Growing a Farmer Pt. 2

At the latter half of the book (chapter 12 onward), he delved into the rather graphic details of slaughtering and butchering, including his physical struggles and internal turmoil. At some point he spoke very matter of factly, about the technicalities of the butchering down to the buckets to hold the organs; but most of the time, he spoke with passion and compassion, showing the care for his animals. Kurt seemed to have found his calling in the ending of the book. He opened a farm-kitchen is that is quite novel to most people living in big cities, and he focuses his effort in cheese-making, as commercial crop like wheat, carrot and such are hard to produce cheaply and efficiently compared to larger farms, and butchering required much governmental supervision. Cheese, with its craft and artisan air, fitted perfectly with Kurt’s vision and available resources. He is now “cooking from the land”, this journey has enriched his culinary insight as well as changed his relationship with the nature, a wild ride to be more in touch with where our food came from.

I like the book not for its literal description and farm technicalities, but for the grander discussions about attitude on lifestyle, consumerism and nature. Much can be extracted from his plain and straight-forward writing style: entrepreneurs may see the failed business ventures and different more economically viable options; environmental activists may see the sustainable approaches and applaud the effort towards “cradle-to-cradle”, and many of us lay people may just enjoy a fun read about changing the urbanistic lifestyle for a busy but zen, rural life. Kurt didn’t write this to urge people to churn their own butter on a Saturday evening (to quote his own words). In my opinion, he was happy to share his shift in lifestyle and re-orientation of his priorities, and perhaps in the process inspire some of us city-dwellers.

I appreciate his story and it made me reflect on our (perhaps ignorant) acceptance of mass-produced food. I grew up watching “how it’s Made” and although it was fascinating seeing the technology behind producing commercial products, I am now aware how inhuman and detached the whole process is. Wheat flow from silos into glistening stainless steel mixers, and all ingredients travel in tubes into the mixer, and the results get pumped out and packaged, all with nearly no human contact. This is the manufacturing we have come to accept, as efficient, clean, and normal. But Kurt reminded us how it used to be done, with hands of the farm workers and lots of care and attention. And the scale and intimacy between him and his farm products really gave me a new perspective and appreciation for the things on my table.

I have attach short clip from a silly childhood movie “Chicken Run” for your entertainment! . The chicken pie machine in it has been how I imagine butchering is done for a very long time.

LA URBAN RUINS

“Adventure, exploration, infiltration, trespassing” do any of these notions sound interesting to you? What about the above in an urban setting? As young of a city as Los Angeles is, it is packed full of hidden treasures for history and photography enthusiasts to explore. Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of urban exploration. At times, sites are entered first by locals and may suffer from large amounts of graffiti and other acts of vandalism. Although targets of exploration vary from one country to another, high-profile abandonment include amusement parks, grain elevators, factories, power plants, missile silos, fallout shelters, hospitals, and sanatoriums. Often times there is profound beauty in an decaying, abandoned spaces, and the contrast between the rapidly urbanizing landscape versus fallout location is immensely fascinating. Furthermore, many of these places have appeared on various film and TV projects, adding a special layer of excitement to these urban explorations.

UNDERGROUND TUNNEL, DTLA

Unbeknownst to many Angeleno drivers and residents, there are currently 11 miles of underground tunnels running beneath downtown Los Angeles, most of which are no longer in use today. The most well-known tunnel runs between the Los Angeles County Hall of Records and the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. Some fans may have seen it on season 2 of True Detective which utilized it for a subterranean shootout scene. From some online accounts, it is recommended that fellow explorers to enter from a nondescript elevator located just off to the side of Grand Park. From my personal experience, the service hour of the elevator is not reliable and it’s best to circle around to find the stairs leading to parking lot to then enter the building from there. After navigating through some hallways of locked doors, rows of emptied file cabinets, and ascending an out-of-service escalator, you will arrive at the entrance of the infamous underground tunnels. Warm and rather humid from the exhaust fumes, the tunnel is unexpected well-lit, although pipes and vents are in some degree of decay and rust with occasional drops of water (or nondescript liquid). This portion of the tunnel eventually leads to an entry of a courthouse, which we deemed inappropriate to intrude. It is rumored that during prohibition,  the tunnels were used to transport liquor to thirsty customers in speakeasies all across the city. One tunnel still runs to a Skid Row bar called the King Eddy Saloon, located a block from the infamous Cecil Hotel. Besides transporting prohibited alcohol, these tunnels were once used to move a year’s worth of tax revenue in the 1960’s, and one tunnel transported high profile criminals, including the notorious mobster Mickey Cohen,  from their jail cells to the Hall of Justice.

