Jul/Aug 2024
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Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers, Welcome to the late summer issue of our magazine! I’m happy to share with you this collection of stories, recipes, and inspirations to make the most of this special season of abundant produce, longer days and time spent with family and friends. Mark your calendars for the 51st Annual Gravenstein Apple Fair on…
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Making an Impression: Artist Amaya Lounibos Explores Home and Inclusivity
In the vibrant art scene of the San Francisco Bay Area, Chilean-American artist Amaya Lounibos Hartard stands out as an emerging voice; her work is infused with themes of home, childhood, and the complexities of her identity as a queer, biracial woman. Formerly a member of Petaluma’s Magic Shop Studio Collective, she is pursuing her…
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Locavortex – Gravenstein Apple Fair
This August, Sonoma County Farm Trails celebrates the 51st iteration of its flagship event—the Gravenstein Apple Fair. The annual fundraiser draws up to 15,000 attendees for a weekend of music, local food and drink, farm demonstrations, children’s activities, and community spirit around the county’s agricultural experience. Apple enthusiasts will delight in the “Apple Alley,” with…
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Park Place – Park in Peril
Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park is nestled within the largest intact high-elevation salt marsh in North America. It serves as a home for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse and is an integral stop for migrating birds along the Pacific flyway. But for over 150,000 human visitors of all ages and abilities annually, the park’s two-mile flat…
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Grow Local – Zero Foodprint Steps Up
What if part of the solution to climate change was just dining out at our favorite restaurants? Could it be that easy? It might be if the folks at Zero Foodprint have anything to do with it. Through small donations from local food systems, the Healdsburg-based Zero Foodprint (ZFP) funds grants that enable farms and…
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Grow Local – Stay Gold
One might not describe an apple as “attitudinal.” But Brooke Hazen of Gold Ridge Organic Farms does. In part, he’s referring to the flavor expression of hard-to-find apples like the Pitmaston Pineapple, Strawberry Parfait, Cinnamon Spice, and Winter Banana—all heirloom varieties which, Hazen affirms, taste like their namesakes. A “attitudinal” heirloom of note for him…
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Farm Talk – Buzzworthy
PHOTOS BY KELSEY JOY PHOTOGRAPHY The first thing that strikes me are all the wings: bees, dragonflies, lacewings, butterflies. Just to name a few. Teeming with aerial action, the farm is abuzz with life. Everywhere, there is a pervasive sense of interaction and collaboration. Pollinators are very busy around here, and so are the humans…
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Star of the Summer: New Wood-Fired Pizza at Stellina Pronto! Debuts
Ever since husband-and-wife team Christian Caiazzo and Katrina Fried opened Stellina Pronto! three years ago, customers were patiently eying the blue mosaic pizza oven behind the counter with the sign above it stating, “Pizza—Coming Soon.’ The cafe has since become a fixture in Petaluma, offering Linea espresso roasted in San Francisco and an ever-changing menu…
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Grow Local – Hardcore
PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN It was a bittersweet milestone for Manzana. Just two years after reaching its centennial, the North Bay’s last remaining apple cannery announced they’re relocating to Washington. It’s said that the only constant is change. And that old facility along Atascadero Creek, with its big metal tanks, loading docks, and piles of…
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Medicine Meal – Elevating Wellness in Late Summer
Medicine Meal explores the intersection of food and herbs as medicine. The name comes from the Japanese Yakuzen culture, which is about creating delicious, healing meals using traditional Chinese medicine herbs and principles. Late summer is a special fifth season, according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here, this short season includes the weeks of late…