Black Sapote Update

I dont know if anyone out there really cares about
the update of my little black sapote seed, but I just thought Id
put up a pic. It has been well over 6 weeks now...these things take time.

"A thought is an act of creation. It is what we are here for, to create,
to bring into being ourself by means of thinking. They way a thought can
be measured and observed by a simple life form, a plant, shows a wonderful
relationship between man and plant. When we love, we release our
thought energy and transpose it to the recipient of our love.
Our primary responsibility is to love."
-Marcel Vogel

I hold the seeding next to my heart sometimes and think about
how beautiful it has become. Maybe Im going off the deep end,
but it sure feels good. Ive started growing 92 mineral wheatgrass
in the apartment as well and Im finally getting the hang of it.



Bring plant life back into your world and be amazed at the effects
that it has on EVERY aspect of your life.

-Anthony

Recommended Wild Food Books

You ask...I deliver.

Here are my favorites. There are others, but these have really worked for me.

There are two kinds of wild food books.
One is the very dry but informative field guide.
My favorite is Peterson's.

They also have an Edible Herb Guide which is great.
This book gives you the finer details...what the leaves look like,
size of the flower...etc. Identification stuff. This is what you want to
have with you in the field when you need to examine plants.

The second type of book is more of a lifestyle with wild food book.
Here are the two that I have come to love instantly.

Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons:

This book is GREAT. He has other ones too that are also good. Start with this.
Euell is just an amazing guy. Really great and fun reading.


And one that I really like (especially because this guy is from
the Great Lakes area of the US, is "The Forager's Harvest" by Samuel Thayer.

There are other books that are going to be more beneficial for your
bio-region (Courtney this would apply to you...:) )

These books talk about actually going out and foraging.
Good stories abound about their encounters with these edibles.
I love both books.

One book that I have to recommend against is
Peter Ragnar's "Alive and Well with Wild Foods".
HUGE RIP-OFF. He charges $50 dollars for this, and
claims that its a great 400 page book full of info.


I was a sucker and bought it, only to find that the only reason
its 400 pages is because the text is so large my 100 year old grandma
could read it. If you have money to burn and want to give more of it
to Peter Ragnar, go right ahead, but the 3 wonderful books mentioned
above are all you would need (unless you need something more specific to your
local environment). No one that has actually read this book of Ragnar's could
debate this with me. I felt very ripped off. There was some good info in there,
but overall it has very little to do with identifying and living off of wild food.
I know there are many Ragnar groupies out there, but you cant deny the fact
that this book is a huge rip off with gigantic text and crappy pictures.


I would get the books on Amazon, no tax and free shipping.

Always here to help!

-Anthony

Another great TED talk

I think this TED lecture gives some strong ideas for us.
Suburbia was a huge mistake, only possible because of cheap
and ridiculously abundant oil. That era is obviously coming to an end now.
So whats next?

If there is any message that I want you to get from my blog its this:
Learn to grow and find your own food, and learn how to be happy with LESS.

Eating raw vegan food is OBVIOUS. Its an after-thought for me now. Its time to move
on to some critical issues here. If semi-trucks cant ship greens to you
from California during the months of November to June, what do you intend to do?

Our country is facing something that it never has before...
we have placed ourselves on mile-high stilts that are about to break.
We NEED cheap oil to continue as we are...and there are going to be
some serious withdrawals once we are deprived from it.

I hope not to sound like an alarmist.
But hey...even if everything is fine, you would still be growing
your own awesome produce, experiencing MUCH better health
(both mentally and physically)
and saving a ton of money.

But lets be realistic here...all evidence is pointing to trouble.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news...

Life After the Oil Crash

An informed citizen is much more likely to be a PREPARED citizen.

(Yes, you can look sharp and still eat weeds)

-Anthony

Nettles in Central Park

I remember walking around Central Park in early February...

scrounging for whatever I could find. I just
wanted to get out there and find stuff.
Besides some garlic mustard, there was nothing
there. I would go back every so often, soon
finding dandelions, chives, and violets.

I took about 3 weeks off since the last time,
finally going back on Saturday the 24th of May.

An explosion of green was there waiting for me.
So much stuff was sprouting up.


Nature is so prolific...so giving.
There are bums around, asking for money so they
can buy food, when the best possible food available for
them is waiting right there in the park. They are living off of canned meat
and bread, while the food that could possibly change their lives is being
ignored by them, and pretty much 99.99999% of society.

These guys COULD survive on food just from central park. They
would have to find some minor fat source, but otherwise with greens,
berries, apples, and tubers, they could really do it.


