Passion Flower, from outer space!

Lush, everything

This is the other time of the year that the garden is particularly lush, especially this year when the dog days of August only made it into the 90's...

The tomatoes are winding down and although there were lots, they never ended up super good this year. Fortunately, my neighbor Roy had some from his garden that he shared, they were amazing! Now I'm more persuaded it's time for a food swap.

Gardening in Brooklyn

Video: Gardening in Brooklyn: http://nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html?hp&hp#buster_english

The White House Garden Plans

"http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/garden_layout.pdf"

Yard Sharing

Ahhh, isn't summer grand! My garden is busting out with tomatoes, blackberries and squash. And then I read about Yard Sharing: (hyperlocavore.ning.com)

Or: http://www.growfriend.org/?gclid=CNifxcC8j5wCFRwDagodWAVtYA

Hooking up people who want fresh grown foods with people who have land, and other ingredients for growing. Are we ready Sacramento? Byersford Heights, how about it?

Soil Born Farms Dinner

This will be a great event, I'm sure. Hope to see you there! http://www.soilborn.org/events.html

Even the Government supports CSA's

The USDA is helping local farmers join with community members who want to share in the rewards (and risks) of growing food locally.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml

Slow Food Sacramento - Benefit

Slow Food Sacramento Announces “Common Table” on July 11 — A Fundraiser to Benefit Sacramento Hunger Coalition, Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition.

Go to:http://slowfoodsacramento.com/ to register.

Other CSA farms in or community - Visit:

CSA/Veggie Box Deliveries...
Eatwell Farm
Full Belly Farm
Good Humus CSA
Riverdog Farm
Terra Firma Farm

Creative Spaces

Enclave: a distinct cultural, or social unit; an environment of safety and support for poets, writers, painters, etc.

Good Golly Farm provides artists with powerful tools and the requisite time and space for creative inspiration, critical thinking, the exploration of new strategies, and the dynamic environment -- as a catalyst of the release and production of art. Creatives will find an incubator and a sanctuary for inspiration.

Working at Good Golly Farm allows you a stretch of uninterrupted time for artistic work, an opportunity for collaborative creative support and a space dedicated to your craft -- in semi-solitude close to the nurturing of wholesome farm food.

In addition to that rare but essential commodity for a writer—a quiet space away from jobs, children, and other responsibilities —

Come For:
-Yoga practice
-Photography sessions
-Violin practice

There are two “outbuildings” on the property of Good Golly Farm, in the Arden area. The garden is my nurturing pastime and it would love it to be the backdrop that supports the creative energy of others.

Choose from “the Coach” or “the Cottage” available for two-hour blocks each week, month to month basis, $140/month. Email for details or to view.

Just one bath?! - The Early Years

After the War, Mr. and Mrs George Fox, like manycouples of the era moved into their first home. There it stood, brand new on the eastern outskirts of Sacramento. This house was the "model" home for the then-novel “tract" development, and was the starter size, 3B/1B, for war-returning young couples. One bath for a family of four! It also boasted "easy to care for" slick brown specked linoleum floors throughout. The Fox’s and their then young daughter moved in. Although a bit of a trek into town, the farm did boast an acre yard, covered by only an 1100 sq. ft. house. Plenty of room for growing enough food to feed the family and indulging in some sweet ecstasies too – august hot peaches and blackberry pies.

Mrs. Fox planted wonderful juicy sweet pears, 7 varieties of plum, blackberry, mulberry, pomegranate, fig and persimmon, each fruit with its unique season of exquisiteness, and each one that asks to be enjoyed in the moment, right off the plant.

These also were the sorts of trees that my grandmother had in her garden when I was young. My grandma told me that she planted them in her own yard because they were many of the fruits that didn’t preserve as well, and so you had to grasp them right in the moment in your own backyard. A Safeway persimmon can’t touch a homegrown one – like them or not. I always liked that idea -- that you wanted the best within your reach. Why not, when it comes to fruit at least!

I have added my favorite, peaches. My mom says that she picked and ate -- with the wild abandon of pregnancy -- a whole bushel of peaches in two days and then went into labor with me. She’s pretty sure that’s why I must have peaches! Cherries – another favorite, Fuji apple, nectarine, lemon and blood orange have been added since 2004 when we took over from Mrs. Fox.

Mrs. Fox let her garden go in her waning years, and although the mowed lawns turned into weeds, the orchard persevered -- a legacy to Mrs. Fox and a gift to the future.

Mrs. Fox left these things for me when she sold the house -- the fresh fruits, the one bathroom and this land.

Farming-for-Nine-Billion-People

NYTimes on future food production...

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/farming-for-nine-billion-people/

The farm, right before the heat strikes.

Great article on urban neighbor food sharing

I love this concept. Let's think about how we can have a neighbor(hood) exchange barter market....

"...It was just another day of urban fruit foraging for Ms. Wadud, one of a growing number of people who looked around their cities, saw trees full of fruit and thought, “Delicious.”
A year and a half ago, Ms. Wadud, who studied urban sociology in college and bartended at Chez Panisse, began organizing a little neighborhood fruit exchange called Forage Oakland. She did it as much to build neighborhood relations as to get her hands on some of that fruit.
It works simply. A woman with a yard full of lemon trees, say, can share her bounty in exchange for a paper bag full of someone else’s persimmons when they come into season. So far, 200 people have signed up...." Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/dining/10Fruit.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=neighbor%20can%20you%20spare&st=cse