Table Dinner”