We've been fans of local eating for a long time, but we really caught the fever a couple of years ago. Here in Northern California, it was impossible to resist. It was in the air we breathed; it was civilized and humane; given our long growing season and abundant farms, it wasn't hard to do; and plus, the food tasted so much better.

We saw the tipping point take shape, applauding as "Locavore" became an official word (in the New Oxford American Dictionary) and reading a torrent of magazine and newspaper articles (not to mention books) on the subject. Clearly, people were hungry for the old, connected ways of eating. They wanted to learn more about farmers and ingredients, and some were setting food-gathering boundaries for themselves, experimenting with 150-mile, 100-mile, and even 50-mile diets.
 

Sunset's test garden in mid-summer (most of our One-Block Diet section is to the left of the gravel path). The chicken coop
is at the back, partly shaded by an umbrella.

Feeling inspired ourselves, and given our long history of writing about gardening and cooking, we wanted to give you, our readers, some ways to dive into local eating that were practical, non-preachy, and fun.

We were thinking about this one day as we ambled around Sunset's property, which occupies a full city block. We noticed, among other things, a fig vine and lemon, orange, and kumquat trees. Our test garden was bursting with tomatoes, cucumbers, and chiles. And so we thought, Why don't we just cut to the chase and try a One-Block Diet? You can't get much more local than your own back yard, after all.

So that is exactly what we're doing with this blog. We're writing about how we've used our garden expertise to grow just about everything we need, in a plot actually much smaller than a block—more like what most of us have at home: a suburban back yard. Then we're using our produce to cook a series of seasonal feasts. Last summer, we had our first dinner. Right now we're working on a winter garden, with feast to follow.

We're not just growing plants, though. To make our dinners more interesting (and tasty), we're raising chickens (for eggs). We've made beer, and wine, and vinegar. We're making cheese (from "imported" milk, but who knows, maybe a cow is in our future) and olive oil and honey. We've even made salt (from ocean brine), because how can you cook without seasoning? If you're a DIY kind of person, someone who thinks that dinner starts with the earth, the sea, and a few animals, this blog (and our accompanying how-to guides) can you help you put together your own made-from-scratch meals.

To follow the adventures of Teams Garden, Kitchen, Bee, Chicken, Beer, Cheese, Wine, Vinegar, Salt, and Olive, see the links under "Categories" to the right. We'll probably be adding more projects as we move into different seasons. (If you'd like to see us tackle something in particular, let us know by posting a comment.)

We started knowing nothing about any of these time-honored crafts except gardening and cooking, but we've learned along the way—and we keep learning. If you know more than we do about chicken-raising or beekeeping or cheesemaking, or any of our other projects, please post your tips! We like to get advice as much as we like to share it.

--Margo True, Sunset Food Editor