The Homegrown Food Challenge is a pledge to eat only food that is grown, harvested and preserved from one’s garden for the month of October. We started this annual initiative in 2010 and have watched it gain momentum since the start.

Take a read below, pages 17-24.

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Chickpea is a quarterly magazine featuring content from around the vegan community, including writing, discussion, recipes, photography, artwork and stories. You can read their issues for free online or you can purchase high-quality, sustainably printed copies. Bonus: there is ZERO advertising in any of their issues!

CO:LAB’s unique philosophy is to “partner with clients to give their brand clarity and relevance — the context for authentic conversations expressed through compelling design.”

Not only have members of CO:LAB put their philosophy into practice through the work they do with clients, but they’ve also gone a step further through their Design is Love initiative.

Design is Love brings together creatives and non-profits around the idea of “do good”. It’s a place where creatives that want to give back can help those non-profits that are in need. Through participation and support, we can build meaningful and beneficial relationships within our communities.

Speaking of Participation and Support, how would you like to help us name the beer that was brewed at this session?

CO:LAB’s request was to brew an Octoberfest-esque beer. To meet this request, we put together a recipe for a Märzen style beer that would surely stand up on it’s own. However, seeing how we always strive to push the limits with our beer recipes, we proposed infusing the beer with real cinnamon sticks and habanero peppers, which CO:LAB eagerly agreed to.

Got any names you’d like to propose? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

What’s Brewing is an Antler initiative that combines the joy of home brewing beer with an insightful discussion to learn What’s Brewing in the lives of entrepreneurs, creatives, visionaries and other industry professionals.

Inspired by the benefits I’ve felt in my own life since first embarking on the HGFC, it was our goal this year to invite others interested in the homegrown and local food movements to take the challenge themselves so that they could also experience these benefits. To aid their efforts, we set out to provide  resources and support to help them learn, collaborate and share.

The foundation of the campaign was built as a facebook application where people could pledge to take the challenge, be it for a day, week or month, with the option of eating homegrown or local. We created a Tumblr page to serve as a resource for all topics surrounding homegrown and local food, such as tips for growing techniques, local food sources and general stories from others who are innovating the modern agricultural landscape.

As a result of our efforts, 20+ people pledged to take the challenge, a network of 250+ followers was built and the campaign received 30,000+ impressions. In addition, we garnered support from 8 food bloggers, each of which suggested a Homegrown Food Challenge recipe of their own based on my ingredients list (Some even suggested 2 or 3!).

Here is a rundown of the top recipes that were suggested, as well as links to the fabulous bloggers that provided much needed support to my meal selection.

Eggplant Creole by the Dainty Dot
Walnut Kale Salad with Fried Eggs and Toast by Art and Lemons
Summer Tomato Soup by Family Friends Food Fun
Homemade Pasta with Butternut Squash and Fried Sage Leaves by Art and Lemons
Pepper Relish by the Dainty Dot
Raw Kale Salad with Black Beans by Locavore in the City
Stuffed Poblanos by the Dainty Dot
Mini Breakfast Frittata & Spicy Potatoes by the Food Catalog
Butternut Squash and Rosemary Leek Soup by Iron Nourishment
Eggplant Caponata by Simply Life
Beet Maestro by Cheap Beets

It is our goal to make this a movement that lives on for years to come. A friend of mine recently asked me: “What is the difference between a test and a challenge?” My answer was simple: A test, you pass or fail. A challenge is ongoing.

If there was one takeaway that I could instill into others from the HGFC it would be that the most valuable lessons in life come from the unexpected situations we often find ourselves in. By taking on a challenge, you are throwing yourself into the unexpected and what happens from there may be a positive or negative experience, but an experience nonetheless with valuable lessons to be learned. For me, the HGFC has impacted my life in several positive ways, among which are feeling more healthy, discovering amazing local food sources, exploring the biodiversity of plants I’m able to grow, saving money, decreasing my dependence on external and distant food sources and most importantly, increasing my self-satisfaction by successfully following through on a personal conviction. So perhaps homegrown food isn’t your thing. Understandable. I invite you to find a challenge of your own simply to explore the impact it can have on your life. Keep in mind, in this case it’s all about the process not the product.

