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Mar/Apr 2024

Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers, Having grown up a stone’s throw from San Antonio Creek, which flows directly into the Petaluma River, I’ve seen firsthand the seasonal, annual, and decades-long shifts, changes, and challenges here in our place, with its particular landscapes of food, farms, and people. And as a journalist for over two decades, it’s been a…
Local Makers – From Fog Valley to Liberty Street

Made Local (ML): What’s your background and when did you know you were a writer? Frances Rivetti (FR): My background is in journalism. I was hired by my local newspaper in my senior year of high school in England and trained on the job as a reporter. I attended a three-year program with the UK…
Locavortex

On A Roll For more than 20 years, Community Bikes in stern Santa Rosa has served as a cornerstone of Sonoma County’s vibrant biking community, fostering health and connection through the joy of cycling. Community Bikes mainly operates as an inclusive and accessible bike shop offering affordable refurbished bikes for purchase, along with repair services…
Park Place – Peak Excitement

The new mountain trails at the 173-acre Fitch Mountain Park and Open Space Preserve are scheduled to be open this spring after the completion of improvements. Procured in 2014 by the City of Healdsburg and funded by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, Fitch Mountain opened to the public in October 2019.…
Grow Local – The Future of Farming, Part 1

PHOTOS: PAIGE GREEN Small-scale farmers are inherently resourceful. They have to be. Often operating on a shoestring budget, they make the most of what they have: stacking functions, repurposing materials, taking a tool designed for one task and, after a bit of welding and duct tape, jury-rigging it until it can accomplish a dozen different…
Connect with the Source at Jupiter Foods, Your Farmers Market Grocery Store

The San Francisco North Bay Area is bountiful with farm fresh produce, but venturing to the farmers’ markets every week just isn’t always possible for many people. Luckily, Jupiter Foods Grocery Store in downtown Petaluma does all the legwork, and lovers of locally grown produce can enjoy the farmers’ market freshness all week. The intimate…
Timeless Taste: Local Kombucha Artisans Soul Fixx

Local Kombucha Artisans Soul Fixx Brew Up Sentimental Flavors Occasionally, out of the blue, a particular scent or flavor will spark a memory from one’s past, like the madeleine dipped in tea in Proust’s classic In Search of Lost Time. As for Sonoma County-based Soul Fixx Elixirs, their diverse and unusual kombucha flavors are likewise…
Farm Talk – Field of Dreams

PHOTOS: KELSEY JOY PHOTOGRAPHY It would be hard to deny that Kibo Farm is picturesque. At modest altitude on Sonoma Mountain, a mezzanine of clouds hangs particularly low on the day of my visit. Gangly snowy egrets take flight from an adjacent pond and stand out in stark contrast against a darkened sky. The cultivated fields…
Medicine Meal with Erin Masako Wilkins

This new column explores the intersection of food and herbs for health. The title “Medicine Meal” comes from the Japanese Yakuzen culture, which is about creating delicious, healthful meals using traditional Chinese medicine herbs and principles. The rhythmic ebb and flow of each season gives us clues about living in harmony with nature. Although the…
Sonoma County Farmers’ Markets

Find a Sonoma County Farmers’ Market near you:ourfarmersmarkets.orgnuestrosmercados.org Cloverdale thesantarosafarmersmarket.com225 N Cloverdale BlvdTuesdays 4-7 pm, April-NovemberAccepts CalFresh, Market Match, WIC, Senior FMNP Healdsburg Healdsburg Farmers’ Markethealdsburgfarmersmarket.orgWest Plaza parking lot (one block off plaza)Saturdays 8:30 am to NoonApril 15 through December 23Accepts CalFresh, Market Match, WIC, Senior FMNP Petaluma Petaluma East Side Farmers’ Marketilovefarmersmarkets.org320 N. McDowell…