The One-Block Feast : An Adventure in Food From Yard to Table

Draws on "Sunset magazine's" One-Block Diet blog to instruct readers on how to raise and produce all ingredients for numerous "from-scratch" meals, providing plans that include a sustainable vegetable garden, backyard bee hives, and a chicken roost.;The one-block garden warm-season planting plan and timeline -- The one-block garden cool-season planting plan and timeline -- Essential gardening guidelines. Before you plant ; How to plant ; How to water ; How to fertilize -- Summer. The story of our summer feast ; Garden : summer garden plan ; Projects. How to raise honeybees (and make honey) ; How to make cheese (part I). Fresh chive cheese ; Oregano queso blanco ; How to make beer. Summer wheat beer ; Belgian Abbey ale ; How to raise chickens ; Recipes -- Fall. The story of our fall feast ; Garden : fall garden plan ; Projects. How to make wine. Syrah ; Chardonnay ; How to make vinegar ; How to make cheese (part II). Ricotta ; Fromage blanc ; Feta ; Gouda ; How to grow mushrooms ; How to make olive oil ; Recipes -- Winter. The story of our winter feast ; Garden : winter garden plan ; Projects. How to make salt ; How to make escargots (from your own garden snails) ; Garlic butter escargots ; How to make mead (Honey wine) ; Recipes -- Spring. The story of our spring feast ; Garden : spring garden plan ; Projects. How to own (or co-own) a dairy cow ; How to make tea ; Recipes -- Appendix. Regional planting and harvesting timelines for your own one-block feasts. Based on the James Beard Award–winning blog The One-Block Diet, this all-in-one home gardening, do-it-yourself guide and cookbook shows you how to transform a backyard or garden into a self-sufficient locavore’s paradise. When Margo True and her fellow staffers at Northern California–based Sunset magazine walked around the grounds of their Menlo Park office, they saw more than just a lawn and some gardens. Instead, they saw a fresh, bountiful food source, the makings for intrepid edible projects, and a series of seasonal feasts—all just waiting to happen. The One-Block Feast is the story of how True and her team took an inspired idea and transformed it into an ambitious commitment: to create four feasts over the course of a year, using only what could be grown or raised in their backyard-sized plot. She candidly shares the group’s many successes and often humorous setbacks as they try their hands at chicken farming , cheese making , olive pressing , home brewing , bee keeping , winemaking , and more. Grouped into gardening, project, and recipe guides for each season, The One-Block Feast is a complete resource for planning an eco-friendly kitchen garden; making your own pantry staples for year-round cooking and gifts; raising bees, chickens, and even a cow; and creating made-from-scratch meals from ingredients you’ve grown yourself. Chapters are organized by season, each featuring a planting plan and crop-by-crop instructions, an account of how that season’s projects played out for the Sunset team, and a multicourse dinner menu composed of imaginative, appealing, and ultra-resourceful vegetarian recipes, such as: Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Chard and Sage Brown Butter • Egg and Gouda Crepes • Whole Wheat Pizzas with Roasted Vegetables and Homemade Cheeses • Fresh Corn Soup with Zucchini Blossoms • Braised Winter Greens with Preserved Lemons and Red Chile • Summer Lemongrass Custards • Honey Ice Cream Generously illustrated and easy to follow, this ultimate resource for today’s urban homesteader will inspire you to take “eating local” to a whole new level. Based on the James Beard Award--winning blog The One-Block Diet, this all-in-one home gardening, do-it-yourself guide and cookbook shows you how to transform a backyard or garden into a self-sufficient locavore's paradise. When Margo True and her fellow staffers at Northern California--based Sunset magazine walked around the grounds of their Menlo Park office, they saw more than just a lawn and some gardens. Instead, they saw a fresh, bountiful food source, the makings for intrepid edible projects, and a series of seasonal feasts--all just waiting to happen. The One-Block Feast is the story of how True and her team took an inspired idea and transformed it into an ambitious commitment: to create four feasts over the course of a year, using only what could be grown or raised in their backyard-sized plot. She candidly shares the group's many successes and often humorous setbacks as they try their hands at chicken farming , cheese making , olive pressing , home brewing , bee keeping , winemaking , and more. Grouped into gardening, project, and recipe guides for each season, The One-Block Feast is a complete resource for planning an eco-friendly kitchen garden; making your own pantry staples for year-round cooking and gifts; raising bees, chickens, and even a cow; and creating made-from-scratch meals from ingredients you've grown yourself. Chapters are organized by season, each featuring a planting plan and crop-by-crop instructions, an account of how that season's projects played out for the Sunset team, and a multicourse dinner menu composed of imaginative, appealing, and ultra-resourceful vegetarian recipes, such as: Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Chard and Sage Brown Butter Egg and Gouda Crepes Whole Wheat Pizzas with Roasted Vegetables and Homemade Cheeses Fresh Corn Soup with Zucchini Blossoms Braised Winter Greens with Preserved Lemons and Red Chile Summer Lemongrass Custards Honey Ice Cream Generously illustrated and easy to follow, this ultimate resource for today's urban homesteader will inspire you to take "eating local" to a whole new level. From the Hardcover edition