Weekend Hippie: Sustainable and Simple Living

Santa Barbara Garden Exchanges: Summer 2011

Share your harvest, your homemade goods, and meet new friends.

 Share your harvests, meet new friends, eat local! You don't need a garden to attend one of Santa Barbara's many garden exchanges. If you have harvest to share and exchange, bring it. If you don't bring something else to share. You'll meet new friends, learn about organic home gardens, and leave with some great goods. 

Upcoming Exchanges:

Vieja Valley Garden Exchange

• Sunday, August 7
• 11:30 – 1:30
• 357 Arroyo Rd.
• Theme: BUGS
• Special Guest: Biologist Ron Whitehurst of Rincon-Vitova Insectary
• Did you know that ladybugs eat whiteflies? Ron will tell us how to attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs, praying mantis and others to our garden and give us tips on how to control “bad bugs” without using chemicals and pesticides.
• Learn more about the B’s of gardening: Bounty (Sep), Bats (Oct), Baskets (Nov), and Balls (Dec)

 

San Roque Garden Exchange

• Saturday, August 20
• 10-1
• 605 San Roque Rd 

 

East Baja Mesa Garden Exchange

• Saturday, August 20
• 9AM-Noon
• 1270 San Miguel Ave.
• Vermicompost with worms, cherry tomatoes, figs and potted cherimoya trees at the very least.

 

Turnpike Garden Exchange

• Sunday, August 21
• 3-5 PM
• 5081 Oleander (off Walnut, Near Lane’s Farms).
• Come check out Paula and Dave’s  30 year old avocado tree and their wonderful garden.

 

San Roque Garden Exchange

• Saturday, September 17
• 10-1
• 2916 Paseo del Refugio

 

East Alta Mesa Garden Exchange

• Sunday, Sept 25
• 11:30 to 1:30
• 534 Arroyo AVenue

 

San Roque Garden Exchange

• Saturday, October 15
• 10-1
• 424 N. Ontare Rd

 

 

Schedule and Activism Courtesy: SB Food Not Lawns

October > Santa Barbara’s Eat Local Month

   
How far does your food travel to get to your plate? Most food travels an average distance of 1,500 in the United States, and thousands of miles from outside the U.S. to deliver off-season fruits and vegetables. Did you know that you can purchase most everything you need for healthy – and tasty – meals right here in Santa Barbara County.

Santa Barbara’s Eat Local Challenge – running through October – gives you a chance to get to know where your food comes from, and to benefit from the experience of joining with your community to eat locally produced food. You choose the scope of the net, just as long as you eat local.

Santa Barbara’s Eat Local Challenge is sponsored by Edible Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market and epicure.sb.

How it works > Eat only foods produced within a 100 or 150-mile radius of your home, the tri-country region or California. 

Why Eat Local > Why limit your diet to only foods grown or produced close to home? Eating local means you’ll have a wider selection of fresh and flavorful food, and it also gives you a chance to support local farmers, reduce fuel consumption, know first hand the source of your food, and to support our local economy. 

How to Eat Local > It’s easier than you think. If you visit one of Santa Barbara’s farmers market then you are on your way – the modern day farmers market features local bread, wine, eggs, cheese, pork, lamb, beef, olive oil, nuts, butter, and pasta. You can also participate in garden exchanges, buy fruits and veggies from a farm stand, or shop at a market, such as Isla Vista Food Coop, that specialized in sourcing local foods.

Learn more >

Eat Local Challenge Google Group

Epicure Santa Barbara

Eat Local > It’s easier than you think to eat local now – and year round.

 

Upcycling: May Madness in Montecito

 

Give mother earth a break: upcycle something old into something new to you.

Santa Barbara's biggest Flea Market -- held annually during the first weekend in May -- gives you the chance to upcycle everything from art to clothes to goods of all sort. Held in Montecito (5 minute drive from Santa Barbara) at the Music Academy of the West, May Madness features clothes, furniture, art, kitchen wares.... well you name it, its there at rock bottom prices.  While rummaging don't forget to check out the Treasure House -- filled with antiques and fine collectibles.

