Some days it seems like going “green” is for the well-to-do, what with the super-spendy, designer vegan fashions, overpriced raw foods, and the extra cash it takes to buy “environmentally friendly” options from notebooks to automobiles. The truth is, shrinking your footprint and embracing a more modest lifestyle is yours for the doing, whether you live in on an acre or in a studio apartment.

Our Summer Speakeasy, Sunday August 17, features The Urban Homestead, a new book from one of our favorite indie publishers, Process Media Inc. Written by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, a pair of model eco-citizens living right here in Los Angeles, The Urban Homestead is a clearly and compellingly written hands-on treatise for the new frontier of urban farming. From guerilla gardening in public spaces, to canning and composting, to making your own affordable, non-toxic household cleaners, The Urban Homestead promises to be your “guide to self-sufficient living in the heart of the city.”

Come with an open mind and leave with the first seeds of your future urban harvest. We’ll be planting garlic and other such easy-growing candidates for you to take home. So roll up your sleeves and get ready to change your life. The evening promises to end on an upbeat, down-home note, with live music from Triple Chicken Foot featuring Ben Guzman, Mike Heinle and Kelly Marie Martin.

The evening’s commemorative artwork, What is a Weed, was designed Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen themselves, as part of Smart Gals’ original Bookmark series.

Pleasing, nonalcoholic refreshments and savory comestibles will be provided. Should you desire a more spirited beverage, by all means bring it along but do stash it discreetly in a brown paper bag.


Password: “Polycultural Evolution”

Why socialize on a Sunday? Because mingling is good for your mental health.

*Come to our event via bike or public transit, and receive $5.00 off admission! That’s how we roll.

Who’s Who

Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen happily farm in their Echo Park bungalow and run the urban homestead blog: www.homegrownevolution.org. They have become increasingly interested in the concept of urban sustainability since moving to Los Angeles in 1998. In the that time, they've slowly converted their 1920 hilltop bungalow into a mini-farm, and along the way have explored the traditional home arts of baking, pickling, bicycling and brewing. Infused with the DIY spirit and distrust of the pre-packaged and the spoon-fed, they believe in that in this age, gardening and the home arts can be a revolutionary gesture--one that builds, rather than destroys. In addition to writing about sustainable living, Erik is a program manager at the Center for Land Use Interpretation, an innovative institution based in Los Angeles. Kelly is a fiction author and the former Administrative Director of the greatest and most innovative museum in the world, the Museum of Jurassic Technology. When not writing, gardening, and tinkering they cultivate idleness as an art.

Triple Chicken Foot

Kelly Marie Martin – Guitar. Ben Guzman – Fiddle & Mandolin. Mike Heinle – Banjo & Bass.

Rooted in traditional American fiddle music, the Foot plays from the heart. The music, simple and repetitive, lends itself to being driven strong and direct—that’s how the Foot likes it. In the past, when the work was all done, the music began (be it the radio or Pa’s fiddle) bringing people together to dance, relax and have a good time. Triple Chicken Foot plays it that way. Take a trip to www.triplechickenfoot.com for more details.

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Smart Gals Productions is a 501-C3, non-profit, public benefit arts organization, dedicated to creating original events in unlikely places, inspiring fruitful interaction, and cultivating the greater cultural community of Los Angeles.