Anyways, I found a massive patch of nettles (both stinging nettles and then
later WOOD nettles....learn the difference, they are both edible)
on the south side of the sheep meadow in central park.


That patch alone could produce enough greens for possibly all summer
long if it was picked appropriately and then allowed to regenerate.

Here is the video:



There are no excuses not to find wild food. Look where I live! It would be the LAST place
you would expect to find good stuff, but I could likely live all summer on just
wild food from Central Park if I had to. Not like I would want to, but I could if I had to.
And remember, if you really cant find any, buy seeds and plant them around your yard.

Funny side story, when walking through the woods, make lots of noise if:
You dont want to come upon a sleeping animal that
might be dangerous like a bear or a moutain lion,
AND/OR
so young people having sex in the woods will hear you coming from a long ways away.
The second one happened to me while I was picking nettles. I kid you not.
They looked like they were 16 or something close to that.
I guess when you dont have a place of your own, you have to make due.
I can't blame them for wanting to get back to nature though,
however, I dont feel that it was their main intention for doing the deed in the park.

And remember, when you are out there foraging for wild food,
you never know what youre going to find. Get out there and explore!
Life is supposed to be an adventure, right? Lets give up watching others have
adventures in movies and on TV and start having real adventures of our own.
Be the main character of your own adventure story.

If someone were to write a book about your life, would anyone want to read it?
Create your life in such a way that they would. Simple as that.

Anthony

LA (Santa Monica) Day 3

After much delay, I finally got around to finishing up the posts
on the LA trip from two weeks ago.

Lots of other things have been coming up,
so this last post was on the back-burner for a while...
wait...lets say it was on the bottom shelf of the dehydrator.
That's more like it :)

Day 3 was our last full day in LA, so we headed over
to Santa Monica to eat at Euphoria, visit the community garden,
and hang out with John from Sunfoodliving.com.


We didnt even take pics of anything from Euphoria.
We were visiting with one of Dawn's friends and I
didnt feel like looking like some tourist and taking pics
of everything...at Au Lac, I HAD to, but this time it was no biggie.

Im not really going to get into the food there.
I would say go and try it and see for yourself if you dig it.
The Egg-less salad was really good, as was the Spirulina Earth Pie.
HOWEVER...the S.E.P. at Lifethyme will ALWAYS rule the roost
as far as we are concerned. Here is one other thing.
Matt Amsden (of Euphoria) has a GREAT raw food prep book.
Its WONDERFUL. Dawn and I make the onion bread all the time...
(with 10% of the recommended nama shoyu however),
so I was really excited to finally have HIS onion bread.
It was more like an onion tortilla...not thick at all and bulging with onions
like the ones we make. Wait...more like an onion chip. Wait again...more like a..chip.
We didnt even really taste much onion. Big let down.
Maybe someone in his kitchen was getting lazy that day...who knows?
Check out his recipes for sure though...we really love them.

Matt...if youre reading this...take it as some loving constructive criticism.
And if you want to know what a good raw burger tastes like...
go to Quintessence in NYC. Dan has it down like no other.
I am NOT being negative...there is just room for improvement.
We really want you to be the best, and we want everyone to be blown
away when they eat there so the COME BACK again,
and tell all of their friends to go to your place too.
It pays to put out a good quality product.

After lunch we went to the community garden.
The growing season in LA is so long and productive...
maybe that growing season makes up for the car culture.
You could really grow everything you need, and then just order
your superfoods online and be totally set. Its so great there for that.

Some shots of the gardens...

A little bee doing his thing...

Since we had some free time before meeting John,
we drove over to Venice on Lincoln Blvd where I shot
that job for Acura back in March. I wanted to see if I could
find some wild aloe again.

This is what it looked like 2 weeks ago,

And this is what it looked like back in February.
Such a difference.

Not exactly a place you would look for wild food,
but it was off the main road, and everything was untouched.
You never know what little jewels you will find off the beaten path.
This was the aloe vera back in February -

And then me with it in May.
Everything was teaming with life back in Feb...
now it seemed cold and abandoned.
Timing really is everything in life.

So I got a few leaves, and we were on our way to meet with John.
We talked and walked...had some kombucha and green juice.
He has a ton of cool projects going on,
and gave me some insight on getting my work published.

He just sent me this TED video...I believe we can all learn something from this.



We met up with Bueller from Bueller's Kitchen for dessert
at Cru again (couldnt resist...the dessert is too good!)

Bueller is doing really well...tweaking her diet and learning more
about herbs now too. One great thing about food and nutrition
is that there is always room for more knowledge.
People are discovering new things all the time!
We are just on the tip of the iceberg everyone!