Farmers Market: Santa Barbara Style

Santa Barbara Farmers Markets make it easy for anyone in the South County to have access to fresh, local produce, eggs, poultry, beef, breads, cheese, fresh fish, pasta, plants... and on and on. With markets happening every day at every end of the city, there's no excuse for not supporting local farmers and eating healthy and with the seasons. Here's some of my current favorites....

 

Roots Farm. New batches weekly. Try these for yummy sauces with long-stemmed artichokes.

Serious beet sweetness.

Santa Barbara Spring: This Week's Favorites

Farmer's Market Beets: My favorite

Wild Flower Horse: Cuyama

Island Feed and Seed: Time to plant

Green Girl Organic Bags from Community Environmental Council's Locavore Extravaganza

Santa Barbara Men's Club: Planting School

Farmers Market: Eat Local, Support Farmers

Buy local, and support your farmers.

Wow! What a season! The fruits and vegetables and culinary arts now available at farmers markets are the best of the year. The late summer meets the early fall, and the rewards are many! 

Shopping at a farmers market is the easy way to eat locally. The food source is known to you, in fact, the farmer is right at the stand, so ask any questions you need to about how something is grown, what's in season, and even how to prepare fruit and vegetables that are new to you. 

In Santa Barbara, eight farmers markets spread from end-to-end of town and happening on varies days of the week, make it easy to eat locally and healthy. Plus, you get to support local farmers while doing it.  Like many farmers markets, Santa Barbara's markets have grown quickly to now include almost everything you need to make a healthy meal for your family, while contributing to the local economy...including meat, eggs, fish, bread, pasta, vegetables, jam, olive oil, and fruit.

Find a Farmers Market Near You

Find a Santa Barbara Market Near You

New finds from Santa Barbara's Saturday market:

Organic Italian Eggplant

Fresh Pasta from Solvang Pie Company

How Locavore Are You?

Take the Locavore Challenge and Support Local Farmers

There are plenty of ways to support local farmers—no matter where you live. Finding fresh, local produce in Santa Barbara has actually become quite easy. If you don't grow your own food, you can find a farmers market in the County on almost every day of the week. Garden exchanges hosted by Food Not Lawns provide a place to trade what you grow, and locally-owned produce centers help fill the gaps.

Several like-minded organizations including the the Isla Vista Co-op, Santa Barbara Farmers Markets and Edible Santa Barbara, are challenging you, your friends, and your family, to eat local for the month of October (and if you can do it during October, then try November, December.... and well, you get the idea. The idea being to make an effort. It's really not that hard.)

Follow these steps to become a Locavore:

1. Attend one of the many Farmers Markets. Buy only in season produce. Can't go to a farmers market? Have your produce delivered by Local Harvest.

2. Attend a garden exchange. Check the schedule.

3. Join a Community Support Agriculture (CSA).

4. Shop at non-chain stores that supply at least 50% of their produce from local farmers (in Santa Barbara Mesa Produce, Isla Vista Co-op). The Isla Vista Food Co-op has a long history of supporting local farmers and providing fresh, sustainably-harvested goods to the community. If you haven't visited the Co-op recently, you should check out their selection; you'll be pleasantly surprised.The Co-op is also the forerunner in setting locavore standards. Take their challenge to see how local you are. Download local resource guide.

5. If choosing a chain, make an effort to shop at one that supports local farmers by actually selling local produce. Many chains have categories of 'local' produce. In Santa Barbara the trend is towards three categories of local produce:  California Local, Tri-County Local, and Santa Barbara County Local. Lazy Acres, in Santa Barbara, sells 30% Tri-County Local produce and 40% California Local produce.

Whole Foods, which opened their doors in Santa Barbara this week, makes a visible effort to sell, advertise, and educate the consumer about their commitment to local farmers. They also use the same three local categories, but only buy produce within a six hour drive of a selected store. 

Through Whole Food's Local Producer Loan Program, Whole Foods also gives $10 million annually via low-interest loans to small, local farmers or producers.  Trader Joe's sells no local produce. They buy and ship produce from around the world, shipe it ship it to a central warehouse for packaging, then re-ship to each store. Wow, that's some carbon footprint.
The new Santa Barbara store features produce by John Givens Farms, including prominent promotional material.

The bottom line: It is easy to support local farmers. Eat what's in season, follow the guidelines, and before long it'll be second nature.

