Staff Picks Local Gift Guide
Mendocino-Made Give-ables for Your Favorite Folks
A collection of Mendocino-Made gifts perfect for giving this holiday season.
For the food lover in your life, Six California Kitchens contains culinary wisdom and recipes from The Apple Farm’s Sally Schmitt. Available at philoapplefarm.com, The Apple Farm, and The Farmhouse Mercantile. $38
Get your hands on Eternal Bliss Body Oil from AfterGlow, maker of natural skin and body care products. Then get your hands, massage style, on someone you like. Available at afterglownaturals.com. $15
According to its label, the Cloud of Protection Spray by Nieves is a “Defense against illness, bad vibes and stinkiness.” We just like the complex combination of juniper, eucalyptus, and rose. Find it at Unique Boutique in Willits or at bynieves.com.
Black Oak Coffee Roasters Black Bart is earthy and smoky—and it’s made right in Ukiah. Available at their Ukiah location or online at blackoakcoffee.com. $16
Melinda Price of Peace & Plenty Saffron Farm says she’s been put on this earth to make her Saffron Infused Raw Honey. Crimson strands of locally grown saffron impart a unique flavor that’s delicious drizzled over yogurt or in tea. Get yours at peaceplentyfarm.com or at the Peace & Plenty Farmstand in Kelseyville. $20
From her Albion studio, Lee of Lee’s Haven encapsulates the ocean in her beautiful jewelry by using iridescent abalone. Available at The Farmhouse Mercantile in Boonville.
Mendocino Grove boasts platform tents with heated sheets, as well as bathhouses with spotless facilities and hot showers. Their package certificates include 2 nights, your first batch of firewood, and a s’mores kit. Available at mendocinogrove.com. Starts at $530.
Terra Savia produces a line of delicious olive oils, including this tasty Meyer Lemon variety that can’t be beat for salads or pasta or even dipping. Terra Savia owner, Yvonne Hall, drizzles it over vanilla ice cream—yummy! Get yours at the Terra Savia tasting room in Hopland or terrasavia.com. $25
Woodworker Bob Nelson of Rohnert Park makes stunning wood bowls with wood sourced from Anderson Valley’s Mailliard Ranch. Available at The Farmhouse Mercantile in Boonville.
Add some local flavor to your holiday cocktails with craft vodka and agave spirits from the Boonville Distillery, available at their location in downtown Boonville (boonvilledistillery.com). $39/$48
Black Trumpet Infused Pink Himalayan Salt by Mendo Family Forage is created with wild-gathered black trumpet mushrooms from the Mendocino Coast and adds an earthy richness to soups, rice, or sauces. Available on Etsy.com from MendoFamilySpirit. $16
Caramelized Onion Ghee by Ghee Well is a slightly nutty spread or cooking fat with a higher-than-average smokepoint made in Arcata with Walla Walla sweet onions from Shakefork Community Farm of Carlotta, CA. Available from Gheewell.com. $32.
Just because most people can consume turkey tail without any issues doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. When you first try a new foraged food, ingest just a small amount and then wait for a day or two before consuming more.
Photo by Tom Fisk courtesy of pexels.com
Gardening with Children
Passing Down Skills and Playing in the Dirt
by Anna Levy
Since becoming a parent, I am often struck by the number of things I still have left to learn in life. One of those things is a somewhat secret shame in this particular geographic region: despite my appreciation for good, homegrown food, and although I’ve worked on farms on both sides of this continent, the truth is that I know virtually nothing about gardening.
Luckily, Mendocino County is home both to a climate hospitable to many crops, as well as casual experts who have a deep sense of how to cultivate them. Thus, when I decided it was time to teach my child something about where our food comes from, I turned to a few of my friends, all of whom are teachers, well-versed in guiding others. I found their words to be both inspirational and educational. As the days stretch deliciously into summer, I thought it might be helpful for others to read what they had to say. So here’s to everyone planting gardens this year, including those of us—ahem—who are doing so for the very first time.
John Moran: The first person whom I gardened with, or learned about gardening from, was my paternal grandmother, Eileen Moran. She taught me the names of many flowers when I was just a little guy. Now I garden with anyone willing: friends who need help, my class of students, and my own children. I personally grow food crops, ornamentals, succulents, native plants, fruit trees, and basically anything that has half a chance of surviving here that I am interested in.
My main rule in the garden is to respect all life. Even a handful of soil has millions of microorganisms in it, all of which are important and worthy of our respect and reverence. “Weeds” are just something that you don’t want in your garden; it doesn’t mean the plant has done anything wrong in striving to grow. Many “weeds” are revered in their native habitat, are edible, or at least provide a historical lesson about how plants travel all over the world with colonizers and beyond, both intentionally and unintentionally.
Gardening can teach children and adults almost anything and nearly everything. I am probably more fascinated by natural history, origin stories, ethnobotany, and essentially that our relationship with plants is one of the main tenets of our existence. Perhaps even more profound is what plants can teach you about yourself, not only through the meditative nature of gardening but also in learning how so many different beings survive, and have been and can be role models for humans to live a balanced life.
It’s always good to start with something you will actually want to have around, whether it is beautiful flowers or food that the children eat. Kids are far more likely to try something new if they have been involved in the process of growing it. Include them in the entire process from preparing beds, to selecting desirable crops, to planting seeds or starts, to checking on plants for pests or damage and, of course, making sure they have a chance to harvest what they’ve planted. Connecting kids and adults with our food systems is one of the many ways we can change the world for the better. Much of gardening is trial and error, and the errors—as always—are more instructive than the successes.
Amanda Martin: When I was young, I was forced to garden; it wasn’t an option. There were parts I loved, like digging up potatoes, but it felt like a chore as a kid. Yet as soon as I moved away, I had this urge to get back to the garden, and I just could never not do it again.
Now, the garden at school [the Albion School, where Amanda teaches] is probably 1500 square feet. We’ve got apple trees, peas, potatoes, lots of flowers, raspberries, Albion strawberries which are big and juicy and wonderful, kale and spinach, herbs, and onions. The kids have a fairy garden that they’re really into, and that’s one of the recommendations I have for someone starting out with kids: give them a designated area, let them do whatever they want in there. They’ll find what they love.
This year, they’ve decided it’s really fun to go in and spread woodchips in there, so we’ll do that. They love to water, they love to feel like it’s important. They’re nurturing something; they have a bit of responsibility. My kids are really respectful about not stepping on things or digging things up, and they ask before they can pick flowers.
We have a little scientific journal we keep, where we draw pictures of what’s growing. We watch the weather and use fractions with the rain gauge. We don’t always go in there with specific lessons. But it’s their spot to learn about themselves, healthy eating, and taking care of the earth.
Lora Barnett-Tuomala: My mother was always in her garden; we spent most days there with her. We also spent a lot of time at my neighbors’ house, and they spent most days in their garden as well. It was the way of life: we played, had secret forts, ate, ran through sprinklers, and gardened. It was magical, but as a kid it just seemed normal.
Now I garden with my daughter and son. My garden is more utilitarian, a fence around 15 rows, so they love to play in the yard and come to the garden when it is time to water (their favorite). They also love planting and harvesting.
Kids naturally respect nature. They are fascinated by it. They want to see things grow. They will make mistakes, but your job is to encourage them and support them. Remember why you want to share this with them and don’t lose track of that along the way. Kids will plant things unevenly and they will over-water and they will want to eat right from the plant. Let them, so that they learn to love the space. It can teach them patience, kindness, a joy of the unexpected, perseverance, respect for Mother Nature, connection to family and friends.
An apple tree is an amazing addition to any home. Picking apples, canning applesauce, making dried apples—you feel so successful, kids can participate in every step, and it is very little work. On the coast, broccoli is awesome, easy to grow, and bountiful, and the same for kale. Also strawberries—they’re a little bit harder, but nothing brings a kid to a garden faster than a ripe strawberry.
