Here, Dr. Mark Vorderbruggen (aka “Merriwether the Adventurer“) leads a workshop on foraging for wild edibles. Literally dozens of apparent weeds lurking about the corners of the property, as it turns out, are as edible as the lush greens we cultivate at the farm. Here’s one of his finest innovations: an iPod field guide.

Farmer Joe Icet led discussions of food security – a concept many hadn’t given much thought to, but after chatting with Joe, we began to think about it some more. With just three days’ food supply on local supermarket shelves, it’s an idea that does bear some serious consideration as we prepare for emergencies. Looking ahead, he points out, it makes sense to prepare for times when cheap oil for transport is history. His answer: “Guerilla gardening!”

Farmer Marcella Icet is an organic gourmet – no matter what the vegetable, she’s got a trick for turning it into something divine.

Mona Metzger, Houston Green Scene founder, is a frequent farmer, a community networker and an organizer of excellent events. Landowner Ken Crimmins, self-described “taxpayer in residence.”

Radical Eats provided some truly original tamales – eggplant, mushroom and spinach, and a variety of other delectable concotions.

Snow Dogg Ice Cream provided the dessert.

Lisa Lin, left, of Emerging Green Builders is one of the main organizers of the local 350 movement, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gases to a safe level – 350 parts per million. Our atmosphere is currently at nearly 380, and scientific consensus says that the results are just beginning.

Learn more about the Last Organic Outpost’s new “Living Off the Land” dining and learning series at the Last Concert Cafe on their Facebook page.

Learn more about what’s happening on the Green side of Houston at the Houston Green Scene.

More of Mona Metzger’s Farm Party pix here:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Channel 39’s Going Green With Yolanda Green caught a great slice of celebratory life in a two-part video tour, now available on their website – and here. Enjoy!

Catalan, an anchor of the newly thriving Washington corridor, has caught the eye of many a writer in the couple of years since it’s opened, right up to the New York Times, and master chef Chris Shepherd is a big reason why. His bold, no-holds-barred, what-the-hell style has earned him a following that’s as passionate as his own commitment to his art. But what really drew me was his staunch advocacy of the buy local movement. He plans his entire menu around what he finds at the local farmers’ markets and what local growers can provide him.

“It’s not just the right thing to do; it means better quality,” he explained when I met him on Friday. He was already cooking up plans for Sunday’s feast, and when he invited me, of course I couldn’t resist.

It all started when Farmer John Laughlin showed up on his doorstep with a wild boar. Laughlin’s farm kept getting raided by these wild hogs, and nothing he did could drive them away.

“Finally, he decided to bring them in and fatten them up,” Shepherd said.

One of those boars ended up on Shepherd’s menu, and he decided to make an occasion of it.

It’s hard to imagine an animal as inelegant as a wild hog becoming the chief ingredient for an occasion as classy as this one, but Chef Chris pulled it off. “We’re going to take you on a little trip around the world with this wild boar,” he promised – and he did.

My friends and I showed up at the appointed time and were greeted with kumquat-infused vodka iced tea (”There was a little lady with a bucket of kumquats at the market, and she was excited that we were willing to pay an exorbitant price for them. We just soaked them in some Dripping Springs Vodka… it seemed like the right thing to do.”

Now I am not a huge eater of meat, especially of the red variety. And I confess I did have some passing thoughts about the boar who gave his life that we might feast. But Shepherd reassured us on this point. “As Laughlin likes to say, ‘Our pigs have only one bad day.’” I was also impressed with his commitment to use every ounce of the 300-pound creature, from the snout to the tail. But that would take awhile. First, there was the feast.

The tour began in Mexico, with a savory pozole that called to mind my days living in a village in the south of Mexico, where the ladies gather on the plaza every Friday to serve this style of “white pozole.” This savory soup, topped with fresh chopped cilantro and onion and a squeeze of lime, highlights the pork, unlike the tomatoey version served in Jalisco that dominates Mexican restaurants here.

As an aside, I must mention Shepherd’s fascination with street food of different countries. His menu of small plates is a tour of street food from around the world, topped with the flakiest empanadas imaginable. His flair with the commonplace gives his work an imaginative twist that can only be seen to be appreciated. But commonplace his meals are not. If the delicious freshness of the pozole weren’t enough, there was the 2006 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Rouge Trousseau “Cuvée Les Bérangeres” to accompany it – the first in a lineup of pairings that elevated the excellent to the exquisite.

Next we took a sharp turn to the Far East with a tender, flavorful Wild Boar Satay.

“Every Southeast Asian country calls this their own,” said Shepherd, who came out between courses to visit with the group. The Oklahoma native’s entertaining, down-to-earth style is as much an attraction to these meals as the generous spirit with which he infuses his cuisine.

The satay was followed by another Eastern palate-pleaser, Indonesian Boar Rendang, a rich stew with a melange of spices and topped with a delicate arrangement of sweet potato leaves — so delightful to the palate that I could have stopped right there and called it dessert.

But that was not to be: heading back toward the Mediterranean, the Wild Boar Bolognese with Crispy Eggplant was my personal favorite, with butternut squash layered in with a cheesy mixture that I confess I was enjoying too much to remember his generous explanation.

By now I was ready to grunt and roll into bed. This was followed by a full-circle trip back down home to Mama’s Sunday Night Boar Meatloaf, paired with an elegant Italian red. And it’s not nice to say no to Mama.

This is when I really should have said enough is enough. But dessert was nigh, and how could I refuse? Local Pear Crumble, with boar bacon and maple gastrique, topped with vanilla ice cream, awaited, along with a sweet Rhone wine.