We went to leaf the next day with Dawn's dad, then
he dropped us of at LAX. We were both glad to be going
back to NY. There is just too much driving time in LA.
It takes up way too much time of a person's day.
AND THE STRESS! I forgot how tense it can get on the freeways.
Talk about an acidic environment. People need to do some walking
meditations and get things together. In a strange way, Im glad that
gas is going up. Maybe it will get people off the road
more and that is good in SO many ways.


When we returned to NYC, we went to Quintessence right away.
My two favorites now are Quintessence in NY, and Au Lac in LA.
Others are good too, but these are in my opinion, the best by far.
Sorry to offend anyone else, but its just one man's opinion.

Check out all the Loquat seeds I saved too!


I am sprouting a bunch right now. I could start an orchard
with all of these. Save your seeds!

Speaking of sprouting...check out the black sapote seeds
I sprouted about 6 weeks ago.


They are doing SO well. I am so glad I decided to bring seeds
back from my trip. One day they will be in the greenhouse...giving
the zaniest fruits Ive had yet. Chocolate pudding fruit. Maybe 3 years!

TONS more to come! Hope the weekend was great!


-A

The Teaser Vid, and THANKS

I just finished editing a little teaser video
for my Minnesota Permaculture Project.

Its called "A Model for Living".
I really do feel that it is a model for living.
We can alleviate so many problems if we can
somehow incorporate the strategies of permaculture
into our lives. By doing this we can possibly avoid:

Having to buy sub-standard food for us and our loved ones,
Having to pay for heating and electric bills,
Feeling low all the time, whether mentally of physically,
Being dependent on fossil fuels to ship us food and keep us warm,
Being dependent on a job we dont like so we can simply pay bills,
And of course...
Making MUCH less of a negative footprint on our Mother Earth.

You save money, your health, and the Earth.
Is it not all connected?

So stay tuned...

And thanks to all the comments coming in.
People can be so opinionated!
Im glad to see it...I want Rawmodel to become
a hub for open ideas about our diets, the way
we live our lives, how we are evolving on all levels,
and how we are growing our food.

I love the contributions...so thank you.

-Anthony

Sea Agriculture Discoveries

I've been recently learning about Sea Agriculture,
and to tell you the truth, I am simply BLOWN AWAY.

Everything I thought I knew about compost and fertilizers
is pretty much null and void at this point.

We have to be flexible with what is currently in our mind.
Even if we were born into one paradigm of thinking,
or taught that something is true by our parents,
we have to be open to the fact that it might possibly be untrue.

I would have testified that composting is the best thing ever...
I would have told you this two days ago...now I have had to change my beliefs.

As long as the MINERALS are missing, it doesnt really matter.
Sure, by composting we are making it better, but we arent getting
the full spectrum of minerals that we should be getting in our food.
Of course Im going to keep composting so I can build up the soil
from the clayey sand that I have to deal with right now, but...
ITS ALL ABOUT THE MINERALS.

I recently spoke with Kevin from GrowGreens.com and
ordered two gallons of their "Thalassa Mix".
I now believe that this method of agriculture is what will
remineralize our bodies and minds and speed up our evolution
in ways we never thought possible. Get ready to have your super powers back.

Im going to set up a hydroponic system as well, and see what results
I get. Don Jansen uses diluted seawater and runs that same water
through his hydroponic system for one month. No other fertilizers,
sprays, or treatments. The plants are VERY productive, completely healthy and have
no pests. Can humans experience the same results with total
remineralization? I fully believe that this is the case.

One gallon of mix will make probably 175 gallons of treated water.
Its all about growing the best food possible, and I think that by
going back to the ocean is where its really at.

2 key ideas...

The proportion of minerals in the ocean is the exact proportion
of minerals that should be found in the human body.
We come from the ocean, so this is perfect logic.

And there are 350 million cubic miles of ocean water on the planet,
and no matter where you go, if you take one glass of ocean water,
the EXACT ratio will always be present. Water is that intelligent.

Oh yes...and what plant can take all the minerals found in the ocean?
GRASS. Ocean grown wheatgrass. I am SO excited for this.
Remember, one gallon equals 175 gallons of water.
Think of the possibilities. No more fertilizers, no sprays.
Monsanto can't make the ocean illegal, can they?

Google Sea Agriculture or Don Jansen for more info.
I am so excited about this.

-Anthony

The Raw "Cult"

As Raw Food Enthusiasts,
we have to be careful not to sound like
born-again Christians spreading the gospel.

Most people don't want to hear them,
and its likely that most people don't want to hear us either.

Sometimes I feel like I talk about it too much,
but then again, people ask me about it.

I really dont want to turn people off about it though,
so this is my quote for the day.