HAWTHORNE PLAZA

This eerie abandoned mall came into the public eye after its appearance in the box-office hit Gone Girl. It is oddly popular among filmmakers and photographers for the dystopian, derelict interior space, attracting crews from Minority Report, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and more. It is incredible to see that an active mall, fully equipped with escalators, fountains and food courts, so remarkably similar to the malls we frequently, falls into disrepair. The clash of familiarity and obsolesce, or rather, the cognitive dissonance is what draws urban explorers to this space. To enter, go along 120th Street and walk towards the end of the parking structure until you find a set of stairs that lead to a bridge. Cross the pedestrian bridge and you will find a hole in the wall that should lead you inside. you will need to hop to a staircase landing, which is about 10 feet drop. (not personally confirmed) There is also a guard occasionally so visit at your own discretion; or strike up a conversation and perhaps he will give a mini tour of the place (as confirmed by some reddit commentators). However, the mall is slated for a big revitalization as approved by the city council, to be transformed into an outlet style mall with 500 high-end housing units, and innovative office units.

NAZI COMPOUND, RUSTIC CANYON

For those less included to contend the law and an angry guard, a perfected legal hike in Rustic Canyon will take you to a campsite left behind by a group of California Nazi sympathizers in the 1930’s, now vacant and riddled with graffiti. [in progress]

BONUS: LA RIVER, OLD LA ZOO

http://www.blumhouse.com/2016/01/11/a-twisted-secret-underground-the-creepy-underground-tunnels-of-los-angeles/

http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/hawthorne_mall.html

http://la.curbed.com/2016/1/25/10843526/rustic-canyon-murphy-ranch-nazi-compound-demolition

Growing a Farmer

Kurt Timmermeister’s Growing a Farmer is not quite the comprehensive manual to start a farm, but it definitely has everything you need to get hyped about starting one. From site selection to  equipment preparation, from honey to dairy to vinegar, from bees to cows to apples, Kurt covers his ups and downs of his urban to farmer transition. We follow his hesitation and anticipation as he settles into the little farm he now calls home, and revel in his excitement as he finally drinks the first gulp of apple juice personally pressed from his homegrown apple tree. The book is full of interesting anecdotes about a city dweller, through research, trial and error, making it work in a little farm. Kurt was an established Seattle chef who grew tired of the disconnect between the land and the food that he serves and made the big decision to relocate to Vashon Island, creating Kurtwood Farms. Little by little, what started as just a personal garden grew on him, and his passion and confidence grew as he adds more and more variety of animals to his farm.

The book is a fun read, although a little scattered at times. Kurt never complicates things or event; he just tells it as it is. As a result, sometime the narration feels a little stale, as he describes almost every tree in his orchard, but his down-to-earth writing style with lots of descriptive and tangible action words reels readers back in. I enjoy that his emotion is so relatable; it is as if I am there to share his enthusiasm when he first learned how to milk a cow, and his internal turmoil when he had to slaughter one. It is a little bit of an escapist piece in that it celebrates the farmer lifestyle through stories, setbacks, contemplation and I love being a part of the ride.

SPIRIT ANIMAL

MEERKAT

I have fallen in love with with meerkats since I first saw them on Planet Earth, and only after that did I realize Timon from Lion King is also a meerkat. To me, they are a bunch of nervous and alert furry animals, with a strong sense of family and community and they are a delight in the desert where they inhabit. After some brief research, I learned that they are the most dedicated to their clan, where adult meerkats will take turns being the "sentry", to warn others of approaching dangers with loud cries. Nurseries are common also in a clan, where female without offspring will babysit the litter while other parents gather food. The babysitters will take the young below ground in the burrows when they deem the desert floors too dangerous (informed by warnings from the sentry). Upon further scrutiny, they are not the most friendly of animals, in fact, quite territorial and vicious in their own right, but their image and behavior have a special place in my heart.