At the risk of severe overindulgence, I partook. I could always fast on Monday. But Sunday, down to the last drop, was divine.

Channel 39’s Going Green With Yolanda Green, Houston’s only TV program dedicated to sustainability, is now featuring my blog on its website, www.39online.com. Going Green is an exciting initiative in itself, with Yolanda bringing conservation initiatives to a whole new audience. From the new smart grid technology to invasive species, Yolanda is on it, and all her episodes and a whole lot more can be viewed on the website. Since my focus is sustainable travel – including attractions here at home in Houston – it seemed a perfect fit. Scroll down to the area next to Going Green Highlights to find Roads Less Traveled.

I’ll also be collaborating with Houston Green Scene, which will feature a weekly column from my blog pertaining to sustainability at home and sustainable travel elsewhere. Houston Green Scene is an innovative new website and forum founded by local entrepreneur Mona Metzger covering green initiatives in the Houston area.

Especially if you live in the Houston area, but even if you don’t, take a minute to check out Going Green With Yolanda Green and the Houston Green Scene. You can also follow them on Twitter – @HoustonGreenScn and @YolandaGreen39 – and on Facebook.

Other environmental initiatives I’ve become involved in are the Last Organic Outpost, an urban farm in the inner city that’s currently planning a knockout Harvest Festival and the Transition Houston group, part of a rapidly growing global movement preparing for a sustainable transition to a less petroleum-dependent future. More on both of these later — but meanwhile, it’s good to know that there’s a whole lot going on in Houston’s green scene, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Bohemeo’s, it turns out, is a pretty cool little cooling-off spot in itself – tucked inside the Tlaquepaque Market (an East End community center that’s as much fun to visit as it is to say), it’s a coffeeshop (yes, free wifi), restaurant, bar, and art & music venue all wrapped up in one.

Bohemeo's, the East End's first art and music coffeehouse

And now, it’s also the departure point for the city’s coolest new biking club.

Patrick Taylor checks Lajla Cline's tires in preparation for our inaugural ride.

It quickly became apparent that this group was not going to be like the bicycle club I trained with for the MS 150. No padded bicycle shorts or gloves here, and barely a helmet to be seen. The important thing here, I was told, was to have a good time.

“I work hard enough during the daytime,” said Elise, who was fetchingly attired in a denim dress and pink headscarf. Her hobby is biking from bar to bar, and “the getup is really important for that,” she confided. Note to self: I need to work on the getup!

There was an impressive turnout for the group’s first ride. I guess it shows the power of Facebook – and Patrick’s organizing skills. Or maybe it was just a good idea whose time had come.

Ready to roll

Our first ride took us down the new Columbia TAP Trail, a rail-to-trail project inaugurated in March, and past scores of new trees planted as part of Mayor Bill White’s Million Trees + Houston Initiative. We cruised through East End neighborhoods and the TSU Campus to the McGowan Street Trail, a bike trail that parallels Brays Bayou and runs through the so-called “River Oaks of Houston,” a wealthy black neighborhood where you’ll find the mansions of famous locals like Beyonce Knowles.

The bayou here is sadly paved in concrete, unlike the Buffalo Bayou in my neighborhood, which was mercifully left intact. But the skies opened up here to the prettiest sunset I’ve seen in awhile, and I can honestly say the breezes were refreshing.

We did seven miles on this first round, and got back to Bohemeo’s before dark — in time to drink a cold one and enjoy some live music. A little soggy for a public appearance indoors, unfortunately — so the music will have to wait!

Mission accomplished

Cidette Rice, 5, Last Organic Outpost volunteer (and rock star)

The Last Organic Outpost is more than a garden, it’s an urban farm. It’s the brainchild and the lifework of Joe Nelson Icet, who has poured his sweat and his muscle and his life’s savings into this acreage and the other lot that surrounds his home.

“It’s not just about gardening; it’s about building a community,” Joe said.

Joe Nelson Icet, founder of the Last Organic Outpost, at the gate of his community farm

About 10 years ago Joe was trying to figure out what to do with himself after a rough divorce. His job as a refrigeration maintenance man paid the bills, but didn’t fill the hole in his soul. He was looking for a mission, and as he began to plow up his yard and fill it with vegetables, he found it: to create an urban farm belt on the vacant lots in the inner city.

He found other abandoned lots to cultivate, and a community of people to help him. He found artists to come and lend their creative touch to the spot. And then he found the love of his life to help him – or, more accurately, she found him.

The vivacious Marcella Murff is now the red-haired, barbecue-cooking, bikini-wearing muse of the garden, and Joe’s never been happier.

I discovered the Outpost just days before departing for a monthlong global sojourn, and I lamented the fact that I wouldn’t be around to help for awhile.

“No worries,” said Marcella brightly. “Just think of how your garden will have grown when you come back.”

The whole story is here in Lisa Gray’s account in the Houston Chronicle, the article that first led me to Joe, and I’ll always be grateful.

“Fertility is the gateway to the soul,” Joe told me. “We start with the land and we heal it, and we end up healing ourselves.”

I looked around me at the assorted crew that had gathered to weed and hoe, a group as diverse as the vegetables they’d come to tend; I looked down at my own too-white, too-soft hands, and I saw that he was right. I grabbed a shovel and I dug in.

Farmer Joe gives Maddalena Romano a lesson in weeding.

Time for a photo break!

Patrick Taylor, flower child of the day

Click on “View All Images” for a tour of the 2009 Art Car parade. Without the sweltering heat - or the sunburn!

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