"What you DO speaks so loudly that no one will
ever hear a word you are saying."
-Emerson

I don't even want to talk about eating live foods to
people who aren't interested in the first place.
The whole reason why I started this website, and why
Im so enthusiastic about the living foods lifestyle is
because I have seen the results in my own life,
and Ive seen the results in others who have REALLY given
it an honest try without cheating a bunch,
and I want EVERYONE to feel this good and be this vibrant.

I became happier, leaner, and my mental clarity skyrocketed.
I want YOU to be raw because I want more raw brothers and sisters
here on this planet with me. That is my motivation.

I have nothing to sell you except ideas on how to improve your life.

Observe my results and make the decision for yourself.
If you want to keep eating cooked food, then that is totally cool.
I wont judge you or not be your friend. Just promise me
that you wont imagine that I AM silently judging you when we are
spending time together. I'M NOT. I really don't care anymore.

We are on a path of our own creation, and we will all
reach truth in our own special ways.
I'm simply a signpost...if you like the direction
that I'm pointing in, take a stroll down this path of life.
If not, I am here for you anyways...its all good.

We must not project the idea of the RAW CULT.
This notion is already present in the minds of
many of our friends, co-workers, and family members.
We would be better off just living our lives and keeping our
mouths shut about raw unless someone asks about it.

If they ask, give them two simple ideas.
"Every other animal in the wild eats RAW food, except us and our domesticated animals",
and
VERY STRONG scientific evidence shows that we evolved for millions and millions
of years on an uncooked plant-based diet and only in the past 100,000 years
have we been eating some cooked food and it was always ALWAYS wild and organic.

Their subtle attacks are based on ignorance and fear,
so dont take it too seriously. People defend their diets more
than their religions...I kid you not.
People MAYBE go to church once a week,
but they take cooked communion 3 times a day.

SO...lets LIVE the truth...and let it speak for itself.

Here is to more RAW humans...

Anthony

Watermelon Video Q & A...

(Image courtesy of Banksy)
I didnt have any watermelon pics, so I thought
something else would do.

Onto the post...

I've received lots of feedback on this video,
so I thought Id answer most of the questions right here.

"what exactly are the benefits you'd hope to gain from watermelon juicing for 3-5 days (rather than, say, 1 day)? thanks so much, love your blog."

- Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Exact benefits...I don't really know. Its more about super-hydrating
and giving my digestive system a break. Im looking for high amounts of nutrition
with little or no stress on the stomach. I've also read that its very cleansing
for the kidneys, as are cucumbers.

1 day vs 3-5 days...its about cumulative benefits such as EXTENDED
cleansing and resting of the digestive system. One day of anything
usually isnt even close to enough time to notice a difference.

Usually its WEEKS...but with cleansing, it can be days.

...

Do you buy organic? i love watermelon and used to eat one a day when i was in hs but i stopped after going raw bc organic is so expensive. what do you do?

-Melissa

I DO buy organic...the only items that I might skimp on ARE
- cucumbers (ONLY in the winter when they cost 5 times as much)
- some tropical produce that I buy occasionally in Chinatown, like mangoes and avocados.
Once in a great while we'll have conventional lemons or limes, but its rare.

Otherwise its ALL organic. It just becomes something that you are.
You just dont want to buy stuff sprayed with poison and grown with god-knows-what.
I'm a pretty frugal guy too (ASK DAWN), but when it comes to food,
it rests on one premise..."Am I good enough to deserve the best possible food ever?"
I'd rather cut back on any other expense and put it towards optimal food.
Think about what you can budget on, and allocate that towards nutrition.

...

Hi Anthony,
I've been looking at buying a Breville juicer and now you've inspired me even more. Do you mind telling me the model number of your juicer and if you are happy with it?
Thanks....

Anonymous

Hmm...what model...let me go check...
Its a Breville 800JEXL. It's Dawn's. My mom uses a plastic Juiceman Juicer,
and I thought that was amazing back in the day, but when I used it two
weeks ago while I was planting trees, I realized how weak it is compared to the
Breville. That Breville is a whiz to clean up too. Hey Breville...where's my check, people!?
Here is a thought about Juicing too...I bet you never thought of this.
In the pulp receptical container, put a nut milk bag in there.
That way, when you are finished juicing, you can take out the bag
and squeeze out the remaining juice from the pulp.
I swear I thought about that one myself.
Good idea?

Onto the next....

"Why scoop out the middle? Just juice the whole thing. I find in a lot of raw food prep videos, there are more steps than necessary. Don't make it harder than it has to be. Chop it and through it in the juicer and your done."

