APRIL 08

FEATURED FRIENDS

Occidental Arts & Ecology Center is a non-profit organizing and education center and organic garden in California’s Sonoma County. It was founded in 1994 by a group of biologists, horticulturalists, educators, activists and artists seeking innovative and practical approaches to the pressing environmental and economic crisis of our day. OAEC’s programs combine research, demonstration, education and organizing to develop collaborative, community based strategies for positive social change and effective environmental stewardship. The center is located in western Sonoma County on 80 acres that encompasses wildlands of meadows and mixed oak, fir and redwood forests in addition to the core area’s organic orchards and gardens and diverse green building designs. Seeds to Sauce highly recommends all of their course offerings and in particular the two week residential Permaculture Design Certification, of which Kendall is the primary co-instructor (with Brock Dolman) and at which Chas often guest lectures. Additionally, the two spring and one fall plant sales are an invaluable opportunity to purchase plants from their diverse collection.

CURRENT THOUGHTS

I have felt that I live in multiple worlds; bothered, to be deeply honest, to live in many and have a home in none. Yet in yoga there is a method for avoiding negative mental states by turning the situation on its head, called Pratipaksha-bhavana (cultivation of the opposite) in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, or as Permaculturalists say, “the problem is the solution.”

As an ecologist, I understand I’m attracted to and choose to live in ecotones, those rich areas where two different ecosystems come together in a flush of fecundity populated with the inhabitants of both systems and some that dwell only in the edge. Of course living on the edge can be stressful, but it seems to be where humans have evolved to dwell. American’s obsession with opening front doors to a well manicured lawn is some twisted remnant of our evolution as tree dwellers who ventured out onto the grasslands of the savannah. We want the security and independence of our own home, along with the opportunity and connectivity of linked lawns.

Two of my personal ecosystems are the conservative Upper East Side in New York where I grew up and progressive California’s western Sonoma County where I now live. In my closet ecotone where cashmere sweaters nestle with Carhart overalls, my English tailored suits hang next to Patagonia fleece jackets. California itself is a place of creativity since it is an ecotone where Western and Eastern philosophies merge (and this time I’m not referring to the two coasts of the US).

Within ecological agricultural I’m struck by how much creativity has germinated when these two great traditions come together. Sir Albert Howard went to India and returning to England launched the “organic” movement. Rudolph Steiner (originator of Biodynamics) saw his work as an effort to merge Eastern and Western understanding, connecting material scientific knowledge with spiritual mystical tradition, in what he labeled “spiritual science” or Anthroposophy. Tasmanian Bill Mollison grew up in Australia where British and Pacific cultures merged and manifest in his co-creation of Permaculture (itself the ecotone of permanent and culture).

I have practiced both gardening and cooking as an amateur (whose root meaning is one who loves) and as a professional, always trying to bring my love into the work I got paid for. I live with a dog and cat who love each other and play together. Yet they speak different languages—perhaps someday my dog will learn that the cat’s flicking tail is not wagging. I see the same dynamic at Farmers’ Markets when chefs and farmers meet. These Chefs usually see dawn only on the way home from work and farmers see it as the beginning of the work day, but it’s amazing when they do carve time to play together.

At Seeds to Sauce, I hope we can bring you into that culinary ecotone—where food is understood and appreciated holistically—and where different worlds convene in tasty culinary creations not just of the palate but of the heart, mind and soul. We will bring our discoveries and welcome your wisdom to create a world which strives to sustain all beings now and in the future, because in the end we all share one home.