July 2011
1 post
5 tags
Move along now
After two years in Anacortes and a brief jaunt in Portland, we’ve landed in New York. A lot has happened. We ran our first marathon, we had chickens, we had a real garden, we closed down that place, we swam in lakes, we had our first snowy winter, we made a new friend… we lived life in the PNW.
Now we have left the woods and moved to the big city. I started working as a New Media...
December 2010
2 posts
3 tags
25 years alive!
I can’t say how much I appreciate this nerd in my life. She is the coolest. We’re sitting in front of the wood stove drinking mini bottles of scotch. All worn out from our long hike. What a day! To celebrate! My favorite person. Happy birthday Laura.
3 tags
Grow Potatoes
Living in a small apartment we dreamed of being able to grow our own food. We read about rooftop and container gardens, but we never quite got there. It seemed a little too complicated. Now that we have a yard, we are able to experiment and grow our own food. It is shockingly easy. Like really very easy. For example, look at these awesome fingerlings:
Do you know the level of skill it took to...
June 2010
1 post
5 tags
WatchA gift from a friend
April 2010
3 posts
7 tags
Marathon
Yes! The lady and I ran our first marathon on April 11 (hence the animated gif). This was a real feat for the both of us. 26.2 miles. That is really far. About 2 round trips of our old commute to work, but who’s counting.
Back in August or September, somewhere between swimming in the lake every morning, watching Lost, and the general cabin fever associated with living with 12 people, we...
3 tags
Right Now!
Right now we are running the Whidbey Island Marathon!
4 tags
Chick starter
There is a box in our living room filled with little silver velociraptors! JK. We wish. We got some baby chicks to be our friends and eat cool bugs and scraps and turn it into golden compost and blue eggs.
Right now they mostly just chrip, chirp, chirp and poop in their water and sleep beak-down like real yogis. Margot thinks they are weird.
We mixed our own chick starter food for the babes...
March 2010
1 post
3 tags
New Fruits
We went to Kauai! One of the major highlights was going to the farmer’s market and getting to meet new fruits. Along with the expected pineapples, papayas, passion fruits, lychees, and coconuts, we tasted:
1. Guavas – SO DELICIOUS! Tart and seedy and grainy like a pear. Matthew’s favorite for sure.
2. Cinnamon kiwis – Looks like the familiar kiwi without fur, but the flavor is surprisingly...
August 2009
1 post
4 tags
Oh man, plum jam
A few weeks back we discovered another gift from 1011 12th Street, a plum tree, in our very own yard, laden with delicious tiny plums. Actually no one knew what kind of tree it was for a long time. There were guesses that it was a cherry tree by the looks of the fruit. Someone tasted an early fruit and absolutely didn’t like it. I think the unripened fruit freaked them out. We all...
July 2009
1 post
1 tag
Land Camera to Guemes
Five-minute ferry ride to another Island for lunch, tested out one of the land cameras we found in the old darkroom at the DoS.
This morning the lake was warm, our palms stained from thimbleberries. Summer on Fidalgo Island—rules pretty hard.
June 2009
1 post
5 tags
Lake Swimming
Have you ever done this? Man, lake swimming is pretty amazing. Part of growing and living in “SoCal” is the ocean, you don’t have lakes. Lakes are something entirely different. They have a different kind of mystery. The ocean can be brash and noisy, but lakes are more quiet about their secrets, they silently suffer.
Although I miss the salty waves and bobbing around in the...
May 2009
1 post
1 tag
Exploring
With a baguette and coffee in hand, we drove around the perimeter of Fidalgo Island.
Stopped near a private beach to skip stones and touch oceanic travelers.
Turns out I need some practice with the skipping.
April 2009
3 posts
7 tags
Cultured Butter
When I was in my sophomore year of college I spent a semester on a experiential learning term in LA—taking classes, interning, and living with a family from a different cultural background. It’s where I met most of my favorite people. For our urban religious movements class, I chose to do my research project on Judaism mostly because of this book: Traditions in a Rootless World: Women Turn to...
5 tags
Pineapple Vinegar
The idle (cough, laid off) mind is the devil’s workshop, and this devil is into fermentation.