Santa Barbara Garden Exchange: Chickens, Cheese, Goats and More

It's the height of the summer, and what better way to share your backyard harvest than at a summer Garden Exchange. In Santa Barbara, the growing list of garden exchanges comes compliments the hard work of Santa Barbara Food Not Lawns.

If you don't live in Santa Barbara, start your own exchange. You don't necessarily need a bounty of fruits and veggies.... encourage your neighbors to trade baked goods, recycled farm tools, magazines, and the like. It is a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors.

Chris and Ann Pizzinat hosted today's event in their Santa Barbara backyard.... where they raise chickens, turkeys, and have two horses. Katherine Anderson of Blue Oak Ranch, brought two of her goats and served chocolate goat ice cream (it was delicious and refreshing). She also had prepared goat cheese in six different yummy forms... it was a really nice treat.... 

Gardeners from Santa Barbara brought lemons, rhubarb, tomatoes, melons, olive tree starters, apples, baked goods, and, compost, compost worms, well you get the picture.

 

The broader point: Grow your own food, and then trade, share, or giveaway the extras. Grow enough for your family, then grow more. Read more about Food Not Lawns and then start your own backyard garden.   

See the full list of Santa Barbara Garden Exchanges.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

(My new olive tree starter!)

   

(Traded for Weekend Hippie Pesto)

Food Not Lawns: Join the Movement

You don’t have to live in Santa Barbara to participate in this grassroots effort. Food Not Lawns works to reduce lawns and increase food. It doesn't matter where you live, replacing your space-taking, water draining, pesticide-using lawn promotes sustainability. If you replace your lawn with food, you can then share what you grow, trade what you grow for something you don’t grow…..and meet your neighbors. It’s that easy!

A recent issue of Sunset magazine featured a special report on how to reduce your family's water usage further highlighting the need to streamline water consumption throughout the Western states. I’ve long been a proponent of reduced water usage in the home (especially the use of water to grown your lawn). Sunset's article outlined a 12-step approach—simplified for quick application. It was a relief to see that kind of sustainably-focused content instead of another preview of a kitchen makeover.

One item Sunset didn’t directly mention is the growing movement to replace lawns with edible landscapes. Food Not Lawns, widespread throughout the United States, helps you achieve these goals by promoting urban sustainability and encourages growing food, implementing ecological design, sharing resources, and interacting with your community.  Started and by Heather C. Flores,  author of Food not Lawns, How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community, the movement is widespread throughout the world.

The scary truth about lawns
Today, about 80% of U.S. households spend approximately $40 billion every year to maintain over 21 million acres of lawn. That’s about a third of an acre for the average American lawn.

Santa Barbara Mornings: A Lesson in Breathing.

Butterfly Beach

 When was the last time you took a breath? A deep, satisfying, the weight-of-the-world-is-not-on-me-breath? You wake up to start your daily routine. Feed the dog, the cat. Take the kids to school. Take yourself to work. Work. Work. Work. Eight hours later, you fill the tank with gas, pick up the kids, feed the dog, feed the cat, feed the kids, yourself. Tuck everyone in for a good night's rest. Pay the bills, and on and on....and on.

But when do you breathe? When do you sit down, pull in all the air around you, push it deep, deep into your inner being, and then, and only when totally satisfied, and in a slow, methodical fashion, push it all out; clear your lungs, your mind? Aah, feel the satisfaction, that sense of relief, of pleasure.

That's what I did this morning. At Butterfly Beach. A pristine, sun-soaked stretch of sand in Santa Barbara. At 6:30 am, during a great minus tide where the water pulls back into the sea leaving the sand and all its remnants; exposing all sorts of flotsam and jetsam: broken shells, flattened stones, and, my favorite, colorful sea glass.

C'est Cheese: Best Santa Barbara Sandwichini

C'est Cheese is your best bet for a quick, gourmet bite to eat when you are in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara.

The speciality, locally-owned cheese shop offers a quick bite—try ONE Sandwichini—or, for the ravenous, get two for $8. Fresh baquettes or ciabatta layered with imported salami and, of course, cheese, and you are set. Yummiest "take-away" lunch downtown Santa Barbara.

C'est Cheese

825 Santa Barbara Street
(between de la Guerra and Canon Perdido streets)

Santa Barbara
805.965.0318