If you’re going to have a garden, learn how to process, can, or freeze your food. Talk to your friends; they have great advice, and everyone does it differently. Don’t stress out. If kids are having fun in the garden, that is the success. Plants come second in the beginning.
Rivers in the Air
The Untapped Potential of Fog Harvesting
by Torrey Douglass
With the exception of the air we breathe, there is nothing we need more than fresh, clean water. It’s why populations are concentrated along the coasts, lakes, and rivers. It’s why farmers keep an eagle eye on the weather and why squabbles over water rights can devolve into vicious litigation. And it’s also why some people look at an encroaching fogbank, and, instead of seeing a cause for cancelling picnic plans or postponing that hot air balloon flight, they see a water tap that can be turned on with the right tools.
The concept of collecting water out of the air through condensation is not new. For over 2,000 years, people have used water from fog for consumption and other human needs like irrigation, washing, and livestock care. The Incas used stone walls that captured and directed water into irrigation channels, and domed stone structures perforated with tiny openings served as “air wells” in deserts in the Middle East.
In more recent decades, a number of companies and organizations have looked to fog harvesting as a method for bringing potable water to communities plagued by water scarcity. FogQuest, a Canadian nonprofit, has installed fog collection projects in a number of countries including Nepal, Morroco, Guatemala, Eritrea, and Chile, among others. In 1992, FogQuest installed its first system comprised of 100 fog collectors—metal frames with 50 square meters of fine netting stretched within each—on a foggy ridge site in Chile called El Tofo. Fog blown through the netting left behind droplets that slid down into piping that carried the water seven kilometers away to storage tanks in Chungungo, a village on the coast. Over the next ten years, the collectors fed water to Chungungo, and its population doubled over the same time period. On a day without fog, the system did not produce any water, but on the days with the heaviest fog, over 100,000 liters (26,417 gallons) of water were sent down the mountain for Chungungo’s citizens—an average of three liters per day per square meter of netting.
Chungungo is not far from Lima, a city that receives an average of just six millimeters of precipitation annually. In such exceptionally dry conditions, the fog harvesting system was a relatively low-cost and effective way to provide water for the community. It could have continued for another ten years and more if local politicians had not begun advocating for alternative water solutions (like a $1M desalination plant) around 2000. In an attempt to demonstrate the need for government investment, the fog harvesters were allowed to fall into disrepair, becoming completely non-operational by 2003. No alternative system was built, and today Chungungo has (again) resorted to the pricey strategy of trucking in water for its people.
The project at El Tofo demonstrated both the potential and the vulnerabilities of fog harvesting. Yes, the system can pull potable water out of the air, but it needs the right conditions environmentally—significant fog with enough wind to push it through the mesh—as well as culturally. Other projects have reported how lack of community buy-in can lead to inattentive infrastructure maintenance and the system’s ultimate failure. So working with the people the system serves, and designing it to integrate effectively into the local customs, is critical for its longevity.
The Warka Water nonprofit puts this wisdom into practice, consistently integrating local expertise, materials, and building methods into its projects. Founded by Italian artist, designer, and architect Arturo Vittori, the nonprofit looks to both old traditions and new advancements to develop sustainable, culturally appropriately solutions for challenges faced in remote and undeveloped areas. Its water tower, a bamboo frame covered in netting, was designed to be rugged enough to endure the elements while also light enough to be replicated without the need for heavy equipment. Vittori has taken the additional and admirable step of making his designs open source, so anyone motivated to do so can create their own Warka Water Tower, adapting it to their particular geographic and cultural context.
The tower, as well as Vittori’s nonprofit, is named after the Warka tree, a large fig tree found in Ethiopia whose ample shade and abundant fruit make it a gathering hub and highly valued resource for a community. In 2015, Warka Water helped a community in Ethiopia install their own tower. Its organic shape resembles a pillar that gracefully narrows upward with a slight flare at the top. The round nature of the tower facilitates fog collection regardless of the wind’s direction. It is designed to collect not just water, but also precipitation and even the condensation that occurs in the evenings and mornings as the temperature change releases moisture from the air. The footprint is small—the diameter of a mature redwood—and it costs less than $1,000. With the whole community on hand to contribute, it goes up in less than a day, and it is constructed with local, biodegradable materials. Once it is up and functioning, the tower collects 100 liters (26 gallons) of water every day.
The work of Vittori and others exploring fog harvesting comes none too soon, as climate change ejects weather and precipitation out of their once-predictable patterns. Researchers continue to experiment with different netting materials, configurations, and coatings to optimize collection. A team at MIT even used an ion emitter to give fog droplets an electric charge that impells them toward a wire mesh, much like how a magnet attracts iron filings. With this approach, the mesh collects significantly more droplets, which are then gathered into a channel that carries the collected water to storage.
I live in the hills of Anderson Valley, and our home sits above a small vale where fog floats by on misty mornings, sometimes layered and light as ribbons of taffeta, other times dense as a wall of cotton. Motivated by California’s ongoing drought conditions and the very real need to find alternative sources of fresh water besides our wells and waterways, I assembled two types of fog catchers. One uses a large filter pad used in AC units, and the other uses vertical fishing line stretched between two threaded rods. The filter pad is an affordable equivalent to the raschel mesh used by FogQuest and other fog harvesting engineers (raschel mesh can be purchased at BaysideFogCollectors.com). The fishing line approach mimics the Baleen found in the mouths of some whales, a profusion of snugly positioned and bristly plates that sift plankton from the water they suck in. Both designs use 1-½” PVC piping for the structures. Instructions follow if you would like to make your own.
At the time of this writing, the fog catchers have yet to be tested and compared. Due to their size, they are only appropriate for smaller applications, like positioning near a tree or garden bed that would benefit from fog-gleaned irrigation. Yet even small fog catchers can help take a little pressure off your current water sources, and the experience of building one can lead to insights that improve the next project, with the potential for scaling up as designs are increasingly optimized.
Only part of Mendocino County is coastline, but all areas experience fog and morning dew on the grass. Drinking fog is, after all, how our famous redwoods slake their thirst. Our future depends on us staying calm in the midst of crisis, and combining creativity, adaptability, and practicality to find new methods for addressing perpetual human needs. We would do well to mimic the redwoods. Perhaps Mendocino folks of tomorrow will toast to wellness and resilience with a tall glass of fog.
Build Your Own Baleen Fog Collector
MATERIALS
(2) 3’ lengths of 1½” PVC pipe
(1) 32” length of 1½” PVC pipe
(2) 90° 1½” PVC elbows
(2) 1½” PVC T-pieces
(4) 9” lengths 1½” PVC
(4) end caps for 1½” PVC
(2) 3’ long threaded metal rods ½” diameter
1000 yds of 3mm fishing line
(2) long U bolts with 1½” bend
(1) 33” length of gutter
INSTRUCTIONS
Drill two 3/4” holes into each of the 3’ lengths of pipe, one 2” from the top and the other, along the same axis, 24” from the top. Attach the elbow pieces to the top of the 3’ lengths and lay them on the floor 3’ apart with the holes facing each other. Place the rods into the drilled holes and the 32” pipe into the elbow on the left side, doing the same on the right to create a U shape. Attach the T-pieces to the bottoms, perpendicular to the top bar. Add two 9” lengths to each T-piece, adding a cap piece to each end. This completes the main structure.
