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