So I leave you with a story.

2 days before the final day of the Homegrown Food Challenge, my area was hit with what locals were calling one of the most devastating storms in decades. An unusually early Nor’easter that dumped over a foot of snow (30+ inches in some areas), and even more destruction. In some locations, over 80% of trees were damaged, which brought down power lines and even telephone poles with them. While this storm was small scale compared to other natural disasters, the chilling scenes that could be seen at the local gas stations and grocery stores was a very real glimpse at how quickly the effects of a disaster can snowball. Due to power loss, every gas station around us was closed and the local grocery stores were only selling non-perishable items, which they quickly sold out of except for the health food aisle (ironically). Since I’ve been in the practice of preserving and storing sufficient quantities of food, the need to go out and find food quickly was the last worry on my mind. While I hope a shift to this level of independence is not required for everybody, it was certainly good to know that all of the hard work I’ve put into this challenge can have real and significant effects.

Here is a quick highlight of the top recipes we’ve had the joy of trying over the past two weeks:

Eggplant Caponata, recipe by Simply Life

Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Leek soup, recipe by Iron Nourishment

Mini Breakfast Frittata and Spicy Potatoes, recipe by The Food Catalog

I also just made a Spicy Pepper Relish, based on a recipe provided to me by the Dainty Dot, which I’ll be publishing shortly.

Beyond the suggested recipes, we’ve been making various vegetable medley soups and casseroles, and our new favorite, kale chip pizza.

For snacks, I’ve been munching on dehydrated pear slices, strawberries and tomatoes, and roasted squash seeds. You don’t realize how convenient having a quick snack nearby can be, and I’m definitely limited to the few ‘snacks’ I’m able to grow and process from my garden. I’m bummed because last year I had a great yield of sugar snap peas. I planted the second secession of them too late this year, so they are only beginning to flower just now.

One of the main goals of the Homegrown Food Challenge is to provide education through experience. Here are a few tips and learnings that I have deemed worthy of sharing:

1) Make a lot of each meal

I simply don’t have time to cook every night, not to mention for every breakfast and lunch, so when I do have time it’s crucial that I make enough to eat for a few more meals to come.

2) Plan in advance

Very often, I’m getting home from work later than anticipated, leaving me with a short window of time to feed myself. I don’t want to be eating dinner at 10pm every night, so whenever I can harvest, prep and process my meals in advance, I must do so. It also helps to have quick meals ready to go. For example, we’ve been soaking dried beans on a regular basis so they are always ready for a quick ‘heat & eat’.

3) Utilize everything

I’d say about half the time I cook a winter squash, I compost the seeds that are inside. When the Homegrown Food Challenge is in full effect, I always toast up those seeds to extend the food I’m getting out of each harvest. Beet and Turnip greens also never go to waste.

A Big thank you to everybody that has helped out or gotten involved themselves, and an extra special thanks to the Dainty Dot for their two very supportive blog posts.

Dainty Dot | The Homegrown Food Challenge

Dainty Dot | Homegrown Food Challenge Day 1

If you’re taking the challenge, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Please join the conversations on Facebook and Tumblr. And if you’d like to suggest a recipe, check out my full ingredients list and let me know what you have in mind.

October is almost upon us, which can only mean one thing…the start of the Homegrown Food Challenge! This Saturday marks the kick-off for HGFC, and I cannot wait to share my experiences with you all month long. For all of October, I will be cooking and eating only things I have grown myself, with the exception of a few locally sourced items.