This next step will take a while. Tie the fishing line to the bottom of the rod on one side, and proceed to thread it up and around the top rod then down and around the bottom, using the grooves of the threads to hold each section in place. When you reach the end, tie off the line so it is secure and as taut as possible. Slide the U-bolts onto the side pieces of pipe about 4” from the bottom rod, with one side slightly lower. If the bolts are not snug, screw a small screw into the pipe just below them to prevent sliding. Place a gutter so it is resting on the U-bolts, and push it all the way to the pipe on the higher side to allow it to angle down toward the low side, leaving a small gap. Install the collector in a location that experiences regular fog, facing directly into the wind for best results. Place a vessel under the gutter to collect your fog water.
Photos, top left to right: close up of fishing line stretched over threaded rod; and materials for the baleen fog catcher; the air filter used in the mesh fog catcher. Next row, left to right: the baleen fog catcher; the mesh fog catcher; and materials for the mesh fog catcher.
Build Your Own Mesh Fog Collector
MATERIALS
(3) 3’ lengths of 1½” PVC pipe
(2) 90° 1½” PVC elbows
(2) 1½” PVC T-pieces
(4) 9” lengths 1½” PVC
(4) end caps for 1½” PVC
(1) 20” x 30” air cleaning filter
(16) zip ties
(2) long U bolts with 1½” bend
(1) 33” length of gutter
INSTRUCTIONS
Using the elbow pieces, attach the 3 lengths of PVC pipe into a U shape. Attach the T-pieces to the bottom of the U, perpendicular to the top bar. Add two 9” lengths to each T-piece, adding a cap piece to each end. This completes the main structure.
Using the zip ties, attach the filter mesh to the structure, hanging first from the top bar and then securing to the sides. Slide the U-bolts onto the side pieces of pipe about 4” from the bottom of the filter, with one side slightly lower. If the bolts are not snug, screw a small screw into the pipe just below them to prevent sliding. Place a gutter so it is resting on the U-bolts, and push it all the way to the pipe on the higher side to allow it to angle down toward the low side, leaving a small gap. Install the collector in a location that experiences regular fog, facing directly into the wind for best results. Place a vessel under the gutter to collect your fog water.
*This photo of fog harvesting equipment in Chile does not depict a FogQuest project, though it shows the same type of system used. For photos and information about FogQuest, visit FogQuest.org.
main photo by Debra Eloise. p18 cobweb photo by Norbert Velescu courtesy of Unsplash; fog catchers image Atrapanieblas en Alto Patache by Nicole Saffie, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. redwood branch photo by Jeremy Bezanger courtesy of Unsplash.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville and the art director for Word of Mouth magazine.
How to Garden for Bees
by Cornelia Reynolds
Every gardener wants to help bees. But many have a question I hear a lot. Can we really make a difference? Making a difference may not sound easy. Or you may feel your potential contribution will be too insignificant for the effort. Depending on your goals, you can make a difference, and it can be as simple as you need it to be. Efforts are valuable at every level and size to restore and preserve a thriving insect population. Gardening for bees is about growing forage—and restoring ecosystems.
For seven years, I have been mending seriously damaged land—an acre and a half of clay banks exposed by earth moving, extensive lawns formerly treated with herbicides, and a section of redwoods and other native trees, a former dumping ground for garbage. For the first two years, not only were there no bees, but to my shock, there were almost no insects at all, except mosquitoes. I told one local nurseryman that I was dismayed to have zero Diabrotica (the pernicious cucumber beetle), and I’m still on his list of crazies.
The land is not yet the bird and pollinator refuge I hope for, but there are thriving veggies, less lawn, and new native plantings. Native bumble bees nest in a small pile of logs. I’ve learned what I know about gardening for bees by doing everything wrong first, or at least less right than I would like. Here are the three basics, as well as some ideas to make a difference with native plants and your veggie garden.
Bee gardening basics are the same for every style and size garden. Container gardens may not be able to provide everything a large garden can, but they have an important role to play. Studies in suburban England and European cities demonstrated how urban and suburban container and doorstep gardens create vital passageways that help bees travel between larger forage sources.
Provide food and water. Ensure that bees have access to a constant source of nectar and pollen from February to at least November in our region. Plant three or more different flowers each season for continuous bloom. Large patches help bees find food and conserve energy. At least 3 square feet is ideal.
Provide sources of fresh, clean water, whether in a shallow bowl or a large birdbath supporting many species. Keep the container fresh so they can rely on it daily. Bees need a rock or stick to stand on while drinking. A birdbath on bare soil makes a small mud puddle for butterflies, honey bees, and bumble bees to sip water and extract minerals from the soil. Mix a bit of sea salt (not table salt, which has little mineral content) or wood ashes into the mud.
Use sustainable gardening practices. Learn about alternatives to harmful pesticides, such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Look for natural pest controls and fertilizers. Products for Certified Organic farmers, labelled “OMRI-approved,” are widely available.
Provide places for bees to nest and raise their young.Most native bees are solitary and burrow into the ground. Leave bare patches of soil in a sunny spot in or near the garden. Other bees nest in stems and pre-existing cavities. Logs and tree stumps in sunny spots provide sites, especially if riddled with beetle tunnels. Hang nesting blocks of untreated wood or bamboo. Clean your homemade or purchased nests annually to prevent disease spread.
Asclepias spp., Queen of Weeds
Once you have the basics down, make a difference with native plants. The first thing I did on the land was to plant a border of thirty non-native lavender, a Mediterranean herb I considered bee friendly. I would not do that today. By the time a friend later asked me if he should do something similar with buddleia, I’d learned a lot more. Buddleia and lavender, like many non-native plants, have only nectar for bees, so his garden would be lacking a source of pollen which bees feed their larvae. Also missing would be a host plant for the butterflies and moths attracted to buddleia. No native invertebrates reproduce on either buddleia or lavender.
Native plants are critical to diversity. Choosing native plants is where gardeners can make a big difference. Our choices directly impact the diversity of life in our yards and, by extension, our local community and beyond.
Certain native bees have life cycles timed to the bloom of specific plant species whose pollen is used to feed their larvae. But many other species are also dependent on a single native species. Most insect herbivores, including butterfly and moth species, eat only plants they have evolved with. A well-known example is monarch butterflies that lay eggs only on milkweed (Asclepias spp.).
The decline of moths and butterflies is tied to loss of their host plants. The resulting loss of caterpillars contributes to the decline of birds who feed caterpillars and other insects to their hatchlings. To rebuild a healthy ecosystem, your garden needs plants with both pollen and nectar—not always found together—and host plants where pollinators raise their young.
Don’t be afraid of native “weeds.” Many native plants with valuable resources for bees are called weeds: butterweed, deerweed, locoweed. They did not fit the settlers’ images of cottage gardens. But they are critical host plants for large numbers of butterflies and moths.
The queen of weeds is Asclepias spp. I am growing Asclepias speciosa, showy pink milkweed, native to Mendocino. It’s a beautiful 3’ tall stand of incredibly fragrant flowers, drought resistant, deer and rabbit resistant, highly attractive to pollinators for its pollen and nectar. Yes, it spreads by tubers. It can be invasive. Caterpillars eat it. It may look raggedy late in the season. Later butterflies emerge, and your garden may become part of a corridor in which butterflies and other wildlife can live and thrive. Plant it where its “weediness” won’t be a problem. But if you have room, plant it.
No monarchs yet, but this summer I saw a pair of Queen butterflies, Danaus gilippus, one of nine species dependent on Asclepias speciosa.
Many valuable plants have weedy reputations. Take goldenrod—the coastal variety, solidago spathulatai, provides nectar and pollen and is host to 53 dependent species (53 DPS) of moths and butterflies. With masses of yellow flowers on upright, slender 4’ stems, it does well in my clay. Like many “weeds,” in the right place—not a cultivated bed—it’s not invasive.
Native plants can be carefree if planned carefully. For an easy care native garden, make sure your plants are the right companions in the right place, ones that share soil, light, and rainwater needs. That is not your rose bed.
