This post is sponsored by San Pellegrino’s Fine Dining Lovers and as usual the content is all NOTCOT! Check out Tasteologie Editor, Jackson’s, adventures in Malibu!

Wine makers and connoisseurs often talk of terroir. The taste that the place imparts on the grapes. You can close your eyes and taste the soils… the micro climate… get a sense of the life of the wine. It’s rare that we think of dinners as having the same property, but after meeting Helene and dining at her Malibu Farm. I now know that the an entire dinner can taste and feel of a place. The dinner was delicious and thoroughly Malibu in every sense. Some of the vegetables were grown on the property, just feet away from where we dined. The salads were dotted with pomegranate and the guest list was gently peppered with Hollywood. Winter soon brought nightfall but a gently heated tent, a live band, and plenty of local wine kept the party going late into the night. Being so close to the roots of one’s food was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to show you the rest.

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Tags: farm - food - malibu - tasteologie

Here’s the latest discovery from Justine based in London!

20 Dalston Lane in the heart of East London seems an odd address for a farm. But Dalston’s FARM:shop is literally a farm in a shop. Once a derelict store, the shop is now a shop/cafe/meeting place and farm all in one. It is home to hundreds of growing plants arranged in every setup imaginable from a backyard polytunnel to hydroponics setup where plants are fed by the fish. It is even home to a flock of rooftop living chickens!

A perfect combination of public spaces/projects with urban farming, I knew this one would be right up our alley, and when I heard about the hydroponics and chickens on the roof, I knew it would be one not to miss. More photos on the next page!

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Tags: animals - aquarium - farm - food - gardens - hydroponics - london - nature - plants - store - travel

Justine was sharing this incredibly intriguing project she found happening in the UK… supposedly its like Farmville, but in real life… while still online… anyhow, take a peek below at what she has to share about it!

Last month, the National Trust launched the MyFarm project, which creates and bridges digital communities with the daily realities of farming. Although the project was heralded by the BBC and others as “FarmVille meets reality”, those behind the project are clear to stress that this is not a game. Instead, the community of 10,000 online Farmers have a direct impact on the workings of the farm at National Trust’s Wimpole Estate and are effectively working with farm manager Richard Morris to decide how it should be run. The first MyFarm vote took place last month, with internet farmers voting to grow wheat and that decision is already being implemented!

The project is a fascinating mix of real and virtual worlds and demonstrates a great use of digital and social media to raise awareness about the National Trust and British farmers. It also provides unrivaled access to a working farm. No matter where you are, you can follow the estate on twitter (@WimpoleEstateNT) as well as farm manager, Richard Morris (@farmermorris) as he goes on his rounds to check on the farm and reports on the many new arrivals (the last few days have seen many new piglets and calves!). They team have also just set up a dedicated MyFarm twitter account (@MYFarmNT) and an account for Emma who looks after the Shire horses (@EmmaMyFarm). The Shires are one to watch at the moment, with a new streaming cam for MyFarmers to be able to watch the pregnant Queenie and hopefully witness the birth of a Shire foal live in the next week or so!

In addition to being a fascinating project, the Wimpole Estate is an incredible place to visit. Located just outside Cambridge, it is one of my favorite escapes, with a beautiful stately home and gardens as well as the farm. It is also home to many of my favorite rare breeds. The home farm is a Rare Breeds Survival Trust approved farm park, home to a number of rare breed livestock including horses, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. The estate also runs a great events/courses series. I recently learned to hand shear some rare breed sheep and may be back soon to try my hand at hedgelaying, blacksmithing or ferretting. The next MyFarm vote is coming up soon and is about a subject near and dear to me, SHEEP! So let’s get voting to save native breeds!

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Tags: animals - concept - farm - nature - uk

This could easily be a post about amazing photographs of seemingly endless dinner tables trailing off into breathtakingly magnificent landscapes… in fact, i have a hard time just getting past the images you’ll see on the next page enough to tell you why, beyond the table imagery, Outstanding In The Field is SO spectacular! (Quick side note: How fun is their LOGO?) The main image above is at County Line Harvest, Petaluma, CA ~ the swing just makes me smile.

Ok, but moving beyond the beautiful images of endless tables… (You can see plenty more of that on the next page too!) A friend of mine was telling me about these a few months back, but i had forgotten the name, and just discovered the website tonight! Outstanding In The Field hosts incredible farm dinners, bringing together farmers, celebrated chefs, and eager diners alike. From humble beginnings of “farmers dinners” in Santa Cruz hosted by chef and artist (whose work you definitely know if you’re reading this!), Jim Denevan in the summer of 1998… which coupled with his brother, Bill, a “pioneering organic grower in California was one of those farmers that brought his ingredients and his story to the restaurant.”… evolved into dinners on the farm! Now, over a decade later it has grown into a series of traveling around the world hosting Farm Dinner events as well as private events. Are you hooked yet? I’m seriously bummed right now that the remaining Los Angeles dinners are sold out already… perhaps we will need to think about a NOTCOT private dinner? Let’s discuss that more in the comments though… for now ~ go fall in love with the images on the next page!

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Tags: events - farm - food - photography - travel

Polyface Farm ~ it was one of the few pit stops we've made here in Virginia while visiting family... and WOW. While i will openly admit, i know little about sustainable agriculture and farms - dan has been raving about this place and their philosophies and systems ever since he read "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan (where the author actually lived on the farm for 2 weeks to fully understand their incredible process!)

"At Polyface, we want every animal to eat as much salad (green material) as its full genetic potential will allow"

Knowing i can't do the full story justice, consider this post a launching board to poke those of you who are remotely interested to find out more... but here's my quick version. First thing to grab me driving up was definitely the logo ~ such a cute entrance sign! With the fish in the chicken in the cow in the tree! Poly-face certainly makes a lot of sense with its multifaceted farming. Essentially the beauty of this farm is its earth/life centered approach, which thrives on a fantastic sense of balance achieved through understanding what these animals and plants need to thrive year round ~ instead of optimizing for speed or fattening things up, they've managed to create a sustainable farm in harmony. Most of their species are in a rotation - to keep the cows from overgrazing and consuming their own waste, to give the chickens a chance to pick through and find all the best grubs as well as feed, to turn pigs into "Pigaerators" (tasty corn ferments encourage them to aerate all fertilizer for the farm naturally), water that is collected in their various ponds and wells from winter runoff keep them self-reliant, and so much more i can't even begin to explain. And from a design perspective, i was fascinated reading about the ways they utilize mobile electric fences and Eggmobiles to facilitate this whole process!

Bottom line? The eggs, sausage, and bacon i tasted were truly incredibly tasty and worth the drive (if you go out there, def get the apple juice too, we thought the jug was HUGE, but it disappeared in about a day - who knew even the toddlers would love it so much?)... the family running the farm was intelligent, kind, and passionate about every aspect of their process, and eager to share their wisdom. If you make it to these parts, you definitely want to roadtrip over and try some of the goods - since they are only available there, and in select restaurants nearby! So, continue your journey, read more about Polyface Farm here!

p.s.
i was out wandering far out in the fields visiting some chickens and their adorable, huge guard dog ~ and got caught in a thunderstorm, which left me completely drenched in a little green sundress ~ so not as many pictures as i would have liked to show you on the next page - but i was a bit preoccupied with the wetness and protecting the camera! Still - some fun ones! (and big thanks to Robert Frysinger for contributing some of his pics as well.)

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Tags: animals - books - drinks - farm - food - green - nature - sustainable - travel