As you can imagine, coming up with new and interesting ways to prepare home grown food every day can be difficult, especially as the month progresses. That’s why I’ve decided to add something new to this year’s HGFC. I‘ve gotten 8 amazing food bloggers to help me with my challenge. I asked them to submit recipes that put their own spin on the HGFC, and I am really pleased by what they came up with! All the recipes are HGFC authentic, as they are built from my list of home-grown ingredients.  I’m excited to try all their recipes out, and I want to give them all a big thanks for participating!

The Bloggers:

The Dainty Dot

Ellen Wells

Growing up under a father who farmed and tended a garden, her recipes and “experiments” (pickled beets, anyone?) feature fruits, vegetables, and other home-grown ingredients.

Art & Lemons

Nikki Gardner

“Straightforward vegetarian recipes made with whole and natural ingredients, often sourced close to home.”

Family Friends Food Fun

Kimberley – “I plan meals and collect cookbooks like it’s a competitive sport. I love shopping at farmer’s markets for local, fresh, organic produce and grass-fed meats. But, I have the most fun sharing my food adventures with friends.”

The Food Catalog

Jess Frank

A curation of favorite recipes from around the web.

Cheap Beets

Molly Parr

A mostly vegetarian guide to eating well in the recession.

Iron Nourishment

Kate “is passionate about holistic health and nutrition. [She] loves local, organic, unprocessed food. Most of [her] recipes are gluten, soy and dairy free.”

Locavore in the City

Suzanne Cope is all about caring for the environment, supporting local businesses, and “striving to eat as locally and consciously as possible.”

Simply Life

Simply Life has a section of “Reader’s Challenges” in which the author appeases her followers requests for recipes. The kind of reader/author interaction perfect for the HGFC.

So there you have it. I know I’ve been blogging about the challenge all summer, but now that it’s finally here, I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to join the HGFC with me. If a whole month of eating nothing but home-grown or local food sounds intimidating to you, why not try it for a week? Or even for a day? I think you’ll be surprised with how fresh and delicious your food tastes, and how good you’ll feel as a result.

Who’s with me?

Have you ever thought about making your own baby food?

Growing and preparing food for your baby is quick, easy and a great way to save some pennies while at the same time guaranteeing what you are putting into their body is healthy and natural. Below is a quick guide on how to whip up a tasty and nutritious meal for your child utilizing veggies from your garden or sourced directly from your local farmers market.

But first, a little background.

I love growing food. What started out as a hobby quickly became a full-blown obsession to see just how much food I could grow. In 2010 I launched the Home Grown Food Challenge, a month long attempt to eat only things grown, harvested and preserved from one’s garden. As I gear up for this year’s challenge, I can’t help but think about what a home grown meal would like like for my child, 11 month old baby Olive. Like all new parents, I’m obsessed with every little development my child makes and I’m willing to go the extra distance to help make each and every new experience for her as best as can be.

OK, now onto everybody’s favorite subject…Food!

To read the full article, visit theHipsterDad.com.

I too feel that same sentiment. But, being an avid gardener, all I need to do is take a look at the fruit (literally) of my labor to know that there was indeed a summer, and boy was I busy.

This transition into the fall months means one major thing: time to make final preparations for the Home Grown Food Challenge. I’ve been spending the majority of my time on weekends harvesting and preserving food from my garden in as many diverse and interesting ways as I can think of. Here are links to a few recipes that can help you take care of those excess veggies from your garden:

Pickles

Heirloom Tomato Catsup

Sauerkraut

But enough about me, let’s talk about the growing community of other HGFC challengers out there. As of now, there are 20 individuals who have pledged to take the challenge on the Facebook Page at some level.

We opened up the options to both home grown and local food in increments of 1 day, 1 week or the whole month of October. If you haven’t pledged yet, there is still time to do so. Have no fear about what the obligations of pledging are, this is a personal challenge. There are no penalties imposed except your own, but I assure you, the personal satisfaction and learnings that are derived from taking the HGFC may have everlasting positive changes to your life.