Aching for summer, we folded and bought a pineapple last week. It was the sample, they get us every time with those cubes of fruits and cheese.
Cool thing I remembered to do with the peel: stick it in a jar, cover it with some sugar + water, wait 3 weeks, and then BAM! you’ve got some fancy vinegar.
...
5 tags
Goodbye for now
We are having a party, let us give you a proper goodbye.
March 2009
3 posts
6 tags
Fire walk with me
NEWSFLASH: We’re out, yo.
Come May 1, 2009 we are moving out of the desert and into an old fire station near the forest of the snow owl (see B). Eagles will rest on our shoulders as we pick wild berries and we will learn great truths from the ferny depths. There will be mushrooms and ocean and cool dudes on motorcycles. We may meet this friend. There will most def be lots of musics and “art”...
1 tag
Where have all the textures gone?
We used to think that the “Southern Blend” greens mix from Trader Joe’s was pretty good… It’s not.
After months without a taste of store-bought greens, let alone BAGGED produce, we did not know what we were in for: my god, we had no idea. After our 10 day song and dance vacay up in the great northwest we were tired and in need of some serious restoration. Oh, who...
5 tags
Farmer’s Market: February 22
Bloomsdale Spinach
Broccoli
Carrots
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Red
Tuscan
Kohl Rabi
Mustard Greens
Parsley
Radishes
Rainbow Chard
Red Beets
Buckwheat Honey
Fuji Apples
Ginger
Tangerines
Tomatoes
Highlights
A challenge: Finish it all in four days.
February 2009
4 posts
5 tags
Farmer’s Market: February 15
Beets
Chiogga
Red
Bloomsdale Spinach
Broccoli
Carrots
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Red
Tuscan
Kohl Rabi
Mustard Greens
Parsley
Radishes
Rainbow Chard
Fingerling Potatoes
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Ginger
Onions
Parsnip
Raisins (from Burkart Farms again. Can’t get enough of these!)
Sweet Potatoes
...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: February 8
Beets
Chiogga
Red
Bloomsdale Spinach
Broccoli
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Carrots
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Red
Tuscan
Mustard Greens
Parsley
Rainbow Chard
Acorn Squash
Avocado Honey
Black Eyed Peas
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Ginger
Onions
Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Tangerines
5 tags
Saturday mornings are for…
Special treats
Sleeping in
No shirts/pants
Another round (of coffee)
Writing
Catching up
Baking if you want to
Walking before breakfast
Weekend America (RIP)
Not feeling guilty
5 tags
Farmer's Market: February 1
Beets
Chiogga
Red
Broccoli
Carrots
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Red
Tuscan
Kohl Rabi
Mustard Greens
Parsley
Rainbow Chard
Acorn Squash
Apple Cider Vinegar (from Ha’s, so good!)
Fingerling Potatoes
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Tangerines
Sweet potatoes (orange and Japanese)
Highlights
I found out how many members...
January 2009
7 posts
4 tags
We have a screen!
Our living room has two big windows. They function as the main cooling element for our whole apartment. Last June, one of the screens fell out (and Margot went with it!). It is hard to describe the process of getting that screen back, but I will do my best.
But first! Let’s talk about the functions of screens and windows. Our apartment has outside walls mostly on the South side of the...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: January 25
Bloomsdale Spinach
Broccoli*
Carrots
China Rose Radishes
Chiogga Beets
Cilantro
Cimarron Red Lettuce
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Red
Tuscan
Kohl Rabi
Mustard Greens
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Ginger
Japanese Yams
Raisins*
Red Potatoes
Squash
Delicata
Kabocha/Sunrise
Tangerines
Walnuts
Yellow Onions
...
5 tags
Agricultural Equality
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: January 18
Beets
Red
Chiogga
Bloomsdale Spinach
Carrots
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Blue
Tuscan
Mustard Greens
Radishes
China Rose
Daikon
Acorn Squash
Brazilian Pepper Tree Raw Honey
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Tangerines
Yellow Onion
Highlights
Meeting brother Daniel at Caffe Etc for lattes.
Daniel becoming a member of the CSA.
