Urban Homesteading

So far this year, a lot of our personal growth has been centered around urban homesteading, working in the garden and playing in the kitchen.

Last weekend, we planted our Spring crops: strawberries, peas, carrots, parsnips, beets and radish. We pulled a lot of the winter crops (mostly greens), leaving only a few behind that continue to produce (mustard greens, cabbage), and those which we hope will over-winter and produce next year (habanero and jalapeno peppers). The blueberry and goji berry bushes continue to grow (slowly), the herb garden is looking healthy, the camelia is starting to bloom, and it appears as though some self-sown tomato plants are trying to get an early start to the season.


Mustard Greens and Cabbage


Strawberries in a wine half barrel

Recently, we made granola for the first time: a blueberry macadamia granola, and a cranberry almond granola. Both turned out amazing, much better than store-bought granola. Here's the recipe we used:

Granola

3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut flakes, unsweeteend
3 tablespoons flax seeds
1 cup toasted mixed nuts, chopped
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
4 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups mixed dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit. Stir well to incorporate.

Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the depth of goldenness you’re looking for), stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and and cool completely, in its pan. Once the granola is cool, mix in the dried fruit, and serve.


Cranberry Almond granola

We also made a Serrano pepper hot sauce (which will be stored in a cool dark place for six weeks before use), and apple butter. Apple butter and almond butter on a rice cake or toast is divine.



Hot Sauce



Apple Butter

OK, that's all for now. It's time to decant the kombucha, and soon the kim chee will be ready, and isn't it about time we went on another mushroom hunt, and then it will be time to try the hot sauce, and what about…

Our Favorite Bay Area Hikes

In the last 5 weeks we've been on two fantastic hikes, one in the East Bay and one in the North Bay. This lead us to start thinking about our favorite hikes since moving to the Bay Area. By limiting the list to the Bay Area, we're leaving out fantastic hikes that we've done further abroad (Yosemite, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Cruz, etc), but perhaps we'll save those for another post, another day.

Our Five Favorite Bay Area Hikes…

1. Abbot's Lagoon
January 14, 2012 with Sascha

http://www.bahiker.com/northbayhikes/abbottslagoon.html

Our most recent hike and our favorite. From marshland to lagoon to seaside, this was a beautiful hike even in winter. Lots of birds to see, including this brown pelican:



After reaching the dunes, we walked for about 1/2 mile along the
oceanfront with Pearl practicing cartwheels along the way.



On the day we went, there were hardly any people on the trail so we practically had the beach to ourselves.


We even heard elephant seals at the South end of the shore getting ready for their mating season. Towards the end of the hike, with skittish quail dodging about in the underbrush, a herd of deer moved down from the hills to graze at the trailside. Beautiful.

2. Tennessee Valley
May 17, 2009 with Pia and Dustin; July 3, 2009 with Jackie

http://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/tennessee_valley.htm
http://www.marinmodern.com/blog/family-friendly-hiking-in-marin-county-tennessee-valley-trail.html

Another hike through the marsh and past a lagoon that ends up at the ocean.

The weather in May was perfect (in July it was cold and windy). We saw quails and wild turkeys as we walked the trail, and were dive-bombed by an angry hummingbird. The cove at the end of this hike made for a lovely picnic spot.

3. Coyote Hills Regional Park (Fremont)
December 17, 2011 with Krista, Sascha, Tim, Travis

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills

Coyote Hills Regional Park is located on the East side of the San Francisco Bay. We didn't see any coyote here, but we saw plenty of muskrats by the edge of the marsh. And there are lots of birds here, from ducks to hawks to egrets, we saw perhaps two dozen different bird species. There are some fantastic photos of the kinds of birds you can expect to see at the park on the Bay Area Hike website:
http://bayareahike.wordpress.com/category/coyote-hills/

We definitely plan to return with binoculars and a high-def camera.