-Raw Chef Dan

...

Ah Dan...thanks for watching! The next time Dawn and I are in Quintessence
we'll have to chat a bit. So, why take out the middle?
I dont want all that sugar. Id prefer to eat most of the insides WITH fiber
so my blood sugar doesn't spike. I dont like juicing fruit for that sole reason.
If we can do a nice (1/2 rind - 1/2 pink flesh) juice of the watermelon,
it still tastes ok and is much more cleansing but not so loaded in sugar.
Eat your fruit, juice your veg, I always say.

Its not so much more difficult either...just a few scoops.

By the way...your Big Moc is so amazing its just ridiculous.

...

And the last...

Your melon didn't have seeds. Or am I wrong?

Anonymous.

There were seeds but they were small. The vendor didnt know and told us
that it had seeds. I had to hide my disappointment when I cut that melon in half.
I was like "Oh crap! I just told everybody to go with seeds and this damn melon is seedless!"
Live and learn...make sure you know before you buy.
Don't give the kid working in the produce section too much credit,
because you probably care WAY more than he does, and
he will usually just tell you what you want to hear anyways. Check for yourself.

...

SO...I hope this cleared some questions up.
I'm really pumped about making videos now. I wish I could go back
and remake some...I probably could but there is just so much to make still
without having to repeat. I ALWAYS appreciate comments and questions...
so never hesitate.

Have a productive and happy week everyone!
More on LA next!

Anthony

Watermelon Juice

Lets get back to some food issues...eh?



Here is a video Dawn and I made yesterday
while I juiced some watermelon.

Ive always wanted to do a 3-5 day watermelon juice
cleanse but never really went through with it.

I think this summer I will do it for sure.
Watermelon is extremely cleansing
and very alkalizing, so 3-5 days of it
should give some pretty interesting results.

Im getting better at editing now too...step by step.

Peace everyone...thanks for watching and reading.

Anthony

Keith Olbermann...

Takes the words right out of my mouth.

I just had to share this with all of you.

Big thanks to my friend Zach for sharing this with me.

Please take 12 min out of your day and watch this
great commentary by someone in the media who
still has the courage to speak the truth.

Part One:



And Part Two



How can people still support him?
Its amazing how fear and ignorance can control so many people.
Good luck everybody. I really hope you watch these.

A

LA...day 2

First...to clear things up.

Maybe "materialistic" isnt the right word for some LA folks.
Dawn's dad said it very well when he put it like this:

-LA is very "image-based"-

I like the sound of that.

Ok...onto the goods.

Day 2 was Sunday, which was Mother's Day.

As I was picking more fruits, I gave my mom a call and wished
her a happy Mother's Day. I couldn't ask for a better mother.

Her open mindedness helped me progress much quicker as a young person,
and she really taught me a strong work ethic.
She introduced me to gardening and landscaping too :)
Endless thanks Mom...

After speaking for a bit, we all went for a walk through the hills of Silver Lake.


If I had the chance to live in LA, I would seriously consider this area first.
Its quiet, still close to the freeways, and very green. The yards are lush
and the people take pride in maintaining their landscapes.



We headed to the Hollywood Farmer's Market after that.
I thought the Union Sq Farmer's Market in NYC was good...until I saw this.
The LA markets are leaps and bounds beyond anything here.
John McCabe from Sunfood Living said that Santa Monica is even stronger,
but I couldnt even imagine it being any better.



They have musicians, TONS of organic growers, and so much VARIETY.


Anyone that frequents the NYC markets...let them know that they should
get musicians put in. It adds so much to the atmosphere and gives the whole
scene a lot more liveliness. I was really impressed.


I bought some avocados that I've never tried before, apricots, jujubes,
kale and sugar snap peas. I forgot how good sugar snap peas could be.

You LA people have got it good! Be thankful!

We headed down to Au Lac in Fountain Valley after the market for lunch.
Now...I was a little nervous because I had been building up Au Lac so much
while telling Dawn about it...I was hoping that she wouldnt be let down.

Why would I ever doubt the magic of Chef Ito??
Au Lac AGAIN left us leaving with huge smiles on our faces.
NOTHING compares. Please...do yourself and favor and go here as often as you can.

Ito works wonders like no other. We were speechless. Here is what we had.
Im glad we were hungry.

We started with the "Creme Cheese"...beautiful presentation and the taste was GREAT.



Then we moved onto three entrees:

The Veggie Chow Mein.


The Pasta Primavera.


The Paella. A Masterpiece.



And then we had a piece of Chocolate Xctasy Cake.


After having one, we ordered 4 more to take home.
It really is THAT good.

