This group of backyard farmers is one of ten finalists in our One-Block Party contest. The winner will be announced on September 20, 2011...
Introducing: Team Special Saus

This group of backyard farmers is one of ten finalists in our One-Block Party contest. The winner will be announced on September 20, 2011.

TEAM SPECIAL SAUS

Sausalito, CA

Left: Abby Peterson with her son Paul, planting a raised bed for summer.Right: Marin Halvorsen with a few of her family’s chickens (her mom, Whit, sewed the dress she is wearing).

These four young families in Sausalito love food and kitchen projects and “mucking about outside with our preschoolers,” says team leader Abby Peterson. They are, in her words:

“A radish-obsessed Shakespearean actressTwo stay-at-home moms with plenty of dirt under their nailsSeveral small preschoolers who love feeding grapes to chickensA solar consultant who makes his own pâté and salamiAn engineer who brews beer on the sideAnd a stay-at-home dad who is a great cook and a glassblower to boot”

Will we see homemade glasses on the tables, we wonder—we hope?

In addition to their gardens—some of which they’ve already planted—they’ll have homemade beer and eggs from their own chickens, and are thinking about bartering for some honey from a beekeeping friend. Although they don’t have a cow, they’ll buy local milk to make cheese. And they’ll try vinegar, too. Team Saus plans to pick wild plums and passionfruit and blackberries, and will be investigating local flour for baking. Their tentative menu is fresh, thoughtful, and fun, and features an old family recipe that looks like a great way to use up a backyard explosion of summer zucchini.

Keep Reading: