I’m going to be teaching a rye bread class and demonstrating how to create a sourdough starter at Jennie Cooks Catering on Saturday, June 1st at 1:00 pm. The class comes with lunch (and Jennie is an amazing chef).

To enroll email or call Jennie Cook to reserve your spot:
[email protected]
(323) 982-0052

CLASS #1 – THE BREAD BASKET

Guest Teacher: Erik Knutzen, Root Simple

On the Syllabus:
The Secrets of Sourdough
Magical Vegan Biscuits
Black and Blueberry Jam
Strawberry Balsamic Jam

For Lunch:
Sparkling White Sangria
Cashew Cream Savory Sourdough Bread Pudding
Classic Gazpacho (from Jennie’s upcoming cookbook!)
Wilted Spinach Salad
Strawberry Shortcake

This class is the first of a 3-part series! The regular price is $85 for a single class or $200 for all three. Price includes all ingredients, supplies, recipes, instructions, the take-home finished product you will make yourself, and a delicious meal! Oh and there will be booze, too! Sign up by Wednesday May 22nd for a $10 discount.

Part II of the Institute of Domestic Technology’s Fermentation Fest begins with a lecture on Friday, April 26. The next day will feature a hands-on workshop. Here’s the description from the IDT’s website:

Erik Knutzen:  Co-author of The Urban Homestead and Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World, co-founder of the Los Angeles Bead Bakers collective.

Kurt Gardella measures the radius of the horno dome.

Joshua Tree Earthen Oven Class
March 8-10, 2013

Earthen ovens are inexpensive to build, fun to use, and provide baking environment impossible to recreate in the kitchen. This Spring, Kurt Gardella returns to California for three days to teach you how to make your own earthen oven. Kurt has built dozens of these ovens in New Mexico, and has great expertise in both adobe construction and earthen plasters and finishes. Attendees will leave the class with the knowledge necessary to built an oven of their own, with materials that you may already have in your yard.

The class is suitable for bakers, building professionals and do-it-your-selfers, and is a great introduction to adobe construction and earthen plasters covered in more depth in adobeisnotsoftware’s other classes.

Topics Include:

• Local considerations and the siting your earthen oven
• Soil and material selection, sourcing and testing
• Foundations and oven base design and materials
• Sizing
• Sand Form and Oven Domes
• Natural oven plasters and finishes
• Firing and baking in your oven.

Instruction Type:
This is a hands-on class. Attendees will have the opportunity to get dirty and use tools and equipment typical of adobe construction and earthen finishing. Due to the course format, enrollment will be limited to 10 individuals. In the unlikely event of inclement weather, instruction will occur indoors.

Instructors: Kurt Gardella teaches adobe construction at Northern New Mexico College, is Director of Education for Adobe in Action, and is certified as an earth-building specialist by the German Dachverband Lehm.

Ben Loescher is a licensed architect, founder of adobeisnotsoftware and principal of golem|la, an architecture firm specializing in adobe construction.

Location:
The class will be conducted just outside Joshua Tree, California.  Coffee and nibbles will be provided at the beginning of the day; lunch is included.

Registration: Three day and Saturday/Sunday registrations completed before February 8th will be discounted. Groups of three or more are eligible for a 25% discount – please contact us for group registrations. Registration ends March 1st.

Click here to register

Questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact Ben by email at mud[at]adobeisnotsoftware.org or by phone at (760) 278-1134. Joshua Tree Earthen Oven Class
March 8-10, 2013

In honor of the upcoming SoCal Permaculture Convergence, the Institute for Urban Ecology is proud to be partnering with several Los Angeles based organizations to bring you this once-in-a-lifetime event. Come learn from some of LA’s leading urban ecology experts and from internationally recognized Permaculturalist Paul Wheaton.  To encourage everyone to come and learn, this event is ALMOST FREE!!!!  Sign up a big group and pay nearly nothing to attend.

Paul Wheaton of permies.com
10:30am
No Coop, No Run Chicken Raising
Why spend the money to build a chicken coop and run, when you can have healthier, happier chickens without them?  Paul explains his super simple backyard chicken raising techniques. [Editor’s note: I know this idea sounds crazy, but read Wheaton’s lengthy explanation here].

1pm to 2pm Lunch provided by Oh Happy Days! Natural Foods & Cafe

Marco Barrantes of La Loma Development Co
2pm
Permaculture in the Big City
How does Permaculture apply to life in the concrete jungle?  Hear this Permaculture designer and entrepreneur speak about healing our cities, creating jobs, and transforming LA’s food culture.

Darren Butler of EcoWorkshops.com
3:30pm to 5pm
Systems Gardening
Does gardening have to be such hard work? Learn how to work with Nature’s systems to make your garden easier to manage and more productive than ever before.

Paul Wheaton on Irrigation Free Gardening at Armory Center for the Arts
6pm to 8pm  
Paul will discuss Permaculture strategies to eliminate the need for irrigation in our gardens.  An especially relevant talk given our climate here in Southern California.

Day/Time
Sunday, March 3rd
10am to 8pm

Location

Daytime Events
@Institute of Urban Ecology
3896 N Fair Oaks Avenue,
Altadena , CA

Evening Paul Wheaton Lecture
@Armory Center for Arts
145 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103

Registration (click here to register)
$5 for 1st ticket
$1 each add’tl ticket

Sponsoring Organizations
Institute of Urban Ecology
RIPE Altadena
La Loma Development
EcoWorkshops.com
Oh Happy Days Natural Foods Market
Whole Foods Market, Pasadena
Whittier Backyard Farms
Arroyo SECO Network of Time Banks
Root Simple