Many plants native to Mendocino County are drought tolerant and particular about soil drainage. Summer watering may kill or shorten the lifespan of some, such as Ceanothus spp, but this doesn’t mean they don’t need water to be established through at least the first summer. And always mulch your native plants.
Plan carefully to ensure continuous flowers each season. I’ve enjoyed learning from databases how many dependent species my plants support, but plantings are shaped through trial and errors in my garden. For spring blooms, I am now growing Nemophila menziesii Baby Blue Eyes (6 DPS), among other annuals, and three perennial host plants local to my zip code which flower into further seasons:
Erigeron glaucus Seaside Daisy (21 DPS), provides pollen and nectar, spring to early fall;
Fragaria chiloensis Beach Strawberry (64 DPS), provides nectar, spring to early summer;
Penstemon heterophyllus Foothill Penstemon (29 DPS), provides pollen and nectar, spring to summer.
I’ve listed some online reference sources where you can find native plants at the end of the article.
Pollinators and Your Victory Vegetables
A year round veggie garden provides year round blooms for bees. As I write in mid-winter near the coast, blooming in my garden are rosemary, native and non-native salvias—fought over by over-wintering hummingbirds—and flowering broccoli, where I saw the last bee in December.
Use a wide range of companion plants. Many medicinal herbs and culinary favorites attract bees. Plant rosemary, thyme, and other perennial herbs in or near your vegetable beds. Plant annual herbs like basil among your vegetables in large patches. Include edible flowers, as many deter pests: borage, marigolds, nasturtiums, chives.
Choose heirloom plants. Hybridized herbs, flowers, and veggies are bred not to seed and have little to no resources for bees. Heirloom plants can feed both you and your pollinators.
Let your veggies bolt. When your greens start to go, let them. Their flowers attract pollinators and beneficial insects. This increases your pollinator food supply without new plantings. And letting your greens flower also enables you to save seeds.
Add trees and shrubs for bees. Large shrubs or small trees provide masses of the same flowers in one place. Choose early flowering native trees such as Manzanita or California Redbud; for food, plant blackberries, raspberries, apple, and plum trees. Use them to replace your lawn.
Grow forage. Rebuild local ecosystems. It’s a real opportunity to make a difference.
Find plants native to your area at: Pollinator Partnership Ecoregional Plant Guides by Region at: http://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/ and National Wildlife Federation’s database by zip code at http://nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/Plants/
Cornelia Reynolds retired in 2017 from a career in nonprofit management. She is devoting her retirement to pollinator conservation and eliminating toxic pesticides from the food chain. She is Chair of Fort Bragg Bee City USA and active in the Elders Climate Action Nor-Cal Chapter.
Photo credits: Main photo by Linda MacElwee.
Asclepias speciosa by Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Erigeron glaucus by Björn S..., CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Nemophila menziesii by Eric Johnston (Ericj), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Fragaria chiloensis by Franco Folini from San Francisco, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Penstemon heterophyllus by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Fort Bragg Pursues Food Security with Victory Gardens
by Matt Drewno
Twenty-six percent of the children in Mendocino County experienced food insecurity in 2019. In that same year, one out of every four people in Fort Bragg utilized the food bank, and the Ukiah food bank reported a 23% increase in usage. Mendocino County has around 88,000 mouths to feed three times each day—that’s 264,000 meals daily! Locally, we struggle to make sure everyone has access to food, and the pandemic has only increased these challenges. You may be surprised to learn that only about 1-3% of the food grown in Mendocino County stays in Mendocino County. How will this pandemic and the economic hurdles to come impact our food security, and how can we, as individuals, become more resilient in these challenging times?
With COVID-19 shutting down the global and local economies—and with the beauty and vitality of spring in full bloom—what better time to start a garden! Gardens improve nutrition, ease depression, fortify immune systems, enhance education, reduce incidences of violence, and bring a sense of wholeness, peace, and beauty into our lives. They remind us that we are all connected and that a beautiful and abundant future lies right in our backyards.
Throughout history, during times of peace and war, gardening has kept us strong and nourished. During World War I and World War II, the United States government enacted a series of policies aimed at reducing our resource consumption while increasing production to meet the demands of war. Many of our farmers were sent overseas to fight, and our citizens and troops needed to be fed. “Victory Gardens” were promoted as a way to meet the demands of war and increase food security during times of scarcity, because there is no form of agriculture more direct, efficient, and sustainable.
This mass mobilization for the war efforts engaged all industries and communities. Trains and buses previously used for transporting food were shipped abroad to move soldiers, and so Victory Gardens became an important component of localization. Public parks were opened to community gardens, and people began growing food everywhere—on rooftops, window boxes, and backyards. School gardens sprang up to provide food for lunch programs, government agencies printed recipe booklets, and food preservation pamphlets encouraged people to eat less meat. Victory Gardens not only increased our food security during these times, but they also gave citizens a sense of pride in acting as a part of the solution. Gardening made them realize they could do something to help.
Perhaps the greatest challenge of today and the future will be achieving and maintaining peace, and it’s no coincidence that the current resurgence of the Victory Garden movement is about peace rather than war. What better way to create and celebrate peace than in the garden and sharing food with neighbors? The Victory Gardens for Peace Initiative is a project of Ecology Action, an organization that for the past 50 years has worked with individuals in over 150 countries, demonstrating the power of small scale sustainable gardening through the development of the Biointensive Method of Agriculture. The initiative is about reclaiming that part of ourselves that loves to work with nature, and to experience the nurturing of life which gives back and nourishes us.
To put our local food security in the light of the global outlook, The United Nations offers these three alarming figures: (1) by 2030, two-thirds of the global population will lack adequate water resources to grow food; (2) in 2050, there will be 10 billion people on the planet; and (3) in roughly 50 years, we will completely run out of soil. These stresses could result in the breakdown of systems both locally and globally, which provide for our most basic needs, including access to food and water.
Added to these worrisome predictions is the concern about the impacts of climate change. A recent study showed that Americans contribute between 4 and 8 tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year through diet alone. Harnessing the power to grow our own food means that we can keep that carbon where it belongs, in the ground!
Last year, Victory Gardens for Peace initiated a study which demonstrated that, within a few years, Fort Bragg could grow all of its calories for 7,000 people within its own city limits, on land that is already in lawns, and not including the toxic mill site. If we were to attempt to feed Fort Bragg locally with commercial farms, we would have to clear-cut a swath of forest one mile wide all the way to Willits, and this would require an additional 47-95 million gallons of water. Wouldn’t you rather grow a garden in your yard?
In 1943, when Victory Gardens were at their peak with over 20 million gardens, they produced 44% of the food consumed in the U.S. We believe this can be done again—it’s just a matter of being proactive and resilient rather than waiting until it is too late. The solutions of the future will be attainable solutions that do more with less, simplify the situation, and engage everyone in becoming stakeholders to create a stronger community. We can do it! ¡Sí se puede! Start a Victory Garden for Peace today!
Last year, Victory Gardens for Peace worked with Fort Bragg to pass the Garden Friendly Community Resolution declaring the importance of home and community gardening for community resilience. For information on how you can pass the Garden Friendly Community Resolution in your community, visit growbiointensive.org. You can also find out more at VictoryGardensForPeace.com.
Matt Drewno runs the Victory Gardens for Peace Initiative, a project of Ecology Action, a 501(c)(3) non-profit helping individuals worldwide empower themselves to grow healthy food while conserving resources and building soil.
Color, Scent, & Taste
Tips from a Sommelier-in-Training
by Laurel Livezey
My story is not unique. Small town girl moves to the big city to pursue a career, wide-eyed and enthusiastic, armed with an undergraduate theatre degree, twenty years of dance training, and a love of musicals . . . and finds herself slinging espresso and waiting tables to make ends meet while fitting in classes and auditions whenever her schedule allows. Little did I know, my ‘survival’ jobs in the hospitality industry would open my eyes to a whole new career.
