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| Sent me by Godfrey Stephens. Neither of us know where it’s from. |
14 years ago, we thought the world was ready for a cookbook based on what’s growing in the garden, the wild, or locally available. We published this book — which turned out to be ahead of its time. Now we’re happy to have it back in print. It’s a great cookbook “…for people who want to learn more about how to use healthy ingredients to whip up delicious meals without too much fuss.” Suzy and Charlie Restino moved from New England to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in 1971, built a house, planted a huge garden, large greenhouse, root cellar, had chickens, cows, goats — a real homestead. Suzy’s a real writer, witty and insightful, and did all her own drawings. A few people have told me it’s their favorite cookbook. This is the style of cooking we practice. As local as possible. As home-grown (or gathered) as possible. “Country cooks have to do a lot of improvising, experimenting, and inventing in the kitchen. You have to, since the store may be far away.…” Interspersed with homesteading experiences of two people who left city for country in the ’60s (and super relevant today).
Available here: https://shelterpub.com/_mrck/mrck_book.html
The Dipsea Race was Sunday; it was the 100th anniversary of this 7½ mile cross-country race from Mill Valley over a flank of Mount Tamalpais to Stinson Beach. A month ago I was running well, but a trio of little injuries and a week in NYC took its toll. I was really slow going uphill, but still have the timing to go fast downhill. Which I did, and the next day I was on crutches from I believe some torn knee ligament fibers. Ah me. But it’s healing as I speak. It was a wonderful race and I’m gonna do better next year. Plus we have a newly-constituted running group, the Pelican Inn Track Club, that has recently been infused with a bunch of blazingly fast young runners, and we are stylin. Last night there were maybe 30 of us the pub after running and the vibes were vibrant.
- Tonight we had fresh halibut courtesy of our friend Billy, kale from the garden, and Lundberg Brothers organic brown rice. Plus local Lagunitas Brewery IPA Pale Ale. Our bantam chickens are laying so we have a good supply of fresh eggs.
- There are two quail families running around in our garden with minute baby qualekins. They are about 2″ long, maybe 6 in each family. The male with his majestic plume stands guard while the mama clucks and shuffles the babies through the brush. They’re a delight to watch.
- I just got a new iPad with 3G connectivity, which means I can get online anywhere there’s a cell phone signal. Hoo boy. To tell you the truth, there are times when I wish for simpler times. I LOVE all the things I can do with my (13″) MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad — not to mention the big Mac Pro I use in the office. Then there’s my Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, my Canon Powershot S-90, my GoPro Helmet Hero,and my new Sony Cyber-shot panorama camera. I extol these things to my old friends, the wonderful things I can do, how I can find just about anything via Google, how I can communicate world-wide instantly, etc. But sometimes I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water. It’d be fine if everything worked smoothly, but Rick is continually bailing me out of self-created and other types of problems. Well, there’s no going back and I’m gonna ride the wave. E-books here we come.
- There’s a 2-mile paddle race in town here this Saturday. I’m going to do it although I haven’t trained at all. Surfers, swimmers, water people, I love these guys. I’ll see some of my ex-lifeguard friends (Stinson Beach, 1960). Surfers, skaters, kayakers, people who love the beaches and woods and natural forces, kindred spirits.
- Today my friend Michael McNamara, one of the builders in Builders of the Pacific Coast, sent me photos of the van that Lloyd House just built, and lives in (on an island in British Columbia). Lloyd is the numero uno builder in the same book, my favorite builder of all time, and this van made me smile, it was so elegant and tuned-in. It made me reflect on people that make you smile, positive forces in our lives. Can you think of people like that in your life, people who make you feel good? They’re real. They’re genuine. Qualities that we’re seeking these days. Their energy (chi) is alive and vital, they have auras that project hope and humor and happiness.
- The hills are rapidly turning golden from green in this warm weather.
Lavender in foreground is leaping for joy with the late rains.
2 rows of concrete blocks stacked on layer of ¼-inch mesh, filled with soil
I was sort of surprised to be invited to talk at the Maker Faire (in San Mateo, Calif, on May 23-24). It’s mostly mechanical/digital inventions: robots (galore), high-tech gizmos, computer brilliance and wit. Amidst all this, Farm Aid had a flesh and blood, food and shelter corner of the fairgrounds, and it balanced out all the rest of the stuff.
It’s a fascinating event, and crowded to the gills. Another coup for Tim O’Reilly and Make Magazine: O’Reilly really has his finger on today’s digital pulse. There were a bunch of things there that were brilliant and amusing.
I gave a talk on “The ¼-acre Homestead,” tracing my 40+ years of owner-homebuilding, small-scale farming, gardening, and related matters. The food/shelter angle; I’ve always tried to take care of this first, then to get along with making a living. A pretty good audience. People are (re-) interested in doing some of this stuff themselves. Can you figure out a way to have a roof overhead without borrowing from a bank or paying rent? I think you still can, and in cities as well as the country. I’m probably going to do a book along these lines, after we finish the book on tiny houses (for which I now have an overwhelming bunch of insanely great stuff).
Chainsaw art in our garden. This little guy seems alive.