Whether you are a challenger or simply an observer, we invite you to check out the Home Grown Food Challenge Tumblr page to get our latest updates and links to resources and other relevant goodies that are floating around the interwebs.

Also new to the 2011 HGFC is the inclusion of foodie bloggers to our outreach plan. We are actively seeking any foodies out there that are interested in looking at my 2011 HGFC ingredients list to recommend interesting recipes I should try. I will attempt to make recipes submitted, which I will blog about and call out the wonderful foodies that recommended them. Please spread the word to any bloggers in the health/food world that you may know.

We look forward to hearing stories of your adventures with home grown and local food. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts on the Facebook wall, Tumblr page, or in the comments section below.

The afternoon was filled with fun and shenanigans, but most importantly, we had the chance to educate each other on our favorite past times: we showed them how to make beer and they showed us how to make drums. We also had the pleasure of chatting with Mike Ciprari, co-owner of SJC, to find out what’s brewing in their world.

Did you know that SJC has made drums for a variety of top artists, from Miley Cyrus to P. Diddy?

Did you also know that SJC was the first company to make the Butcher hoops? Originally designed and made for the Butcher of The Academy Is, these hoops are now played by drummers on the road, including Panic At The Disco, Boys Like Girls, Emarosa, and many more!

I bet there’s a lot of things you didn’t know about SJC. To get the full skinny on them, we present to you: What’s Brewing – Episode 3 – Road Soda edition.

A big thanks to SJC for taking part in this episode and for sponsoring the Rockathlon event series we organized at vitaminwater uncapped live. Take a look at the genius of their custom work first hand:

One lucky Rockathlon contestant won this custom-made SJC vitaminwater acrylic snare drum.

Do you want your company to be featured in the next episode of What’s Brewing – Road Soda? Reach out and tell us your story. info@antleragency.com

The Rockathlon is unique from other music competitions. Rather than national talent searches or local band battles, The Rockathlon is interested in individual proficiency in specific events related to rock music. It seeks to showcase skills in three of the most important components of a successful rock show: the crew that sets up and breaks down all of the gear, the bands that people come to see, and the fans that show up and justify all of the madness.

Produced in conjunction with our friends at Indie Ambassador, the uncapped live integration was a three part event series that consisted of trials on July 11th and 18th with the finals happening on July 25th. There were too many great challenges to list them all, but here are a few highlights from the roadie segment:

The Planet Waves Cable Coil

This challenge began with 5 50′ cables outstretched straight down the middle of the audience splitting the room starting from the stage. Roadies were given 1 minute to properly coil and tie the cable. The referee inspected each coil, adding 5 seconds per infraction, and tested each coiled cable by holding one end and tossing the remainder across the room (Did you know that a properly wrapped cable will completely deploy when given a toss?).

The Zildjian Cymbal Polish

This set-up up consisted of 3 dirty Zildjian cymbals on stands without the lugs holding them on. Three Roadies, equipped with cleaning solution and cleaning rags, were given 2 minutes to clean & polish their cymbal to perfection. At the end, the referee blew the whistle and each roadie held their cymbal high in the air for judging. The crowd chose the cleanest cymbal by making noise, which was officially measured using a standard issue decibel meter.

roadie contestants race to get their cymbal shiny enough for the bass player to check his mascara in. photo by Caitlin Malone

The Live Band Roadie Challenge

The Live Band Roadie Challenge began with the Rockathlon house band taking the stage to play for the crowd. As they performed, Tinny (short for Tinnitus) the green stage goblin came out and began messing with the band’s equipment. His interference included removing a cymbal, unplugging the bass player, knocking over the floor tom and cutting a guitar string. The two roadie finalists had to run around the stage and fix everything that Tinny disrupted. The contestant with the fastest time was crowned top roadie.