Fast forward three years. I was tending bar at Vini e Fritti, a Roman-inspired wine and cocktail bar in the Redbury Hotel, when it occurred to me that I might be able to find a bottle of the wine my parents had loved on our family trip to Italy in 2007. That bottle of ‘Inferno’ had become my dad’s proverbial holy grail. I dove into research. Before I knew it, I had spent eight hours reading about the Northern Italian wine region of Valtellina Superiore, and I was hooked. Three months later, I took the Introductory Course and Exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers, and I passed!
The world of wine is fascinating and overwhelming. Wine is meant to be accessible and savored. Even a simple trip to the local grocery store or reading the wine list at your favorite restaurant can be a daunting task. The essential part of my job as a sommelier is to assist my guests in the navigation of the wine list. My ultimate goal is to make sure they are drinking something they enjoy, therefore having the best possible dining experience. We in Mendocino County have the good fortune to be in one of the most abundant wine regions in the world. But we can’t always have a personal sommelier assisting us with our wine selections, so here are some tips and tricks for being your own.
An Exercise in Tasting at Home
Pour yourself a glass of your favorite red or white wine. In a well-lit place, take a minute to observe the liquid in your glass. Is it clear? Hazy? Bright? What colors do you see? If you’re drinking red, is it deep purple or more of a ruby? If you’re drinking white, is it the color of straw? Is it deep gold? Is there any evidence of gas or sediment in the glass? Many of the clues to the age of a wine can be found in how it looks.
Now put the glass to your nose. What do you smell? What kind of fruit are you getting? Citrus? Orchard fruits? Red fruits? Deep black fruits? Get as specific as you can. Is that Meyer lemon or white grapefruit? Black currant or huckleberry? What is the fruit quality? Tart? Ripe? Cooked? What else do you smell? Is the wine floral? Earthy? Do you smell grass or even hints of river rock or—of all things—plastic beach ball?
Now take a sip. Let the wine move over your whole tongue and hold it in your mouth. What do you taste? Do the flavors on your palate match what you smelled in the glass? If not, how are they different? Once you have taken your sip, does your mouth feel dry? Do the flavors linger? Describe the finish.
What you have just done is a very quick version of what is known as the deductive tasting grid. This is the method sommeliers use when blind (or deductive) tasting. If you have ever seen the documentary ‘Somm’ (it’s on Netflix, and I highly recommend it), you have seen how quickly a Master Sommelier uses the grid to determine what might be in their glass without looking at the label. But you can also use the deductive tasting grid to start determining what flavors you find pleasurable in wines you know, which will help you in selecting new bottles to try. You have the power to be your own personal sommelier!
At the end of the day, wine is an experience that varies from person to person. I will never understand the pretension that comes with some high-priced wine. Wine is, at its essence, a food, and it is meant to be shared and enjoyed. I have two pieces of advice on enjoying your wine experiences with abandon. First and most importantly, drink what you like! Rules, schmools. Who says you have to drink white wine with fish? A light red goes just as well with that beautiful fillet of salmon or bowl of steamed mussels. If you do want some guidance on food pairing, however, the main motto I follow is “what grows together, goes together.” Wine is influenced by its place (terroir), much like regional cuisine. And if you’re really at a loss for a wine pairing, don’t forget about champagne, one of the most food-friendly wines in the world!
Second, don’t be afraid to explore. Ask your server for a taste of that wine you’ve never heard of. If you know you like Napa Valley Chardonnay, try a Chardonnay from France next time. I also encourage you to give wines you think you don’t like another chance. Not all wines of the same grape varietal are created equal. While I have been happy to have a spit bucket present at some tastings, aspects like where the wine is made and which winemaking techniques are used can have a profound effect on the flavor.
If you are interested in learning more about the vast world of wine, I recommend The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil, an informative, fun, and incredibly well-written book, perfect for those new to the subject as well as seasoned beverage professionals. Cheers and happy drinking!
Laurel Livezey is a Mendocino native currently based in New York City. She is an artist, performer, and beverage professional pursuing certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers. She is and will always be a true California girl.
How to Grow Happy Roses
A few tips from Sugar Hill Farm
story & photos by Torrey Douglass
Rosemary Roberts moved to Anderson Valley 15 years ago after living in Hawaii for more than two decades. “I could only grow ginger and orchids there, so when I came here I had a lot of pent up energy,” says Rosemary. The result of that unleashed energy is truly astounding. Over 500 rose plants of more than 100 varieties grace the gardens of Sugar Hill Farm, Rosemary’s hilltop property just outside of Philo, named for its elevated location and her childhood nickname, Sugar.
“I’m a farmer at heart. I love watching things grow,” Rosemary comments as we sit on her patio on a sunny spring day. Though she’s run out of room for planting her own, she continues to buy roses, giving them as gifts for whatever occasion presents itself. She loves to pore over the rose catalog every spring, and her personal favorite is the Sally Holmes, a “rambler” that can stretch to 15’ if you let it climb but will also grow as a standalone shrub. It boasts clusters of white blooms all over which open up to reveal apricot colored centers. A prolific bloomer year-round, it doesn’t need dead-heading, sharing copious beauty in exchange for minimal maintenance.
Rosemary has passed on her gardening talents to her son Jim, who owns and operates The Madrones just south of Philo. Besides tasting rooms, guest quarters, and a spa, The Madrones has its own gorgeous gardens, resplendent with over 200 rose bushes. Lucky guests get to pass through the profusion of color on brick paths when approaching the accomodations at the back of the property. Fresh arrangements beautify all the rooms, and rose petals are integrated into spa treatments offered at the spa and salon, Santé.
As someone whose thumb is less than green, I’m always open to pro-tips from the many gifted gardeners in our area, and when it comes to roses, it’s clear this pair knows a thing or two about cultivating the sweet-scented beauties. Follow their recommendations to bring a burst of color to your summer garden and raise some happy roses.
PLANTING
Protect: Gophers are the bane of many a gardener’s existence. Get ahead of the potential destruction caused by these varmints by surrounding the root ball in a cage of wire before putting the roses in the ground.
Prepare: Roses love acid soil. Add some fine redwood bark to your regular planting mix to give them the boost they crave.
CARE
Prune: In late winter (February or March), cut back roses to 14"-18" high. Blooms grow on new wood, so it helps if you cut them back to the main stems.
Fertilize: At the same time as pruning, add amendments to the soil. Jim recommends manure and a balanced fertilizer but skips the rose food. He also adds a handful of epsom salts at the base of each bush. The magnesium it provides helps the plant absorb nutrients. Spring rains that follow carry the amendments down to the roses’s roots.
Water: A once or twice weekly deep watering during the dry months can keep your roses radiant. Drip irrigation is best, as overhead watering can encourage diseases that thrive in the damp—rust, powder mildew, and black spot. Rosemary likes to turn on the water Sunday night and turn it off Monday morning. The tiny emitters of her drip irrigation slow down the spray to prevent run-off and allow for deep absorption into the soil.
Dead-head: If you don’t remove dried up blooms the plant will think flowering season is over, but if you cut them away you can get repeated blooming throughout the summer. Jim finds that cutting three or four leaflets down from the flower will inspire more growth. Dead-heading takes time, but if you are faithful about it your roses may reward you with joyous color and fragrance into the fall.
Sidebar: Grafting Trees: Key Terms and Instructions
KEY TERMS
Grafting: the horticultural technique of combining plant tissues to continue growing together.
Scion: last year’s new growth from a desired fruit tree variety that is grafted to rootstock.
