Eco-Farm National Farming Conference

OITF founder Jim Denevan loves cooking for farmers. Jim has cooked lunch for the Eco-Farm farm bus tour for 17 years in a row! Eco-Farm is a long running winter sustainable farming conference in coastal California. Farmers come from around the country to take a break from farming, socialize and learn more from their peers. This year Eco-Farm asked Jim to speak at one of the conference seminars. Jim shared the stage with chef Annie Somerville of Greens restaurant and chef Jesse Cool of Flea Street Cafe. The subject of the seminar was "Food as Art." Jim had quite a bit to say and plenty of pictures.

Off Season - Art Season

The depths of winter is a slow time for Outstanding in the Field but a busy time when it comes to OITF founder Jim Denevan's art work. On several days of each month Jim heads up to a favorite secret beach north of Santa Cruz, CA to draw in sand. The trail to the beach is washed out so Jim has to wade down the center of a small stream to reach the sand. All this difficulty means few footprints and few visitors: a beautiful peaceful place to draw. The tide must be very low, only ten or more days per month have the preferred conditions. When conditions are right Jim spends hours on the sand, composing huge freehand temporary drawings that wash away with the tide.

Here are some photographs from the past month: