Sacramento Sustainability Action Group

From Field to Table

  Farming and Cooking at Esalen

Join Benjamin Fahrer and Jessica Theroux to explore Esalen's land and wild surroundings during a week of organic gardening, cooking, and permaculture. The week will focus on deepening the connection between what is growing wild and cultivated at Esalen, and how the products of the land can be highlighted in the kitchen to create a delicious local cuisine.

The course explores the practical potential for an intimate connection between food production and consumption, and the essentials of how to grow food and what to do with it once the harvest comes. During this dynamic integration we'll spend the morning sessions in the garden, exploring seed starting and saving, good gardening practices including bed preparations and mulched gardens, basic garden design, and composting systems.

Each afternoon in the kitchen we will dive deeper into the uniqueness each vegetable holds within its skin and how to bring those flavors out and celebrate them. Preservation and fermentation along with nutrition and a balance in the diet will add to our exploration. We will also experience the challenges, joy, and creativity that comes from cooking with what is locally available.

From the beginning gardener to the experienced chef, all will leave with hands-on experience of what it means to eat from the bounty of one's local landscape. By honoring the importance of our local foods, we create an interdependence that engenders true food security.