I’m sitting on the stoop of my house in the Santa Cruz Mountains. To the left is an old, crooked shed filled with still packed boxes of things I can’t even remember, much less miss or need. Behind me is the main house, a miniscule, 400 square foot version of what most call a home. For us, the 1950’s mountain décor of peeling peach colored walls, faux-wood linoleum floors and dwarf sized electric stove will do for now…as long as we remind ourselves of the vision that brought us here in the first place. Read More
The Dervaes family seem like they’ve come from another time. Only instead of on the prairie, they’ve settled within the city limits of Pasadena, where Jules Dervaes and his children Justin, Anais and Jordanne grow over 6,000 pounds of food, power their computers with solar panels and make their own biofuel on a fifth of an acre in the front and back of their house. They are the focus of a new film by Robert McFalls called Homegrown, which tells the story of eco-pioneering, showing viewers a picture of what our not-so-distant future could look like if we were to live up to our eco-ideals. Read More
Chef Jamie Oliver was on The Leonard Lopate Show today to talk about his new book and Food Network show called Jamie at Home. The premise of the book is to encourage home gardening, and interspersed within the tantalizing recipes are tips anyone can follow for growing tomatoes, zucchini, rhubarb, strawberries, potatoes and more. The recipes follow the seasons, and focus on the specific ingredients you learn to grow in the pages. Read More