4. Coit Tower and the Filbert Steps
March 28, 2009, just the two of us; August 20, 2011 with Krista, Mags, Mark, Sascha, Stu.

http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Filbert_Steps_and_Grace_Marchant_Gardens



We hiked Coit tower in 2009 shortly after seeing the documentary The Parrots of Telegraph Hill, about the colony of parrots that inhabit the trees on the Filbert Street side of the hill that leads up to the Tower.



The tower itself is worth seeing as a city landmark, though it's been very crowded both times we visited. Our favorite part about this hike is the 436-steps up Filbert to get up to Coit Tower. We have yet to see any parrots on our walks here (though we did get to see some from our deck in Noe Valley), but you can't miss their incessant squawking in the trees overhead. The gardens along the steps are not to be missed, and neither is the wonderful view of the city skyline from atop the hill.

5. Secret Sausalito Stairways
August 14, 2010 with Stephen

http://carfreeoutdoors.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/secret-sausalito-stairways-to-the-marin-headlands/

It was the Car-Free Outdoors website that introduced us to the Secret Sausalito Stairways, for which we are very grateful. The next time you're in Sausalito, try touring the seaside village by way of Jen's instructions in the link above. Climbing the stairs is quite an adventure but the views make it all worthwhile. Turns out, this trip was training for Pearl and Stephen's trip to Machu Picchu later this year.

Playing With Our Food

As we continue with food experimentation, we've added a new tool to our kitchen arsenal: a vita-mix! Check out this fabulous home-made nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread) which tastes much better than the store-bought kind.



Chocolate/Hazelnut Spread

Our kombucha flavor list keeps growing, and we've recently been experimenting with a variety of different spices. Some of our more successful flavors include: cardamom apple, apple cinnamon, star anise and fennel, and espresso beans and vanilla pods. We are trying to prepare flavors that are in alignment with the current season, and we can't wait for the spring and summer as the berries and fruits of the new season will bring exciting flavors to our palate!



Red Date Kombucha, Rosemary Salt, Cardamom Kombucha, Sauerkraut, Fennel Anise Kombucha

We've also been in a pickling mood as of late, preserving daikon in sweet and spicy vinegar, and carrots in a spicy brine.

Lastly, our cabbage experiments are going very well: we made a successful cabbage, dill, garlic, and ginger sauerkraut and are currently fermenting our very own kim chee. The only problem with these is that the smell really takes over the house so we have to keep the door to the rear mudroom shut at all times.

Playing with our food is as much fun now as it was when we were kids!

The end of 2011; the beginning of 2012

The end of each year often brings about a flurry of activity as we endeavor to visit family and friends, participate in holiday activities, check off the remaining items on our annual To Do lists, and generally tie up loose ends. In the two months since our last entry we visited family on the East Coast 3 times, saw a beautiful ballet choreographed by Alonzo King (Alonza King Lines Ballet), made our annual trip down to the Shoreline Amphitheatre for the Bridge School Benefit Concert (this year's line-up included Neil Young, Arcade Fire, Eddie Vedder, Beck, Mumford & Sons and Norah Jones), did a number of hikes along the East Bay Trails (including the Claremont Canyon Hike and the Coyote Hills Trails, both of which we plan to do again soon), attended the opera (San Francisco Opera's performance of Carmen), and most recently hosted a New Year's gathering that concluded with a morning hike in Marin to welcome the year in nature.

As we did last year, we wanted to share a few of our goals for 2012 with you and invite you all along to participate...

Visit two new states
Attend two new festivals
Visit the Petaluma Seed Bank
Visit Orr & Wilbur Hot Springs
Hike Macchu Picchu
Camp in the Pacific Northwest
Take a preserves class
Experiment with making flavored salts
Experiment more with fermentation
Make five recipes from “Make the Bread”
Ride a tandem bike
Run Bay-to-Breakers or a 5K Fun Run
Complete 20 miles of EBParks hiking
Learn two songs on guitar

Happy new year to all of you. As the year changes, so does the season. It's been a little milder and a little wetter of late which means it's time to head out to tend the garden...

Hiking and Camping in Yosemite

Last weekend we went on a hiking and camping trip to Yosemite with our friends Dustin, Sascha and Krista.



