Press Room

Press Release: May 6, 2011

HOMEGROWN Village at Maker Faire Bay Area Illuminates Our Food's Journey

Our food makes a journey to our tables, bringing with it a story. The HOMEGROWN Village at Maker Faire Bay Area is an opportunity to connect with that story, from the bees that pollinate to the farmers who harvest. Learn how tilling a few square feet of city soil creates a vibrant urban farm, how to grow veggies vertically, how to home-roast coffee beans, see noodle stretching demos, and so much more. The Makers, presentations, and hands-on workshops in the HOMEGROWN Village offer something for anyone with an appetite for DIY and good food.

HOMEGROWN Village Makers Include:

Bee Keepers Guild of San Mateo
The Bee Keepers Guild of San Mateo provides an educational exhibit dedicated to teaching and encouraging beekeeping in the Bay Area.

Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting
An online green coffee retailer based out of Oakland, CA, Sweet Maria's sells unroasted coffee to those who love to roast their own coffee at home.

Dale Family Farm
Specializing in fresh-pressed sunflower oil, Dale Family Farm demonstrates how seed and nut oil is made using hand-crank and electric sunflower presses.

Clairesquares Cubed
This San Francisco-based business handcrafts unique artisan sweet treats based on traditional Irish recipes.

Institute of Urban Homesteading
The Institute of Urban Homesteading is a response to current interest in food security, localization, and self-determination.

The Secrets of Vegan Baking
Learn simple techniques for making delicious vegan and organic alternatives to America's favorite snack treats.

Greywater Action
Glean simple options for harvesting rainwater, reusing greywater, and utilizing waterless composting toilets for a sustainable water future.

The Beverage People
This DIY franchise conducts a home cheese-making workshop.

AlgaeLab: Grow your own Spirulina
Spirulina is an exciting new crop of superfood that does not require farmland or fresh water, and grow in a matter of hours.

Vertical Theory
See how this hydroponic vertical farm system grows food indoors in small urban spaces.

Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch is a non-profit consumer advocacy group that engages people of all ages in efforts to protect our food and water resources. Make our food and water safe, healthy and sustainable!

Master Gardeners
Learn about environmentally-friendly lawn substitutes to reduce water consumption and preserve natural resources.

Far West Fungi
Mushroom growing for all ages! Grow mushrooms from start to finish on newspaper.

... and many more!

HOMEGROWN Village Workshops

  • Make award-winning sandwiches with Chef Michael Davidson, the Grilled CheezGuy
  • Make seed bombs at the Throwable Garden with HOMEGROWN.org
  • Learn butter making with HOMEGROWN.org
  • Tour tiny homes and learn about simple shelters with Lloyd Kahn
  • Get to the chemical level: Molecular Gastronomy with Michael Zbyszynski
  • Create Hands-On Sauerkraut with Happy Girl Kitchen
  • Learn about keeping urban livestock with the East Bay Urban Agriculture Alliance
  • Jar Your Own: Basic canning techniques with Karen Solomon
  • Discover how to keep your own urban goats with Heidi Kooy
  • Attend a Backwards Beekeeping session with Mark Frauenfelder

New at Maker Faire Bay Area -
EsuranceAttendee Service Centers
To help Faire-goers find great activities on-site like HOMEGROWN Village at Maker Faire 2011, Esurance, the direct-to-consumer car insurance company, will host Attendee Service Centers. Esurance's goal is to help Faire attendees get the most out of their experience at the 2011 event. Maker Faire's traditional information booths will be transformed into Esurance Attendee Service Centers. Maker Faire information experts will work with attendees to customize their schedule to help them maximize time so they can fit in as much of Maker Faire as possible.

In addition, Faire-goers will be able to use the centers as a place to rest, meet up with friends, access the Internet and recharge their electronic devices.

Produced by MAKE Magazine and O'Reilly Media, Maker Faire is part playground, part science fair, part welding shop, part county fair and 100 percent unique.

Calendar Editors
A celebration of DIY culture, Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 runs Saturday-Sunday, May 21-22, at the San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo. Saturday, 10am to 8pm; Sunday, 10am to 6pm. $5-$25; 3 and under are free. www.makerfaire.com. To purchase tickets, including weekend passes: http://makerfaire-marketwire.eventbrite.com

Tweet This
#MakerFaire 2011 hails DIY culture May 21-22 in San Mateo, CA. http://oreil.ly/iaWV6e

Maker Faire Sponsors
Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 sponsors include: ASUS, Autodesk, CLIF Kid, Chevy, Digikey, element14, Epilog Laser, Esurance, GE, GeekDad, GOOGLE, HP, Etsy, Microchip, Seded Studio, ShopBot Tools, Sparkfun Electronics, and Techshop.

About Maker Faire
Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 is slated for Saturday-Sunday, May 21-22, at the San Mateo County Event Center. Started in California in 2006, and now held in Detroit and New York, Maker Faire is the premier event for grassroots American innovation. Maker Faire is supported by Make: Magazine and O'Reilly Media, the information source for leading-edge computer technologies. For more information about Maker Faire, please visit http://www.makerfaire.com.

About HOMEGROWN.org
HOMEGROWN.org is an online community that enhances the relationship between family farmers and eaters through the shared experiences of growing food and participating in an agrarian life. It is a part of Farm Aid's program work to cultivate a greater demand for good food from family farmers and strengthen the links between farmers and eaters. HOMEGROWN.org has become a gathering place for eaters and farmers who celebrate the "culture" in agriculture and share skills like growing, cooking and food preservation. Join the conversation at www.HOMEGROWN.org

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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