Rootstock: a rooted seedling fruit tree that imparts genetic strengths possibly absent in scionwood, such as hardiness in some form like drought or cold tolerance or semi-dwarf mature trees for ease of harvesting.
Whip graft: a graft whereby a diagonal cut is made across the top of rootstock paired to matching diagonal cut on the scion.
Whip Tongue graft: a whip graft that has an additional small diagonal cut midway on both scion and rootstock that has the added benefit of holding the scion and rootstock graft through opposing tension of plant tissue.
HOW TO MAKE A WHIP TONGUE GRAFT
- Cut the scion at a point where it has a similar diameter as the root stock.
- Carve the end of the scion into an angle.
- The first interior layer beneath the bark is the xylem. The graft should pair the scion’s xylem with the rootstock’s xylem so water and nutrients can flow through one to the other.
- Add a vertical cut in the center of each angled portion that will allow the two parts to fit snugly.
- Slide the two angled portions together, forcing the cuts apart to insert the opposing wedges.
- Wrap tightly with gardener’s tape.
- Leave the tape on for 12 months or when the swelling graft seems to push the tape outward.
- Example of a mature graft.
- Andy inspects his collection of grafted trees.
Andy Balestracci is a gardener, homesteader, arborist, and seed saver, as well as owner of Diaspora Seeds, providing non-GMO, open pollinated seeds selected for their productivity, resilience, and deliciousness. www.diasporaseeds.com
5 Steps to Becoming a Better Mushroom Hunter
story & photos by Tom Shaver
Ah, mushroom season! When the sound of raindrops on rooftops brings visions of earthfruit exploding from the duff in firework-like profusion, growing before your eyes. Yeah! It’s raining! Let’s go OUTSIDE and catch the show!
Yet not every foray yields an overflowing basket, especially if you have a narrow repertoire of mushrooms that you know. After many years of mushroom hunting, I still have foraging sessions where my favorites are elusive, while abundant are a kind of mushroom that I don’t recognize.
As a self-taught mushroom hunter, I’ve become proficient at using identification keys so I can be absolutely confident serving the mushrooms I find at group dinners and selling at farmer’s markets and restaurants. I’d like to share here a few tips about getting to know a new mushroom, tips I share with people who attend workshops that I lead on my land or at events such as the Not So Simple Living Fair, as well as wine and mushroom pairings.
1) LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The first thing to consider is finding a dependable place to forage. I am lucky to live on a 200-acre property that has both redwood forest and oak woodland. When conditions are right, I can walk out my door and be gathering mushrooms almost immediately, returning in an hour or two with a full basket of mushrooms (10 to 15 pounds).
I know most people don’t have 200 acres of wild land outside their door, yet don’t let that discourage you. I’ve met experienced urban foragers who have a wide array of secret locations and end up with more harvest volume per year than I do. I was building houses in Santa Cruz when I began learning about mushrooms. I would leave a half hour early from work so that I could stop by a park on the way home for some Oysters, and maybe have a Chanterelle patch staked out that I could check at lunch.
My advice is to seek places that you can go back to regularly and for years into the future. Get to know the mushrooms that occur in that location. I have some particularly mushrogenic spots where, in an area of 100 feet diameter, a series of over 10 edible varieties will appear one after the other, with some overlapping, in what I call The March of the Season.
Because I am able to get out in the woods frequently, I have a good sense of what will be coming next as the season’s march progresses. I have indicator spots near home that I start checking because they tend to have the earliest bloom. I know there are plenty of people who only go out a few times a year to random places and come home with lots to eat, but a strong feeling for when it is time to check an area for a particular mushroom comes from years of experience.
2) NARROW YOUR SEARCH
For people who want to become familar with an area’s mushrooms, I recommend they begin with the biggest and most abundant ones they find. I took David Aurora’s pocket mushroom book, All that the Rain Promises, on my earliest forays. It has great pictures and nice bulleted lists of the distinguishing characteristics to look for in each mushroom. I still run through this collection of distinguishing features in my head when I come across many of the mushrooms I know. This book also contains alerts when the mushroom you think you’ve found could be its poisonous look-alike.
It might sound obvious, but it is critical to get to know any deadly or hazardous mushrooms in your area. I’ve made a point to know the Death Cap and Destroying Angel really well so I can recognize and avoid them easily.
3) A YEAR IN THE LIFE
I encourage people to study a mushroom for an entire season—at least, before eating it—even if you are totally sure you’ve identified it correctly. This was my process for getting to know Midnight Blue Entolomas, a dark grey, somewhat morbid-looking mushroom that I kept finding. It was helpful to see it go through its entire life cycle—from button stage, to vibrant maturity, to mush—so I could be familiar with its many faces. I went through the identification key in Mushrooms Demystified by David Aurora, starting with the spore print. Now Midnight Blue Entoloma are a staple at our dinner table when they are abundant. They are easy to clean and then store for a few days fresh or dry quickly. Either way you’ll enjoy their uniquely earthy flavor.
4) HABITAT
When we come across a patch during a group foray, I encourage people to carefully take a seat nearby and do a brief meditation to activate all five senses. Next, feel around in the duff, look at the trees, take note of the slope, and be aware of any other sensation you experience in that particular location. Take a look at the mushroom patch from above, below and each side. I find that when I have imprinted the feeling of a particular mushroom’s habitat, my senses will alert me when I come across the same conditions in an unfamiliar area, and I refine my search strategy accordingly.
I tend to cover promising areas by doing switchbacks up and down across a slope so I can scan the whole area from both above and below. Following this search pattern several times during a mushroom’s bloom period gives me a sense of the subsurface web that’s producing the fruit. Recognizing and imprinting the various micro habitats where a specific mushroom occurs is a big part of getting to know it.
5) EAT IT!
Once you’ve absolutely 100% determined that a mushroom is edible, the greatly anticipated day of first consumption is at hand. Some species you’ll want to prepare sooner rather than later. Sorting through a basket that looked pristine when I picked it but turned bug-ridden and soggy two days later helped me learn about the different shelf lives of each mushroom.
Once you’ve picked, processed and eaten hundreds of them, the angst of the first taste will be a faded memory. But when you are first tasting a mushroom you’ve picked on your own, you’ll want to just eat a little bit. Eat a bit more the next time you bring it home, then next time you might offer it to others with a warning that it is a mushroom that could be new for them. Even mushrooms that have no warning of toxic effects can produce nausea in people with sensitive digestive systems.
For some mushrooms, to know them is to smell them as they are cooking. This is particularly true for the seafoody aroma of Shrimp Russulas. For uniqueness of taste, the Matsutake is a popular choice here in Mendocino.
Recalling the adage, “We are what we eat,” brings an indelible deepness of relationship with a new mushroom. I love the slack-jawed faces and ecstatic moans when people take the first taste of a previously unknown mushroom they’ve found, identified, and prepared. From the forest floor to the frying pan, mushroom gathering is a pursuit for the patient and cautious, with wildly delicious benefits.
To arrange for a mushroom foraging session with Tom Shaver at Emerald Earth Sanctuary or on your land, please email sparkyshroom@gmail.com. For more about Tom Shaver and his approach to mushrooms, more pictures and videos of mushroom foraging, go to sparkyshroom.com.
Grow Your Own Tea Garden
by Sara Larkin / illustrations by Cozette Ellis
As a child growing up, my family home was filled with the sound of the whistling kettle and my mother calling for someone to “Pour me some tea.” Tea has been a part of human activity since early times and has evolved with human culture. There are many excellent companies providing store bought teas, but it can also be quite rewarding, relaxing and resourceful to grow your own.
There are many uses for tea – social, medicinal, for hydration or relaxation – and there are millions of people worldwide who have a regular, even daily, relationship with tea. Here are some common and easy to grow herbs that are well suited for our region and would be a great start to a tea garden.