We also got to try his Donut Holes
(Remember, Ito is on a vow of silence so he writes everything for you)



and his Raw Chocolate Candy.


Its likely the BEST BEST BEST raw chocolate Ive had.


The place was packed too.
Ito serves cooked vegan food as well, and I believe that its a big part
of their revenue, but when you go there you get the Raw Menu as well.

I was so happy to go back...and I was even more convinced how magical that food is.

It was great to see the place SO busy too. Really...be sure to check it out.

We visited Dawn's family after that and her mom showed me their fruit trees
in the back yard. Fig, Nectarine, and Lemon. Very cool!

They didnt want to really try the Chocolate Xctacy cake though!
If we would have brought it and said that it was Ice Cream Cake from Baskin Robbins
they would have been all over it, but because we mentioned the word "RAW",
they IMMEDIATELY shut down on us. Oh well...MORE FOR US!!!

We hit up the beach a little after that...nice but too windy,


then made it over to Erewhon Market on Beverly Blvd next to the Grove.




VERY IMPRESSIVE. Massive selection of raw goodies,
especially in the refridgerated section. Lots of stuff I have never even heard of.
Its really important to have access to that packaged stuff when we are on
the go and don't have enough time to make our own food.

Big ups to Erewhon...again, you LA guys have got it pretty good.

Since we were right by the Grove, we went and saw Iron Man.
At first I was a little hesitant because I assumed that it would be
a dumb action movie, but it was actually really smart and lots of fun.

I like Indie movies and documentaries more than most people,
but once in a while its nice to watch a movie and have fun and simply
be entertained. I take things too seriously sometimes...its good to just let go.

GREAT movie...and Robert Downy Jr. was drinking his own GREEN SMOOTHIE
in one part of it! WHAT? That was a cool surprise.
Iron Man...literally.

We drove home to the fresh jasmine scent of Silver Lake,
ate a few more loquats with some tea and smiled about how great that day was.

Day 3...Euphoria in Santa Monica, and Cru with Bueller from Bueller's Kitchen.

-A

LA Recap pt 1

Ok...first off...I'm honestly really glad to be back in NYC.

Dont get me wrong...LA is good...but Im starting to notice a few flaws.

The big thing is simply the car-centered lifestyle.
You really have to plan ahead when you want to go somewhere or meet
with some friends. You have to give yourself extra time in case traffic slows
up, and you are always looking for a place to park or paying $$ to park the
stinking car. I've just become a little spoiled with NYC because I havent
had to even think about car issues for years really.
All the stress...money...and time...a non-issue over here.

That being said though, I feel that its still great over in LA.
Everywhere you go, you see fruit trees.

A massive lemon tree we spotted on our morning walk.

Tons of grapefruits...not getting any love.

When Dawn and I were driving up to our friend's place in Silver Lake,
I started noticing Loquat trees in the yards. I was going a little crazy.
I dont know how to compare it. You see it, you WANT it, and you
figure that the people that HAVE it, dont even care about it.
Thats what really gets me.
Their yards have lemon, loquat, and fig trees and they dont give it a second thought.
The squirrels and the birds sure enjoy the benefits however.

Anyways...as we arrived to our friends place and she was showing us
her backyard, I look down from the window and what do I see?
5 Loquat Trees, FLOWING with fruit. Oh lord....


So while Dawn caught up with her friend, I got primal and started
climbing loquat trees. What a wonderful bonus! I would have flown
to Los Angeles just for that, I'm not even kidding.

(Me totally geeking out over fruits that people take
for granted in LA every all the time. How funny...)

I dont know if its ancient instinct or what,
but I am just so happy when Im picking fruit.

The amount of Loquats I ate in the past four days was worth
the price of my ticket alone. Jenny from Wylde and Raw
was talking about Loquat trees up in San Francisco and I was
telling her a week ago - "Enjoy those Loquats for me!"
Little did I know...never forget, the universe provides. :)

We went out to Cru that night, and I was totally blown away
by the chocolate fudge cake (PHENOMENAL) and the entrees as well.

(Ravioli Cruda...Dawn's favorite by far)

I love seeing elegant Raw restaurants. Its so important to get the vibe out
to the mainstreamers. I'm not against crunchy places myself, but
if we are going to get our friends and relatives to at least try this food,
we have to present it with a little style. Big ups to Cru in Silver Lake.

(Both Bruschettas...equally wonderful. They really know the flavor combos there)

(The Walnut Chorizo Sausage...SPICY)

(The Pizza Duo...love the idea of having both flavors with one order)

The Desserts...Chocolate Fudge Cake, White Cacao Cheesecake, and Fudge Brownie.
Can you guess that we love Cacao???

