Back from a summer of intensive food studies, how sad it is to find yet another truly local institution — gone. Today is Stuart’s Coffee House’s last day…..see….. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/08/31/2162610/iconic-coffee-shop-stuarts-to.html More blogging to follow. On the ecology of food, and more. For now,  Garry and Maria, we will miss you!!!!

Urban wheat, ready to harvest Plum harvest: Fairly good Venison roast, grilled

No finer dining, cooking prep, and food basics can be found. Final pre-departure meeting Knives/cutting class Tenderest fingerlings Reducing broth and onions Protecting eggplant from over-browning

Enjoying fine biodynamic foods and thought! Integrated, holistic small-farm viability. Early spring-planting in warm soils gives good results. At the solstice, time to uncover fermenting preps On-farm slaughter with Island Grown Farmers Cooperative (IGFC) Mobile Processing Unit — the first in the U.S.! Processing for biodynamic preparations.   Press for valerian Homeopathic soil fertility

At the Kerkvliet’s Inspiration Farm. Dozens and dozens of fruit grafts Hand-crafted cream separators for personal use The beauty of the wildness, permaculture homeostasis Farming on the contour, for maximumwater retention — homemade string lines and plumb bobs. Beautiful contours Hugo Cultures Grinding  silica using Brian’s glassworks Alexandra explaining about cow genetics and breeds Mycoremediation…

Permaculture — where wild is beautiful. Spring, 2011. When light soils are needed….. Guilds, multi-function and multi-niche Grafted onto Hawthorne, note “natural” protection from deer browsing Utterly moveable outhouses Utterly-beautiful storage Outdoor kitchen for the interns Tulips and comfrey Permaculture’s sweet cicely

In the spring, it’s necessary to tend to your veggie plants — give the roots room to grow, then release to the wild of your garden.

Tomato stakes visible Here are the gardens, and the presidential beehives (although they could stand a new Top-Bar Hive or two).

At the widely-acclaimed Mount Baker Youth Symphony summer music camp — Summer Sounds. Lovely Ciao Thyme food Whidbey Rice The food was delicious, but the music was superb (see below)

A mid-June Food Conference hosted at the University of Montana in Missoula featured boith the world’s most thoughtful food scholars, as well as, possibly, the best university food anywhere. Congratulations Mark LoParco. Conference sponsored by: Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), & Society for Anthropology of Food and Culture. Detailed source-labelling, egg carton in…