May/Jun 2024
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Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers, Early summer has arrived, with its electric energy and tenacious growth. Our little corner of the world is going through its dance of seasonal shifts—a spectacle both unique and breathtaking. It’s this rhythm of change that weaves us into the vibrant tapestry of our local landscape. There, we don’t just exist, we thrive,…
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Local Makers – In Stitches
Heidi Iverson, a founding member of Fibershed, is a textile artist, clothing designer, and natural dye advocate who focuses on minimum waste practices. She teaches classes in natural dying, mending, and slow stitching and lives in a second-growth redwood forest in western Sonoma County with her husband and two ridiculous cats. Made Local: Tell us…
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Locavortex – Planting Seeds
Discover the Community Seed Exchange in Sebastopol, a volunteer-led effort promoting local seed sovereignty. Anchored by a grassroots seed library and flourishing garden based at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Sebastopol, the Exchange offers free, non-GMO, and pesticide-free seeds, sourced and grown locally. Focusing on preserving biodiversity and fostering community resilience, the CSE aims to…
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Park Place – Wild About Jack London Park
Some call him a literary hero; contemporary reevaluations call him “problematic,” but author Jack London’s friends called him “Wolf.” And why not? He was obsessed with the canine—from book titles like Son of the Wolf and The Sea Wolf to his famously ill-fated 15,000-square-foot manse dubbed “The Wolf House”—London had a lupine sensibility. Fortunately, the…
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Eat Local – Spread Kitchen Makes Waves
PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN When Cristina Topham was living in New York City, she once went on a blind date to the Caribbean. “The guy was okay, but Anguilla was great,” she recounts. So the Wall Street tech-worker-turned-chef-caterer returned to the city and scoured job boards for culinary work in warmer climes. This is how…
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Grow Local – Perennial Harvest
PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) has been making legendary salad mix from their deep-rooted, biointensive gardens for decades. But you might not know that back in the 1980s, a Bay Area produce distributor sent a spy to OAEC to discover and replicate the exclusive salad mix recipe. Instead, the…
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Eat Local – Sea Change
PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN The call of the sea is hard to resist, and Heidi Herrmann of Strong Arm Farm has both answered the call and continued the conversation. Herrmann’s one-woman venture began as a typical vegetable-growing operation selling at farmers’ markets. But all that changed back in 2009. She was at the Occidental Farmers’…
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Grow Local – The Future of Farming, Part 2
SEE PART 1 IN VOL. 11 – ISSUE 2 – MAR/APR PHOTOS BY PAIGE GREEN Twenty years ago Wayne James harvested garlic with a pickaxe. Today, on the exact same plot of land, all that’s required is a light tug and those bulbs slide right out from soft, dark earth. That’s because Wayne, together with…
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Medicine Meal – Seaweed Season
This column explores the intersection of food and herbs as medicine. The title Medicine Meal comes from the Japanese Yakuzen culture, which is about creating delicious, healing meals using traditional Chinese medicine herbs and principles. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Summer has two distinct seasons—early and late summer. We are currently in the early…
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Community Scene – How Cool is That?
Made Local: What is Cool Petaluma? Natasha Juliana: Cool Petaluma is a grassroots nonprofit that inspires local climate action through community building. By bringing people together, we create the connections and team spirit needed to address the complex environmental issues that face us today and help protect the future for the next generation. Plus, it’s…