May/Jun 2020
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Letter from the Editor
It’s the last week of April and spring has come to a roar as human activity has fallen to a hush. Today is Earth Day, and my planner reminds me that I should be at the Climate March downtown. But since coronavirus has wreaked havoc on all of our plans, I instead walked to King’s…
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Locavortex
Stories of Hope One Stitch at a Time: How a few women created the mask-making machine of North Bay Sewists Unite! It was not the kind of spring “break” any of us wanted. By the time the equinox rolled around, Sonoma County was days into the mandatory shelter-in-place order that separated us from friends, extended family,…
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Go With Your Gut: Inside Wildbrine’s Fermentation
People love their fermented probiotic foods. Yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut: these items have become increasingly popular for the health-inclined in the last decade, and as an accompaniment to many German meals long before that. Yet the origins of fermented foods like sauerkraut can be traced back to China (cabbage soaked in rice wine) roughly…
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Woman on a Mission: Not Yer Momma’s Has a New Momma
Myra Hallman, new owner of Not Yer Momma’s Granola, popped up on my screen amid a field of lavender the likes of which you’d see in the south of France. I almost giggled when I saw all those flowers, not realizing it was a virtual background. In the wake of Covid-mania news updates and the…
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Curbside Cocktails from Wishbone
Different parts of the body have different lifespans (bear with me here). The general knowledge is that all of your cells turn over and you’re essentially a “new you” every seven to ten years. Being stuck in the house for the duration of our current health crisis, I’ve had a lot of time to think.…
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The Hands that Feed Us
Things were finally back to normal for Jennifer Reichardt and her ducks. Last October’s Kincade fire, which scorched nearly 80,000 acres, thankfully never reached her family’s Petaluma farm. But the resulting blackouts did. Reichardt, together with her Sonoma County Poultry team, scrambled in vain to find enough generators to keep the farm going. By February,…
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Hands On: Slowing Down with the Hearth Folk School
Nick LaHaise, co-founder of Hearth Folk School, holds a bright orange Hachiya persimmon in front of him. There’s a kitchen paring knife in his other hand and a vegetable peeler on the table. Lengths of twine rest in a bundle, and a long wooden rod is poised over two milk crates, waiting for us. These…
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Savorbang! Pandemic Pops
Welcome to our regular recipe column from teacher and stand-up comedian Sarah Whitmore. This time around, Sarah gives popsicles an apocalyptic (and adult) makeover. Story, recipe and photos by Sarah Whitmore Recently you received this email: ——————————————————————- Dear Earth Inhabitant, Your government hopes (but doubts) you are well. We are writing to inform you…
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Locavox: Q&A with Essential Workers
Name: Laura Hinerfeld Occupation: Registered Nurse Workplace: Sutter Santa Rosa, ICU What has and hasn’t changed about your workday? So much has changed! Just walking in is different. We have our temperatures monitored as we come in. We are handed a mask to wear for our shift. We have nurses from other departments cross-training with…
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The End Bit
Meet a Contributor PAIGE GREEN – Photographer Paige Green was raised internationally by midwestern parents and spent her childhood drawing and dreaming about becoming the next Jane Goodall until falling in love with photography in college. She has been photographing and living in California ever since. A lover of natural light, medium format film, and…