Despite the New York Times professing it to be the “worst party of the year,” and The Wall Street Journal offering a sarcastic “Good luck with that,” we’re getting together with friends tonight to give it a go. I’m curious, what are your plans for watching the results of the election roll in? Eating tacos and sipping “mazel tov cocktails,” perhaps? Or will you be avoiding the play-by-play?
In anticipation, Aron and I have been texting each other puns and ideas for party food apropos to an election season ripe for satire—with all of those catchy phrases like “bad hombres,” “nasty women,” “bigly” (or “big league,” which really isn’t much better), and—of course—”grab ’em by the…”
Come to think of it, maybe instead of a party we just need a long, hot shower.
Of all of the holidays to spring up in the past few years, Friendsgiving might be the best. Friends are like chosen family—and it’s nice to have the opportunity to express thanks for them, too.
I asked some new friends, Morgan Daily and Kyle Hagerty, if we could gather in their incredible garden, the Urban Farmstead in East Sacramento, to host one such dinner at the start of the season, and to pass along some tips.
The space they’ve created is such an inspiration. Kyle, a firefighter for the city of Sacramento, has been gardening since his childhood, and Morgan is studying sustainable agriculture and food systems at UC Davis. “We are both very passionate about living sustainably” which includes finding ways to reduce water usage and eat seasonably. I can attest that their commitment is apparent—and can’t help but share some photos of the results (aka this dream garden).
We all wanted to know how it came about, and while they attributed some success to trial and error, it was clear there was a lot of planning that went into it: “Being able to enjoy the weather and take advantage of the sun and soil for ideal vegetable gardening conditions was most important to us. Our goal was to incorporate a lush landscape, lounging area, outdoor kitchen, and of course a huge vegetable garden, all in an environmentally sustainable way.” They drew out plans, and amended the soil, before putting in drought-tolerant plants, efficient irrigation, mulch, and organic fertilizers.
Since cultivating their garden, the two have begun hosting a bi-weekly farm-stand for their community. And just over a year ago, they hosted the first Farmstead Supper in their yard—a gathering of community to get back in touch with the source of their food.
We partnered with Bota Box for the evening: As a leading eco-friendly wine producer—each package is printed on 90% post-consumer fiber and is 100% recyclable, creating 85% less landfill waste than traditional glass bottles—the wine was a perfect fit for an evening in such an inspiring sustainable garden.
The two were generous enough to welcome us all for a friendsgiving dinner, and offered some tips for anyone else hoping to do the same.
I stumbled upon Everyone is Gay—an organization working to improve the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) youth—earlier this week when I was looking through the Chronicle Books page; they’ve published This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids with the founders, Kristin Russo & Dannielle Owens-Reid. Now I can’t stop humming the song from their music video. I love the line, “We’re all just looking for love to change the world.”
Isn’t that the truth. We all are going to need a lot of love around here next week!
Enjoy the weekend and here are some links of note…
