Welcome to my E-porfolio. My name is Kalyn Marab and I am finally graduating with a BA in Community Environment and Planning and a minor in Urban Ecological Design. Here’s bits and pieces of my story, of the last few years.
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
John Muir
Seaweed Recipe
4 cups half and half (I substituted goat milk)
1 cup Turkish towel (any of the brown and dark red seaweeds will work, as long as the have the carageenan in them)
2 cups dark chocolate chips (I used some raw cacao powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract (if you like)
1 pie crust of your liking (graham cracker is nice)
1 cup whole raspberries (or any berry)
whipped cream and mint garnish if your feeling fancy
Basically you boil the milk and the pieces of seaweed together, then simmer them for about 20 minutes. The seaweed has a naturally occurring thickener called carageenan that is released with the heat and thickens your milk into a pudding like consistency. It leaves a salty seaweed essence after you strain our the seaweed pieces and then I added bananas cacao and strawberries because it was what I had on hand. Any form of pudding I’m sure would work and taste delicious. It was neat to see it work and it tasted great. The recipe is one of Jennifer Hahn’s you can look at her book and website here, http://www.pacificfeast.com/. She is awesome the book is full of wonderful wild food recipes.
The Edible Ocean
Seaweed
Love
Although no fisher
Reaping the gemlike seaweed,
I yearn for you
So deeply that the salt spray
Never dries upon my sleeves.
-Anonymous, a Japanese court poem
General Info:
“Seaweed” is marine algae large enough to be seen with the unaided eye. “Sea Vegetables” are species of seaweed which are not merely edible, but palatable and even delectable. I use these terms somewhat interchangeably. The West Coast favors an abundance of large, easy to harvest, especially tasty varieties, many of which do not occur in other regions. Sea Vegetables are classified by their pigments, food reserves, chemical substances, reproductive patterns, vegetative, cellular and reproduction structures. Sea Vegetables fall into one of five types: green, red, brown, blue-green, and yellow-green algae. Most of the larger seaweeds will be either Green, Red or Brown seaweeds. Their color is not a reliable indicator for classification.
Last week a group of us woke up with the birds and sleepily made our way down to the beach to catch the low tide. Kyle, one of the work traders here walked us through some basic identification, and showed us some of the better types. The Nori was the most sought after, so we could make “noritos” which is dehydrated Nori pieces, that rival the highly processed Dorito chip. I also collected some fucus tips and some turkish towel and tried out some fun recipes for lunch. It was a beautiful way to wake up and come to life in the morning. Wandering through Nature’s bounty, in one of the it’s most highly nutritious forms; seaweeds. Kyle shared a wealth of information that I’ll post so you can learn more!
Green Gulch Meditation Center
We just spent the afternoon at Green Gulch farm and meditation center. We were part of a Beekeeping workshop, then got to experience the evening Zen meditation in their beautiful garden. The RDI community, the green gulch farm community and Slide Ranch people (another educational farm off highway 1) all gathered to share/meet/greet one another. Five days a week the workers at Green Gulch wake up at 4:30 for morning meditation. I have reveled in the slow paced lifestyle here on the farm, the slow paced vibe at green gulch follows a strategic schedule. Committing a portion of your daily life to quiet thought, and mindful practice such as their zen meditation, feels like it adds time to your day. If we are forced to slow down, and experience the moment that we are in, rather then those past and those ahead we in a sense reclaim our time. We reclaim the moments that are uniquely ours, that too often slip past us. I dozed off laying in the sun in the garden, when I was supposed to be meditating. Though I still feel that it was valuable… in it’s own way.
Parting words..
learn to live in gratitude of our past, in constant treasure of the present and patient wonder of our futures..
thank you :)
This book is about ‘Food, Culture and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans.’ My heart sank when I reached the end of this book, the richness of each piece, and of every story kept me thinking long after I set down the book. Klindienst perfectly merges the importance of celebrating our cultural heritage, with our connection to the land.
The premise of the book is an intimate tour of the private gardens of Ethnic Americans. Each place represents a country or region that the gardener has immigrated from, either themselves or their ancestors. Coming to America was not an easy journey in any of these stories, the adjustment was even more difficult. What reconnected these people, and what helped to mend their longing for their homeland was to grow their gardens. When some were struggling to learn English, and to find their place in America they found respite in their gardens. The land spoke their language and once they came into their relationship with the soil they were on, home no longer felt so far away. This story stirs a need to uncover your own story, to bring to life a piece of your heritage in your garden. The book is a beautiful tribute to those that migrated and have cultivated this abundance of culinary diversity in our country
The practical aspects of growing your own food to supplement your diet, and to take pressure off your pocketbook are appealing. The pleasure of enjoying your homegrown food holds an intrinsic value, that is celebrated so little in mainstream American culture. The deep relationship with food, leads us into the deep relationship to the land. The responsibility to care for the land because it is recognized as our source of food, connection, and our histories. Overall this book is an amazing tribute to some of the culturally rich gardens hidden throughout America, and I highly recommend it.
Green School in Bali
John Hardy stopped by the farm today to look around and say hello. He is an old friend of James and Penny’s and is the founder of the Green School in Bali. This is a ted talk of John sharing his vision of education that he has brought to life in Bali.