Anise hyssop(Agastache foeniculum) tea has a slightly minty taste with hints of licorice. A great addition to any garden, this plant has lovely purple or blue flower spikes and is very attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The leaves and flowers are useable, dried or fresh, for making tea. Anise hyssop tea can provide a mild relaxing effect and can help to calm a nagging cough.*
Chamomile(Chamaemelum nobile) is a common tea herb that is often used as a sleepy time brew. Chamomile is easy to grow and produces an abundance of small, white, daisy-like flowers which are loved by pollinators. The flowers are the part of the plant used for tea making, and the more you pick, the more she produces! The taste is soft and mildly sweet with an instant calming effect – sigh. Chamomile is a mild sedative, a great sleep aid, is helpful for digestion and is safe enough to give to children.*
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) Melissa means “honeybee” in Greek, and this plant is a bee favorite. A bright green knee high beauty, Lemon balm will happily inhabit even the least appealing of yards. She prefers full sun, but can thrive in partial shade. The leaves have a strong lemony smell and can be used, dried or fresh, for tea and other culinary delights. Lemon balm is considered to be calming for the nervous system, mood elevating, and can be helpful for symptoms of the common cold.* Try blending with mint, rose or tulsi.
Lemon verbena(Aloysia triphylla) is a handsome upright shrub and is a lovely addition to any tea garden. The leaves have a pleasing aroma, the tiny flowers are appreciated by bees, and it provides an abundance of leaves which can be picked, dried, and stored for several months. As an herbal tea, she has a sweet lemony flavor that combines well with mint and chamomile. This plant is thought to have calming effects and can aid digestion.* Makes a great iced summer sun tea or can be used hot to warm up a grey winter afternoon.
Mint(Mentha) is a classic tea herb. Mints are vigorous growers, so be careful about where you choose to plant these beauties. There are many varieties available—peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, strawberry mint and more—and all have a distinctive taste. All mints are cooling to the body and are helpful for digestion and the stomach.* Use the fresh or dried leaves of the mint plant to make a fresh, invigorating brew.
Rose (Rosa) is a common plant to find in many gardens, but rose is also a great plant to include in tea. The classic scent of rose is infused in the tea cup relaxing the mind and body and transporting you to the magical beauty of a summer garden in full bloom. Flowers that have passed their prime are perfect for using fresh or for drying and storing for later use. You can also consider planting Rosa rugosa, for the abundance of hips that follow the flowers. The hips are a great source of vitamin C.
So next time you sit down to a hot, or iced, cup of herbal tea, consider the herbs that contribute to the myriad flavors and envision the beauty of planting your own.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Contact your doctor or herbalist for more information on the healing properties of these plants.
Spring DIY: Catching a Swarm
by Torrey Douglass
You know the feeling. The pantry is full of stored food, the morning sun warms your porch, and everyone in the household, from workers to drones, are buzzing happily along. But at some point—maybe after your thirty-thousandth child—things start to feel a little tight. You want some room to spread your wings. So you embark on the bee equivalent of calling up your real estate agent: It’s time to swarm.
If you’ve ever had a hankering to try your hand at beekeeping, or if you already have bees but want to know what to do when half of your hive decides to take for the hills, catching a swarm is not as hard as you might think. Anderson Valley homesteaders, Darius Richmond and Julie Liebenbaum, have caught a few over the years. According to them, the key, like in so many things, is preparation.
As owners of The Boonville General Store it makes sense that Julie and Darius take their food seriously. They are the type of homesteaders who will tackle anything from grafting to butchering, winemaking to beekeeping. I sat down with the two of them on a rainy afternoon for a cup of honey-sweetened tea and a conversation about how a beekeeper or wanna-be-beekeeper can catch a swarm.
Here’s what I learned: Experts believe bees swarm when the hive gets too crowded. Typically swarming occurs in the spring, which gives the bees time to build up food stores in their new home before winter. The queen bee takes a break from her opulent regimen of eating royal jelly and laying eggs in order to lose enough weight to be able to fly, at which point she leaves the hive and lands on a nearby branch. Several thousand of her protective workers quickly surround her to keep her safe, forming a buzzing cluster of bees.
This is the swarm, and it can contain up to twenty or thirty thousand bees. They will remain gathered on their branch while scouts explore the area for new digs. If left to their own devices, the scout bees will return, communicate the housing options through their little bee dances, and by some bee magic (Body language? Pheromones? Telepathy? No one really knows.) agree on and fly off to the best spot. “It can happen really fast,” says Julie. “We’re talking minutes, not hours.” Hence the importance of being prepared beforeyou notice the swarm.
To be prepared, have on hand a “hospitable box,” says Darius. You can get a new bee box from your apiary supply source, or use an old one. It should be clean, with no mold, and a little bit of old wax from previous bees (you can add the old wax to a new box if that’s what you’re using). Situate the box on a raised platform to discourage ants, in a spot where it’s warmed by the morning sun, and provide a wind break behind it—a sheet of corrugated metal on two T-posts is an easy solution if you don’t have a tree line or other natural wind break. Most importantly, make sure there’s plenty of access to bloom and forage, and clean water as well. Hungry bees don’t stick around. Lastly, you’ll need the box frames in which the bees will store their honeycomb and honey.
When you notice the swarm, slide most of the frames into the box, leaving a gap of a few inches in the middle. Place the box under the branch where the swarm is gathered. While swarming bees are fairly docile, you might want to wear a bee suit to protect yourself. Give the branch a single, forceful knock so the main clump of bees drops into the box—remember, they are surrounding the queen, and getting the queen is essential. The goal is to have 60-70% of the bees land inside the box with that first strike.
Next, carefully slide the missing frames into the box, leaving just enough “bee space” between them so bees can move around. Wait about a half hour so as many of the other bees as possible can join the captured group—the greater the number of bees, the more likely the hive will survive. Then add the cover and tape over the entrance, and move the box back to its platform. Remove the tape from the entrance, though Darius recommends reducing it to 2” down from the usual 10” for a day or two to discourage the bees from resuming the swarming process.
Now cross your fingers and hope the bees take to their new home. If you’ve created the right conditions, they should settle in and start getting back to their bee-siness. “I’m a low intervention bee keeper,” says Darius, who generally lets the bees manage themselves. “I do it for the honey, the pollination benefits to my garden, and the joy of learning. It’s the kind of subject that can take a lifetime to master.” If it’s a pursuit you (and your garden, and your tea) might enjoy, catching your own swarm could be an easy way to start.
Main photo by Andy Balestracci; swarm photos by Julie Liebenbaum and Darius Richmond; honey photo by Torrey Douglass
DIY: Olives
by Ree Slocum
Lifelong Homesteaders Jim Denton and Rhea Green on this particularly unpredictable fruit
It was a blistering hot day when I visited my homesteading friends, Rhea Green and Jim Denton, on their gorgeous, Mediterranean-like property outside of Ukiah to talk about olives. Inveterate gardeners, Jim and Rhea have been growing their own food for almost forty years. They added nine varieties of olive trees to the mix in 2005. Homesteading takes the long view so their future plan is to transport the olives to a press to make their own oil. For now, because the trees are still young and don’t produce enough fruit, the couple hand harvest the olives, brine them, and use a variety of recipes to find ones that suit their tastes. They use these olives daily to garnish their meals and as one of the homegrown gifts in their yearly Winter Solstice Basket for family and friends.