Tinny the green stage goblin dismantles the drummer’s cymbal. photo by Caitlin Malone

For us, the point of Rockathlon is to bring together some of the things we love (music, events, experiential, clever brand integrations, etc) in a fun, engaging and inclusive manner. We are also excited to create a new channel for individual musicians, roadies and fans to get exposure and rewards for their talents. Stay tuned to see where Rockathlon makes its next appearance.

winners accept their prizes: two flying V guitars, an SJC custom acrylic drum and a Zildjian prize pack. photo by Caitlin Malone

For further enjoyment, check out a few of the video submissions we received through the website:

And finally, a huge thank you to the only people that rocked harder than the Rockathlon contestants, the sponsors that made this all possible:

vitaminwater®

SJC Custom Drums

Zildjian

D’Addario

Planet Waves

Guitar Center

TrueDIY.tv

Got any ideas for challenges we should include at the next Rockathlon?

Over the 6 week fermentation process, we tasked each of the groups to come up with a story and brand for their beer. After all, the AIGA is comprised of the area’s most talented designers and creative people, so we were very excited to see what they would come up with.

This past Thurs, these beers were finally unveiled at the Antler hosted AFTA event, which took place at the vitaminwater uncapped live event space. In addition to tasting all of these fine concoctions, we also got to enjoy hearing each of the AIGA groups present their beer brands and stories. Here is a quick glimpse of what they came up with.

Group 1: The Independent Designers

Beer style: HefPA (cross between a Hefeweizen and an IPA)

Description: Pale ale with a hint of rye wheat

Defining Ingredients: Hefewiezen yeast to add banana and clove flavor notes, additives of coriander and orange peel for flavor

The Independent Designers had a fixation with monkeys, which was inspired by the banana flavor they knew would be in their German-style HefPA. Appropriately enough, AFFE in German means Ape, and the tagline says it all: Unabhängig Gebraut Für Ihren Genuss, translated: “Independently brewed for your enjoyment!”

Group 2: The In-House Designers

Beer Style: Summer Belgium Blonde

Description: We’re talking about a beer here, not a Belgian babe as the style may suggest

Defining Ingredients: Pomegranate, elderflower

I’ll let you read the unedited story behind their beer, so you can enjoy it in full form:

Due to the recent popularity of Pomegranates and the local food movement, there has been resurgence in learning more about where our food originates. On a recent excursion to the Himalayas I over heard a drunken Sherpa recounting an ancient legend involving the local poms and a somewhat noteworthy animal.

The story recounts a particular Bigfoot (or Yeti in the local language) mating ritual involving the creation of an alcoholic drink to attract females of the species. Once a male catches the eye of a particular female, the male gathers the finest Pomegranates, Elderflowers and other ingredients and gathers them together on a stone outcropping. He then performs a ritual dance (which the Sherpa then demonstrated and appeared to be a combination of the Chicken Dance and the Lawnmower) pulverizing and mixing the ingredients together. If the dance is appreciated, the female will guard the mixture until a natural fermentation takes place. The male will then return to gauge whether his offering has been accepted. The rest of the story got slightly off color with the Sherpa performing the closing on a stuffed yak that the owner of the establishment had at the corner of the bar.

While we didn’t dance to create this particular brew, we fully intend to Bust a Move once the magic of fermentation has taken place, and we hope you will join us when we raise this beer to our lips.

And finally…

Group 3: The Creative Directors/Principals

Beer Style: Black IPA

Description: Mad hopped with chocolate malt

Defining Ingredients: chocolate malt, vanilla bean, lots of hops

The original title, ‘Betty Ford’s Headwrecking Chocolate Wasted IPA’, an homage to the wonderful Hollywood rehab facility, was tastefully changed due to recent circumstances. Instead, the equally famous and respected, Betty White, received the honor of having a beer named after her.

Please share your comments on other fun/interesting beer brands and/or beer brewing rituals in the comment section below. And of course, if you were one of the lucky attendees of our AFTA event, tell us about your experience tasting each of the beers.