Oxymoron: The Self Reliance Community

Go Party with the Cool Kids


This Sunday, you can go to your very own barter event to trade your potatoes for beets and your tomatoes for bread and party with other people who are too cool to just go buy stuff with money. 

Sunday, October 23rd from 5:30 to 9 pm, on the third floor of the Phinney Neighborhood Center (6532 Phinney Ave N). The party will include barter, potluck, square dance, beer fundraiser for the Seattle Farm Co-Op, and official book release for The Urban Farm Handbook. 


Paranoia or Preparation: Entertainment for the Self-Reliance Inclined


Coming to a theater near you...

The Seattle Public Library hosts 'Urban Self-Reliance" workshops The Seattle Public Library is loving on the "Urban Self-Reliance" trend with workshops throughout the city in the month of October. The workshops are free and open to the public. Registration is not required, except where noted below. Seating may be limited based on room capacity. "Bicycle Maintenance" - Learn basic bike maintenance techniques from instructors from The Bikery, a non-profit community bike project. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Fremont Branch, 731 N. 35th St., 206-684-4084 Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Capitol Hill Branch, 425 Harvard Ave. E., 206-684-4715 "Simple Sewing (Bags/Pillows/Potholders)" - Sew Up Seattle will teach beginners the basics and encourage those with experience to create a project using donated scraps. Registration is required; call the branch to register 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Delridge Branch, 5423 Delridge Way S.W., 206-733-9125 (This session will focus on potholders.) "Keeping Chickens in the City" - Learn the basics of keeping chickens in the city, including starting with chicks, feeding and housing requirements and more. This workshop is presented in partnership with The Seattle Free School. 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Ballard Branch, 5614 22ndAve. N.W., 206-684-4089 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 at the Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., 206-684-7539  "Basic Canning/Jam Making" - Learn about canning equipment, how to can safely, resources for recipes and instruction and recommended tips from a pro. This workshop is presented in partnership with The Seattle Free School. 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 at the Magnolia Branch, 2801 34th Ave. W., 206-386-4225 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30 at the Ballard Branch, 5614 22ndAve. N.W., 206-684-4089 "Make Your Place: Non-Toxic House Cleaners with Raleigh Briggs" - Learn easy, affordable recipes for products you can use to clean your home, your body and even your pets. 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Green Lake Branch, 7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N.  "On the Wild Side at Green Lake: A Mushroom Hunt Primer" - Become familiar with wild mushrooms and gain practical knowledge about safe wild mushroom gathering, preservation techniques, mushroom recipes and more. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the Capitol Hill Branch, 425 Harvard Ave. E., 206-684-4715 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 at the Green Lake Branch, 7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N., 206-684-7547 "Learn About the West Seattle Tool Library" - The West Seattle Tool Library is a community-led project providing pay-what-you-can access to a wide range of tools, training and relevant advice. Learn how to become a member and support this neighborhood project. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24 at the Capitol Hill Branch, 425 Harvard Ave. E., 206-684-4715 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the South Park Branch, 8604 Eighth Ave. S., 206-615-1688 "Hand Sewn Upcycle Without a Machine: An Appliqué and Fancy Stitch Workshop" - Make an appliqué, learn about reverse appliqué and other decorative techniques. Registration is required; call the branch to register. 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Wallingford Branch, 1501 N. 45t St., 206-684-4088 When you say you are preparing for an earthquake, you don't look like a crazy person. What's in the bag? See here. "Finding Edible Weeds in Your Garden and Lawn" - Seattle author and expert forager Langdon Cook will talk about how to use your backyard as an exotic produce aisle. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the Beacon Hill Branch, 2821 Beacon Ave. S., 206-684-4711 "Disaster Supply Kit" - Learn how to put together your own disaster supply kit during this hands-on workshop. 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27 at the Lake City Branch, 12501 28th Ave. N.E., 206-684-7518 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Ballard Branch, 5614 22ndAve. N.W., 206-684-4089 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Broadview Branch, 12755 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-684-7519 For more information, call the Library at 206-386-4636

Link Lab Sausage delivered and two good books

Now that I wore my scarf for the first time this season, I will need to start looking for things to keep the sun shining in my heart. This week brings a few points of happiness.

First, let me tell you about the sausages that will be delivered to my door this week from Link Lab. I have been wanting to try the handiwork of this local sausage maker since I wrote about him working with a farmers market vendor to turn her organic meats into custom sausage creations. So, I was thrilled when I saw that Spud.com now carries Link Lab sausages. This week they were offering a spicy Italian, a pork and jalapeno, and a Fremont Brat. If you haven't tried Spud for local organic food delivery, you are missing out on the easiest way to get your groceries. If you want give then a look, you can use the coupon code CRSEA-ALELAR for a $25 discount over your first few orders.

The next best thing is Annette Cotrell's new book, The Urban Farm Handbook. This woman is amazing and I am so happy that she was recruited to write this book and share what she has learned. I first met Annette when I took her up on an offer she extended through her blog to give a tour of her urban "farm." She had turned the back yard, front yard, sidewalk parking strip and the side of her driveway into full scale food production operation. She had raised beds of greens, beets and tomatoes, rows of raspberries, coffee bean bags filled with potatoes, chickens pecking around the backyard patch of grass, a tree heavy with plums, even her own peppercorn bush.

She was managing to grow most of her family's meals on this average sized lot in an upscale neighborhood in North Seattle. I was impressed. She was someone that I wanted to follow and knew that she would continue to do amazing things.

And she has. Not only has she written The Urban Farm Handbook to show others how to begin to do what she has learned can be accomplished in the city, but she has since sold her home and moved herself, her chickens, her two sons and her understanding husband, to a more rural homestead 30 minutes outside of the city. She has already managed to collect a menagerie of animals, is drowning in goat milk and establishing her permaculture food forest. I am jealous.

My next happy thing this week is another book that I was sent last month and have been drooling over since. Also written by a talented Seattle woman, Good Fish is a sustainable seafood cookbook written by Becky Selengut, a Seattle private chef and cooking teacher.

I was feeling like a horrible cookbook reviewer because I kept meaning to follow a recipe from the book and then sharing the results. The problem is, that just isn't how I normally use a cookbook. Cookbooks are evening reading material for me. I read it cover to cover like a novel and then use the inspiration to cook something new. Good Fish has inspired me this month to use the salmon I caught for a salmon chowder and to cook a great shrimp and grits. The photos in the book are gorgeous, her flavor combinations are exciting, and she includes great information about how to make environmentally responsible seafood purchases.