We did a ~4mi RT hike (1000+ ft of elevation) to the top of Vernal Falls.



Half Dome in the distance.



The hike on day 2 was less strenuous, but no less impressive.



The giant sequoias of Merced Grove.



Relaxing amidst the trees.







Thanks again to Dustin for the photos.

Hardly Strictly, 2011

Yesterday was the third and final day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (http://www.strictlybluegrass.com/), a free festival in Golden Gate Park. Though we were busy on Friday and Saturday, we had just enough free time on Sunday to head out to the park in time to catch Emmylou Harris perform a set which mixed some songs off her new album with covers (including Gillian Welch's Orphan Girl and Gram Parsons' Luxury Liner) she's been performing for years. It was a great way to end the weekend.



(Thank you to Dustin for the fantastic photos!)

Food and Plants, Indoors and Out

A few weeks ago, we took a raw fermentation class from Raw Bay Area chef Heather Haxo Phillips and got lots of great ideas on fermentation. We learned how to make raw coconut yogurt using vegan kefir grains, got tips on how to improve our sauerkraut and recipe ideas for kombucha second fermentations, and even learned how to make raw vegan cheese! Since the class, we've tried to make coconut yogurt twice. While we haven't gotten it right yet, we'll keep trying when we can afford the coconuts! Our first attempt at sauerkraut was pretty disastrous (too salty!!) but we remain undaunted and are ready to try again. We're also very excited to make the nut cheese the next time we make vegan sushi rolls.

After the class, we took Sascha's brother to dim sum in Chinatown. On the recommendation of a friend, we tried Great Eastern restaurant for the first time and were happy to discover that their to-miao (bean sprout leaves) was fabulous.



We walked off our very heavy lunch by going to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate park, a magical place filled with beautiful pools of water, hanging water lilies, carnivorous plants, and tropical orchids. The currently exhibit at the CoF is the Wicked Plants exhibition, a collection of "deadly" and harmful plants that features over 30 species of plants with scandalous histories, some of which can be found growing in many of your homes and gardens.







And speaking of gardens, our own garden is doing very well. We've been working outside all summer and wanted to share some of our success with you! We've had a month of tomatoes (red, yellow, and orange) and it looks as if we'll have many more in the weeks to come. The other crops -- broccoli, mustard greens, kale, chard, collards, lettuce, fava beans -- should all be ready soon. We may even get some late-season melons soon (currently we have 10-12 small melons on the vine, each about the size of a half-dollar). Hope you all can come and see our home and garden in person one day.











(Thank you to Patrick for the photos of the exhibit and of our lunch together.)

Floating, Flying and Broomstick Riding

After lovely visits to both families, we took a trip down south to Florida and dropped in on Stephen and Ally in their new Orlando home.


We spent much of our trip to Connecticut discussing vegetable gardens with our nephew Chayce...


...and being entertained by his brother, Kyler.


Our first adventure in Florida took us out to the Crystal River...


...where we boarded a boat...


...with Stephen...


...and Ally...


...then donned our snorkel gear...


...to swim with MANATEES!!!


We saw 8 manatees in total...


...and swam with 5 of them.


Big ones...


...and little ones, too.


...and even watched the little ones suckle on their mommas.


That night we played minigolf at the coolest course we've seen.


Watch out for that water hazard: those gators are real, even if they are only 2 feet long.


The following day we drove out to iFly Orlando to do some indoor skydiving in a windtunnel of 100+ mph winds.


This way to Hogwarts!!!


Our last adventure on the trip was to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.


There was so much to see while standing in line for the Forbidden Journey ride, including talking portraits, squealing plants, and the Sorting Hat. And lots more, but we don't want to ruin any surprises.


You may be able to guess from the hoards of sweating tourists that the snow atop the shops is fake.


The butterbeer and pumpkin fizz were delicious, the lines were short (we made sure to wait until after the muggle kids were back in school), the Forbidden Journey ride really was amazingly well done. A real treat for Harry Potter fans!