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046-074 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 10/26/13 10:27 AM Page 8 SHORTCUTS NEIGHBORS Photo: Kelli Uldall Paradise Catering Makes Farm to Table a Reality Jon Kasky and Nancy Rohan run Paradise Catering out of their Carmel Valley home. Tomatoes, Zinfandel vines, herbs and edible flowers are grown on-site, chickens roam free, rainwater is collected for watering and solar energy powers the irrigation system. aradise Catering's home "office" in Carmel Valley transports visitors P back in time. The one-acre oasis is hidden from view by a garden ple tends 100 Zinfandel vines on property. Water for plants is collected from the sky. An elaborate gutter system filled with prehistoric plants such as giant Staghorn ferns, Spanish moss, funnels rainwater off the roof into two 2,500-gallon holding tanks. A solar Everything at this rural home shared by couple Jon Kasky and Nancy "Here I am, irrigating with water that fell from the sky and pumping it propagated mushrooms and exotic succulents called monsters and crests. Rohan is an ode to days gone by. As one of the Peninsula's highest-profile, longest-tenured caterers in business now for 25 years, Paradise treads lightly on the earth, keeping battery works a drip-system pump. with energy from the sun," says Kasky, whose water bill once reached $2,500. "It's freeing being that far off the grid." They can't source all their catering jobs with fruits, vegetables, herbs sustainability a tangible concept, not just a buzzword. and edible flowers from their garden alone, but a huge chunk is truly planted with heirloom varieties of lettuce, radishes and tomatoes—they composted in a heap out back, surrounded by roaming chickens. Behind the couple's stone house off Ford Road is a sprawling garden grow 600 tomato vines from seed. They recovered a few of the infamous pink apple trees from Earthbound Farm, tend to several Buddha's Hand shrubs, and even grow their own quinoa. The path weaving through this garden is littered with old wine corks, a fitting compost that speaks to the heart of Paradise: this wine-centric cou58 C ARMEL M AG A Z I N E • H O L I D AY 2013 homegrown. And once everything is peeled, chopped and stripped, it's "We believe in serving fresh, unprocessed foods, and minimizing our footprint," Kasky says. "It seems futuristic, but in reality it's the way it was always done back in the day." For more information, go to www.paradisecater.com. —Larry Harland