Finding out that we can look forward to...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: January 11
Beets
Chiogga
Golden
Tuscan
Kohlrabi
Mustard Greens
Radishes
China Rose
Daikon
Acorn Squash
Christmas Lima Beans
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Oyster Mushrooms
Sweet potato
Red
White
Tangerines
Yellow Onion
4 tags
Merry Cakemas
And a happy cake year!
What better way to send off the holiday season then with a petite (and delicious) apple cake. After the generous and epic christmas gift from M’s parents, a professional Kitchen-Aide mixer, we have no more excuses for making complicated desserts.
Now, I’m not much for sweets; I like flavors to take me on a journey, starting off in one place and ending in...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: January 4
Beets
Albina Vereduna
Burpee’s Golden
Chioggia Pink
Red Ace
Chard
Kohlrabi
Purple Vienna
White Vienna
Mustard Greens
Radish
Daikon
Red
Romaine Lettuce
And some kind of greens yet to be identified
Apples
Fuji
Granny Smith
Avocados
Bacon
Fuerte
Carrots
Garlic
Ginger
Honey
Eucalyptus
Potatoes
Red...
December 2008
9 posts
4 tags
How we roll
You’ve had a taste of our Feats and Eats, but how about Streets? How do we get around?
Well, we use our legs! We put the pedal to the metal, shake our thangs, and (in a pinch) hop on the bus. We have been officially car-less since November 2006. That’s when my car died. Goodbye burden and hello endorphins.
Where would we be without our bikes? No freaking where. Our bikes have...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: December 21
Baby Spinach
Beets
Chard
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard Greens
Radishes
Romaine
Tomatoes
Ha’s Apple Cider Vinegar
Ha’s Fuji Apples
Ha’s Granny Smith Apples
Ginger
Persimmons
Raisins
3 tags
Eco-billing
The truth is that I am a fairly cynical guy. I try to be an upbeat optimist, but we all know the deep dark truth. As a rule I don’t entirely trust businesses. I think they are looking out for themselves and their profit first and foremost. I think all of these “green” campaigns are based on half assed environmental responsibility and are ultimately just done to promote the brand...
5 tags
Farmer's Market: December 14
Baby Spinach
Beets
Chard
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard Greens
Radishes
Romaine
Tomatoes
Butternut Squash
Fuji Apples
Garlic
Jerusalem Artichokes
Persimmons
Raw Honey
Sweet Potatoes
Tangerines
3 tags
Today Laura is 23...
And I couldn’t be any happier. I’ve know Laura for 10 years now! Since I first met her, I thought she was the coolest, most intelligent person I would ever meet. And did I mention that she is adorable too? Her freaking tiny hair? Man!
Laura, you are the most sincere, talented person. You don’t f around, you mean business. You put 100% of yourself into everything you do. You...
10 tags
MIY Tooth Powder
I am a firm believer that most things are better for you if you make them yourself. I like knowing every ingredient and it’s function within the product, how it will effect my body… things like that. I am also a sucker for quirks. Unusual tastes or general cringe-factors? NBD. In fact, most of the time I will prefer said product to it’s far less endearing counterpart.
M is not as easily wooed....
3 tags
Where does our recycling go anyways?
Although I would definitely call Laura and I avid recyclers, I have for the longest time been very confused about how our recycling gets sorted (or if it even gets sorted). In Azusa, they apparently sort the recyclables from the trash (which I’ve never believed). And I remember in Florida, they had separate bins for newspaper, cans, and bottles. But now we put all of our recyclables in a...
3 tags
South Central Farmers
Image from Wikipedia
We’re easily excited. There’s just no hiding it. So, you can imagine that we are quite a site to see as we race up to the CSA booth all sweaty and smitten, stuffin’ our bags like bandits behind the tents at the crowded Hollywood Farmer’s Market all giggly about ALL THE GREENS!!! Hey, it’s our deal. It has changed us. It tells us what we will eat for the week (fun!) and it...
4 tags
Ten Things
Inspired by These Days in the French Life, 40 steps on the personal path to green, and 10 things we decided to celebrate the rebirth of w.b.t.e.o. with something we can all sink our teeth into. That’s right, folks, we’re givin’ you the facts. Ten of ‘em. It’s your job to think about the greater implications. Here’s a few to whet your whistle.
Fact: We live...