Their coconut kefir is astounding too. Much love.

We did also go to Leaf for lunch earlier in the day,
and that place is great too. I did the mushroom-coconut sandwich
and dawn had a wrap. I liked both alot. Its a great place to go
for lunch, and the prices are really fair. Its great to see
a nice clean and BRIGHT place to go, and have good quality food fast.

LA has a great number of raw spots...too bad you have to drive everywhere
to visit each one. If we can figure out a way to live in LA car-free and still
be able earn a living, I think that would be the key.

There is the fantastic-plastic scene of course, but we can always
try to avoid it as much as we can. People are really into material stuff out there
as well, but thats their thing. If someone is going to judge me because of my
car or my clothes, they are telling me that they arent worthy of my friendship.
Simple as that. Usually the people that drive the worst cars are the most
interesting people to spend time with. Think about it.

The next day...the Hollywood Farmer's Market (WOW) and...AU LAC.

Day 2 is next....

Permaculture Project Day 2 and Going to LA!

"Pardon me sir...may I have permission to express myself freely?"
Ironic, right??

So a quick recap of day 2. This was the day we finally took apart the monster
brush pile. The bigger branches will be chipped for mulch later, while
we burned many of the small stuff and spread the ashes around.

All my buddies got poison ivy, but luckily for me I seem to be immune.
I was out there 11-12 hours a day, so Im sure if they got it, I would have too.
Ive never had poison ivy before, so I doubt being raw has anything to do with it.
It would be really interesting if it did though.

Here is the video from day two.



AND...Dawn found some great tickets to LA this weekend,
so we are doing a 4 day trip to visit her family and try as many
raw restaurants as we can. What is on the list?

We are going to Leaf, Juliano's, Euphoria, 118 Degrees,
AU LAC!!!!, Cru in Silver Lake, and um...Au Lac again? Haha...

There is also Terra Bella Cafe and Good Mood Food...
we'll see if there's enough time for them too.

Id also like to visit Erewhon too...never been there and have heard its great.

I doubt I'll have much access to email over the weekend, so if I dont reply to
emails right away, I will soon afterwards.

Ive been waiting so long to get back to LA...finally tomorrow.
Looks like the weather is going to be less than perfect, but I dont mind.

As for questions about heating the yurt...
I plan to use a wood stove. Some friends have suggested corn,
but I dont want to be reliant on people to have to grow corn so I can stay
warm in the winter. If you have enough property (2 acres is PLENTY)
there will always be enough downed wood to burn throughout the year
without ever having to cut down one live tree.

And the yurt is small enough and shaped perfectly to keep the heat in.
You can opt for really good insulation that will keep you toasty throughout
the entire Minnesota winter. (So I've been told...)

Ah yes...here is the link to my Raw Spirit page too...
See you there in September hopefully.

Have a great weekend everyone!
If you get a rebate check in the mail soon...go buy fruit trees!
No better investment for a fruit aficionado.
One year of fruit harvested is likely 4 times the cost of the tree...
so its a solid investment all around. Think about it!
Check your local nurseries first, and then check online. Trust me!

-Anthony

Permaculture Project Day One

(my black sapote seeds doing their thing...3 weeks after planting)

Im really making it a point to record the whole project
in order to show everyone how accessible and beneficial
it is to do something like this. Especially young people.

If we can do something like this, or at least start saving for it now,
we can be free from the energy-food matrix within 5 years.
Of course it depends on your life situation and how nice you want
your eco-paradise to be (a yurt is much cheaper than a standard "green" home).

Nevertheless...its an investment towards freedom, REAL freedom.

Here is the video from day one. Big thanks to everyone who had shown
their support and love in the comments section.

I'll be sure to answer questions throughout the next few weeks...never fear.



Gotta love the different angles...Im getting better at my editing skills.
I just finished a great book on permaculture called "Gaia's Garden"
and it has really helped me immensely. I would highly recommend checking
it out on amazon.com. Thanks again everyone...LOTS of videos to come.

Anthony

Recap from my first week in Minnesota

One of the cherry trees...we planted about 45 trees this weekend.

After a long, LONG, time without any real postings, I'm back.
I was due to come back to NY on Friday, but there was just so much
to do still, and the weather was so great, that I had to stay.
I feel like a bum for telling everyone that I would be at the chocolate
party last friday...but we must make hay while the sun shines...

My mom and I planted every tree, and ended up buying
4 more to fill up some extra space that I had made.

I did 6.5 days of full work, starting around 9am
and finishing around 8-9pm. I was outside mostly the whole
time and got a lot of sun on my face.

There was actually snow on the ground during the first 3 days.