Taking refuge in the shade of their olive trees, Jim and Rhea talked to me about growing and harvesting the fruit. The weather is so changeable from year to year, that they’ve found the ripening of their olives can vary greatly from November to an unusual February. According to Rhea, “Let’s say it’s November 15th and the Luca olives on your tree aren’t uniformly ripe. You’re going to have some green, some reddish, some purple, some black. It’s time to harvest and you harvest all of them.” One year, being curious experimenters, they wanted to know what each color of olive on a tree tasted like so they grouped the colors and separately brined them. They found blacker olives definitely brined (debittered) more quickly but were mushier. Jim laughed about the totally black ones they thought would be their favorite but turned out too mushy and ended up in the compost pile. It seems the greener ones are everyone’s favorite. Now, because they enjoy the different flavors, they keep it simple by packing the jars with all the olives in their varied ripeness from the same tree.
Jim and Rhea’s Basic Brining Recipe (The science used in the brining process is a taste testing affair)
PREPARATION
Have quart jars ready with plastic lids and a disc of hard plastic (which can be cut from plastic food containers) to keep the olives submerged during brining. This is important since there will be a mold formed during processing that shouldn’t sit on the olives and will be rinsed off during the processing. Do not use metal lids nor discs since the salt in the brine will corrode the metal.
WEEK 1
rinse newly harvested olives
pack in clean and sterilized half gallon jars
add 8 oz. of salt per gallon of cool water, mix well
add mixture to olives in jars
cover the olives with a disc of hard plastic to keep them submerged during brining
protect with a “loose on” plastic lid (set the lid on the rim of the jar without tightening)
WEEK 2
• rinse olives thoroughly
• add 16 oz of salt per gallon of water, mix well
• add mixture to olives in jars
• cover the olives with the disc of hard plastic
• protect with the “loose on” plastic lid • let sit for 2 weeks
WEEK 4
• rinse olives thoroughly
• add 16 oz of salt per gallon of water, mix well
• add mixture to olives in jars
• cover the olives with the disc of hard plastic
• protect with a tight plastic lid • let sit for 4 weeks
WEEK 8 AND ON
• rinse olives thoroughly
• add 16 oz of salt per gallon of water, mix well
• add mixture to olives in jars
• cover the olives with the disc of hard plastic
• protect with a tight plastic lid
Change the brine every month until
you determine they’re no longer bitter. Depending upon the size of the olive and its ripeness, this can take from six to almost eleven months.
When debittered to your taste, drain the brine, rinse with fresh water changing the water every day or a few times a day until the saltiness is to your liking.
When seasoned to your preference, you can keep them in their brine and store them that way indefinitely (although Jim and Rhea usually use them within two years).
DIY Chicken
Two families jump into home chicken processing by Holly Madrigal
After a third conversation between childhood friends, Eryn and Spring, it was agreed. They would do this together: two families including four adults and three kids would raise and harvest thirty chickens. Their spouses, Jeff and Sam, were recruited to help with the project. Could slaughtering their own chickens make better food for their families? This article shares their experience.
Eryn: “It all started for me when I moved from Los Angeles back to the land I was born on in Mendocino County. I went from eight hundred square feet to eight acres. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I yearned for a deeper connection to my food. What started as caring for a thirty-year-old orchard and planting a garden soon grew to building a chicken coop and raising chickens for eggs. The difference in the eggs was profound. I was happy eating these eggs and caring for the chickens was a family event.
“If homegrown eggs were this good, what about meat? I couldn’t shake the idea that I would feel better and be happier with my food if I knew how it was cared for, what it ate, and how it lived. Two years, four rounds of thirty chickens, and a hundred and twenty chicken dinners later, I can’t imagine it any other way. I never buy chicken at the store anymore.
“It has been a surprise how each of the four adults found their role in the process. Each one of us dealt with the life to death trajectory differently.
“I myself found that I was so committed to the process and idea that the death of a single bird didn’t faze me much. I was grateful for the life of each bird and the nutrition it brought to my family.”
Jeff: “I had not intended to be the chicken murderer of our group. When we first started, the first couple of tries at dispatching the bird was not swift. That was intolerable for me. I stepped into the slaughter role because I knew I could be decisive, calming, and quick. I was soothing to the birds and respectful but it still gave me a crisis of conscience. On processing day I ended up feeling down all day. The process brought heaviness. As a yoga instructor I have studied the teaching of many yogi masters, most who are vegetarian. There is a tenet of Ahisma, meaning non-violence, and though I practice this teaching I also eat meat. I was still taking the life of another for my own.
“The processing was pretty interesting, we learned as we went along. I wanted every-
thing hyper-clean because my family would be eating these chickens. So we researched the best way to do go about it. We scalded the birds in 140-180 degree water, then plucked the feathers. Borrowing a plucker was key. Before, we were pulling the feathers by hand. The plucking machine whipped the feathers off in a matter of minutes. We all got pretty good at it.
“Caring for the chickens was a lot of work. When Eryn was pregnant with our daughter, Cora, we moved the chicken rearing to Sam and Spring’s house. That was great because feeding, tending, and protecting the birds became a round the clock job.
“Despite the conflicts I had with the process, the chicken that was produced was wonderful. Ideally, someone else would raise chickens in a responsible way and we could support them. Juggling teaching at the college and Our Yoga Studio with being parents does not leave a lot of time for chicken raising.”
Spring: “I grew up raising meat birds. I didn’t find much about the process enjoyable, except the fact that our family did this work together.
“So when Eryn and I started talking about chickens, it seemed like one of those things I’d been meaning to do. We were lucky that we kept it simple. This made it possible to get going and not be bogged down in all the little details we didn’t know about yet. Also fortunate was that we did it together. This made the fun-to-work ratio more appealing, which is important for busy families.
“Most things about the process were always the same for me: I found the birds gross. I was somewhat grumpy if Eryn wasn’t around on slaughter day with her often inappropriate humor. And the meat was so far superior to any other I could buy.
“The days we processed the birds I would act as the rover. I boiled pots of water, readied the ice chests, plucked feathers, gutted birds, fixed kid food, and cleaned everything up at the end. I also specialized in cleaning the feet, which I prize almost above the meat, for the gelatin and nutrients they offer when I boiled them with the bones to make stock. You don’t get those in the bag with your chicken at the store.
“All along the way I have been struck by the simplicity and importance of this small project our families did together. Working together, a little harder than we otherwise would, for our food, was radical. To care for the birds and to prepare them for eating we had to pay attention, work diligently, and face directly the way that life is fed by death.”
Sam: “What I most appreciated about our project was living with the birds. I liked the rhythm they brought to my life. Seeing them grow over time, I was fascinated by the moment when I saw that it was time to stop feeding them and allow them to feed me.
“Even on slaughter day I admired their beauty and marveled at their life force. While we processed the birds I was always on duty to clean the birds. I liked the physical nature of this work--using a knife to care-fully clean the waste from the food.
“I also built much of the infrastructure for processing. A chicken tractor for housing the birds and cones for hanging needed to be constructed. The important part to me was living with the birds and providing nutritious food for our families.”
Kids: Jeff and Eryn’s son, Lars, as well as Sam and Spring’s daughter, Sylvana, and son, Salvio, were around on slaughter day but did not participate. Lars helped corral the chickens but mostly the kids played and entertained themselves in the house.
“I liked the part right after we brought the chicks home and we got to care for them. I liked the night when I couldn’t sleep and I got to help Papa put the chicks to bed.” (Salvio, age 3)
“I like some of the food you cook from our chickens, but I don’t like killing them, I like to have them alive.” (Sylvana, age 6)
The families took a break from chicken raising when Jeff and Eryn welcomed their new daughter, Cora. Both families still have a few chickens for egg laying purposes only. When photographing for this article Eryn stressed that the pictures are of “laying birds, not meat birds.” She has earned her chicken knowledge chops. After interviewing for this piece the group has begun planning to restart the chicken project. They all learned a great deal through trial and error. Sam thinks slaughtering at night might be worth a try. It would be cooler, no flies, and the chickens are calmer that time of day. To a person, they all agree that their home raised chickens were, by far, the most delicious chicken they have ever eaten.