Yep, spring means asparagus and rhubarb and lettuce and morel mushrooms—all good things we love, for sure. But for folks in California, spring brings yet another seasonal treat: Maker Faire Bay Area, aka “the Greatest Show and Tell on Earth.”

For those not familiar with Maker Faire, it’s sort of like heaven for do-it-yourselfers, a ginormous festival of all things sawed, hammered, pasted, programmed—and preserved. For the past four years, HOMEGROWN and our big sibling, Farm Aid, have partnered with Maker Faire to present the HOMEGROWN Village, a curated corral devoted to food making, urban homesteading, farming, gardening, harvesting, cooking, and eating. Most definitely eating.

We can’t wait to return to the San Mateo County Event Center on May 18 and 19 for the HOMEGROWN Village’s fifth year at Maker Faire, and we can’t wait to see you there. Whether you live in the Bay Area or are considering making the hike (Do it! Do it!), whet your appetite below. This year’s HOMEGROWN Village comprises four mouth-watering areas, and we’re pleased as punch to point out how many HOMEGROWN members are involved.

NEW THIS YEAR! EDIBLE MARKETPLACE
Curated by Forage Kitchen, a food-focused hacker space in San Francisco, the Edible Marketplace features small-scale food makers, including Bar Jars, Cocoa Collection SF, Happy Girl Kitchen, McVicker Pickles, Oaktown Jerk, Sweet Lauren Cakes, T-We Tea, and more. Are you hungry yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW THIS YEAR! FARM & FOOD FILM FEST
Once you’ve picked up a tea-and-pickle snack, head to this screening area for short films on food literacy, sustainability, soil health, farming, and feeding ourselves.

» Let’s hear it for the HOME team! HOMEGROWN member Kala Philo presents FarmShorts, a new web video initiative

» Also from the HOME front: HOMEGROWN member Kristi Stephens Adams presents selections from her documentary shorts series From the Ground Up

» Director in attendance! Don’t miss Symphony of the Soil, featuring a Q&A with filmmaker and environmentalist Deborah Koons Garcia (The Future of Food)

» The award-winning film Nourish: Food + Community traces how food connects to climate change, public health, and social justice

» Also from PBS: Food Forward, a new breed of food TV

» And from VOM Productions: Udderly Direct, a short doc on a raw milk dairy farm near Fresno

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAKER STAGE
Here’s where you can learn stuff directly from other smart folks. Think of it as a buffet for the brain.

» Hey-yo! Another HOMEGROWN member! Nicole Easterday of FarmCurious hosts not one but two talks: Making Fresh Chevre and Making & Infusing Vinegars

» And another! HOMEGROWN member Keri Keifer and her fellow Seedfolks spill the beans—er, seeds—on seed saving

» Lloyd Kahn, author and editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications (as in Tiny Homes!), gives a talk on the Half-Acre Homestead

» More! More! More! Pickling Oddities: Beyond Vinegar & Kraut, from Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It‘s Karen Solomon

» Lamb Butchering, with Berry Smith Salinas of Sonoma County’s Meat Revolution

» Waffleology: A Scientific Approach to Delicious Waffles, with Sivan Wilensky of San Francisco’s Suite Foods Bakery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HANDS-ON HOMEGROWN WORKSHOPS
You’ve had a snack—or three. You’ve watched a film. You’ve heard a talk. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get your fingernails dirty. This year’s hands-on demos include:

» Making Your Own Moldy Cheese, with San Francisco’s The Milk Maid

» Making Kimchi at Home, with Farm to Fermentation Festival’s Jennifer Harris

» Kraut-a-thon: Making Kraut at Home, with Happy Girl Kitchen

» Shrubbin’ It: Tart & Tangy Cocktail Mixers and Make Your Own Mustard, with Kelly McVicker of McVicker Pickles

» And last but (ahem) not least, Butter: Shake It! Make It! and Seedbombs: The Throwable Garden! with yours truly, HOMEGROWN.org

Have we convinced you? Good! Here’s the fine print: Maker Faire Bay Area runs Saturday, May 18 from 10 am to 8 pm and Sunday, May 19 from 10 am to 6 pm at the San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo, California. Admission is $10 to $35; kids 3 and under get in free—and yep, Maker Faire is absolutely kid friendly. Get tickets.

PHOTOS: (SIGNPOSTS) COURTESY OF MAKER FAIRE; (ALL OTHERS) CORNELIA

 

It’s no secret that us HOMEGROWN types like good food. Or that we think about it 90 percent of the time. (OK, OK: 97 percent. Maybe 98.) And while we grow some it ourselves, from Mitchell’s pallet of herbs to Anna’s loopy zucchini, most of us can’t grow it all.

Thank goodness for farmers—the folks who stay up to their elbows in soil when the rest of us wash our hands of gardening and move on to cooking dinner or folding laundry or browsing the web. These guys and gals are out there harvesting today so that we can chow down tomorrow. The only trick is knowing where to find them.

So, to help connect the dots between farmers and eaters and to get good food into all of our gullets, we’ve created the Find Good Food page on HOMEGROWN. Check it out. You’ll see our very favorite national websites for locating food and farmers and markets near you, wherever you are. And since we couldn’t dig up a list of resources at the state-by-state level, we built one. How’s that for HOMEGROWN? If you like what you see, please pass it along.

One important note: This list is a work in progress. Just like everything else on HOMEGROWN, we’re relying on you to help make it bigger. Meatier. Juicier. Got a link you think we should add? Post a comment and let us know. We’re always hungry for more.

 

PHOTOS: (FARMERS MARKET) DAVID BARROW; (MAP BACKGROUND) LESLIE J. PRICE

You’ve probably heard about the avalanche of submissions that the New York Times received for its essay contest, which presented the query: “Tell us why it’s ethical to eat meat.” A provocative question, certainly. And the finalists all had written thoughtfully of their perspective on the matter of meat.

Novella Carpenter, the Farm City author and beloved blogger who raises livestock on a small plot of inner-city Oakland, CA, has long talked thoughtfully about eating the animals that she raises. It’s never easy, she explains. She has said that she often cries when slaughter time arrives.

In her submission, which she shared with readers on her own blog, is thoughtful, yes, but also an unvarnished proclamation that animals are domesticated as a natural, logical link in the chain of life. Enjoy the read and let her know your thoughts!

Why I Eat Meat
Last week, someone broke into my backyard and scrawled on my shed, “Don’t Kill Animals—they are our equals.” I’m an urban farmer in Oakland, well-known for raising turkeys, rabbits, goats, ducks, even pigs in my backyard and lot farm near downtown. As a city farmer, I’m used to rubbing elbows—and getting into heated arguments—with vegans and vegetarians. These meat-avoiders don’t want to kill animals. They love animals. Things is, so do I: I love animals and I love to eat them.

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