Not very enocouraging, but I wasnt going to sit around.
There was a MASSIVE pile of branches and dirt that had to be
picked apart for wood-chipping and burning,
so with the help of my two friends Aaron and Stu, and my dad,
we had that monster of mud, snow, and wood totally dissected in 2 days.

(This pile was about 15 times bigger than this)

We are going to to use the wood chips for mulch, and then
I plan to build trellises with some larger, straighter branches.

The spring is so behind there right now...
its not usually like this in may. Coming back to NY was like
transporting myself 2 months into the future.

I had excavators with bobcats (skidloaders) come
over and shape the land to build swales (pictured below)


and dig out the spot for the dome greenhouse.

Many purists out there (most who havent actually done any
real landscaping or large-scale permaculture projects)
would be tempted to give me a hard time for using
machines that run on fossil fuels to create my garden.
From what they have READ, we should be working without these machines.


As romantic as it sounds, spending MONTHS digging out land with
a copper shovel when you have other things to take care of,
is not a wise or enticing idea. Hire the guys with the skidloaders and be done with it.
Before I started I dreamed of doing the whole thing totally pure,
but after realizing the time constraints and other factors, reality kicks in.
So before someone talks to you about clearing land by hand,
or anything similar to that, ask them what they've actually DONE.

I say...
Use the tools of the fossil fuel era to free us from the fossil fuel era. Get it?

I think that is what every civilized society in the universe is supposed to do.

Hear me out...we start with fossil fuels that were stored up for us long ago,
and in the meantime we develop technologies and use the machines powered on oil
to liberate us from ever having to use it again. We have to use fossil fuels to build
solar panels and wind turbines, but I think thats the whole point to the game.
The fossil fuels are our freebie...gave our society a boost. Now we have to be smarter
animals and develop something on our own. Look into implosion technology.

But in the meantime -

Use the non-renewable energy to create machines that run on renewable energy.

And besides...would you want to dig this stump out yourself? Look at those roots!
This is where the deck would be, so it would totally have messed up the footings.

We all have ideals, but in reality we have to...um...be more realistic?

And also...one of the main points of this project is to show people in the mainstream
(suburban households, young people just getting started) that we can build a permaculture
site in a very short amount of time and free ourselves from the food-energy
matrix of the present day system.Telling them that they have to devote months
of hard labor to this cause will not get many people on board, will it?


We then started conditioning the soil with worms, compost, peat moss,
sea minerals, and used straw for mulch.

Straw keeps the moisture in, and keeps erosion WAY down.
If you cant get your hands on straw, what else could you use?
What does nature use to keep moisture in and erosion down?
LEAVES! Gather up leaves and have about 6 inches covering your soil.
Dig out little spots for your seedlings and youre all set.

We also built a retaining wall that will keep the back garden raised up
and create a walking path between the wall of melon/tomato/cucumber vines
and the fruit trees just below them. The garden is where the straw will be.

This is the back slope of the land, going back away from the road.
I know it looks like a desert right now...but soon it should be lushy green.
There are two rows of fruit trees with the swale in the middle.
I threw the seeds of wild greens in every spot I could find too.

Ill draw some diagrams to show what I hope it turns out like soon.
I consumed mostly brazil nut smoothies with ridiculous amounts
of bee pollen and vitamineral green and honey.

I ate more nuts that I would ever recommend last week.
BUT...I had no access to decent produce, and just stuck to my
smoothies mostly. I was active for about 11 hours a day though,
so I actually stayed in really good shape besides eating
way too many nuts. Activity really makes a difference.
I didnt eat breakfast though...just a big water with vitamineral
green and msm. I would work for 3-4 hours then have a smoothie.

I know this is a bit of a long post, but let me make one more point.
For one whole week, I probably looked in the mirror not more than
5 times. I was so focused on work and doing what I loved, that
I had no time to even think about physical appearance.
It was so liberating. I was covered in dust and dirt,
my lips were all chapped from the wind and sun,
I was exhausted and my muscles were so sore.
I went to bed so happy.

Start doing what you absolutely love to do,
and the more you do it, the more you will be shocked
at how good you feel. I was so disconnected with all the
nonsense of the city. People coming and going...having no idea who
they really are or what they really desire.

Im not going to dish out some lofty spiritual stuff about
finding your calling or anything like that.
Its very simple...DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
And if you have to, find out how to earn money by doing it.
If I was a doctor, it would call it a cure for depression.
Maybe pills arent the answer...maybe its doing what you really love?

Me with my parents and their dog Molly...
thanks so much you two for all of your love, help, and support.
I wouldnt be able to realize this dream without you.

-A