Trying New Things and Taking Our Time
As our communities open up, they’ve experienced a flood of events, celebrations, weddings, and long-postponed travel. As much as I relish this new found freedom, the busy cafés and bustling sidewalks, it also seems necessary to venture out of our snail shells slowly, protecting our soft centers. Rules of how to function publicly have changed repeatedly in the last 18 months, a trend that will continue for a while yet as health risks spike and recede, and recommendations and restrictions follow suit. It seems like we continually need to re-learn how to interact. It is almost as if, after a long hibernation, we went out and sat in the sun, soaking up all those rays, only noticing that once we returned inside that our skin was tender and pink. Let’s all remember our sunscreen and venture out carefully.
Nature metaphors aside, it’s clear that, as individuals, we need to stay flexible. In this issue, we explore businesses which have turned to adaptation as a survival strategy. Trillium Café has remained busy in the midst of pandemic challenges by embracing their stunning garden dining space, providing excellent food while safely serving more diners than ever. Michael Foley and Sara Grusky are discovering what it means to be local legacy farmers in the midst of a drought. How do they continue their dream of producing exceptional vegetables and goods when the lifeblood of any agricultural venture is restricted? What does farming in the age of climate change look like? Focusing on that most precious resource—water—we look to local hydrologist, Anna Birkas, to explore greywater and other water conservation measures you can use on your property.
The pandemic has shown us what is truly valuable. Even as we yearn to leave that experience behind us, it has been interesting to see what has been transformed. The shut-down unveiled what was working—and what was not. It revealed and condensed the most precious parts of our lives. I have multiple friends who, as a result, are considering changing careers, moving to new locales, or re-defining relationships. Many of these changes are a direct result of the pandemic-inspired process of focusing on what is really important—loved ones, livelihood, shelter, and water. Little by little, we are re-learning how we do this living life stuff, venturing out of our shells and exploring what truly works for us.
Fall, typically a time of abundance, provides a perfect opportunity to put into practice attitudes and actions that reflect our newly clarified values. There is a whole lot of vulnerability in trying new things, revising how we interact. But if we’ve learned anything in the past year and a half, we know that we will figure this out as we go, even if it is at a snail’s pace.
Holly Madrigal, Publisher
Thank you, Cozette!
This issue we’ve been lucky to have help from an intern. The talented and capable Cozette Ellis curated and designed the art page; researched, wrote, and designed the center spread; and curated and wrote the Ripe Now column. Cozette is a senior at UC Davis studying design. She grew up in Boonville and has a passion for community-centric design and illustration. Cozette is director for the 2022 Whole Earth Festival, a community celebration of art, music, and dance, that occurs every Mother’s Day weekend in Davis, California.
Fall’s Gems
Versatile & Aromatic Quince
by Cozette Ellis
The Boonville Hotel’s Chef, Perry Hoffman, gets really excited about seasonal foods. I mean, really excited. So when I asked about what he looks forward to when fall comes, all he could talk about was quince, quince, quince!
The most sought-after culinary quince is a varietal known as Pineapple Quince, which Perry describes as “intoxicatingly aromatic” and “as important as asparagus is to spring.” A unique fruit, quince is almost indebible raw—it’s exceptionally astringent due to an abundance of tannins while its pectins make it jaw-breakingly hard. Once it’s cooked, however, its sweet and somewhat tropical flavors emerge. It also lasts for an incredibly long time after it is harvested, much longer than its autumn sisters, apples and pears.
You can poach, steam, or roast quince, put it in chutney (which is a staple at the Apple Farm), make membrillo (spanish quince paste), quince lemonade, shrub, and even ratafia (quince-infused vodka). Or, take a chance and make the recipe that Perry has created especially for this article. I can assure you it will be delectable.
Autumn Quince and Gorgonzola Salad
Ingredients
1-¾ c water
1-½ c sugar
15 black peppercorns
4 strips of orange zest
2 bay leaves
Juice of half lemon
¾ c red wine
2 medium pineapple quince
1 tsp grainy mustard
2 tsp cider vinegar
4 T olive oil, plus extra to finish
Salt and black pepper
2-½ c mixed seasonal greens (such as arugula, chicory, mustard)
4-5 oz Gorgonzola (Grazin' Girl gorgonzola from Valley Ford or Pennyroyal Boonters blue are great)
½ cup shelled unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted, some whole and some roughly chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 275° F.
Take a medium-sized heavy pan that can go in the oven—make sure it has a tight fitting lid. Place the water, sugar, peppercorns, orange zest, bay leaves, lemon juice, and red wine into the pan. Bring to a light simmer, removing from the heat as soon as the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel the quince, retaining the skin. Cut and core the fruit vertically into quarters with a heavy knife, keeping the cores as well. Cut each quarter into two segments.
Place the quince segments, skins, and cores into the sugar syrup. Cover the pan and place in the pre-heated oven for about two hours. After this time, the quince should be completely tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, uncovered.
Whisk together until smooth the mustard, vinegar, oil, four tablespoons of the quince cooking liquid, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of black pepper.
Place some salad leaves on four serving plates. Arrange four quince segments per portions and some hand-broken pieces of Gorgonzola on the leaves. Build the salad up by placing a few more salad leaves on top.
Spoon the dressing over and scatter the pistachios on top. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil. Alternatively, arrange in a large central mixing bowl and bring to the table.
Yields four servings.
The Boonville Hotel
14050 Hwy 128, Boonville
(707) 895-2210 | BoonvilleHotel.com
Trillium
With a Side Garden Turned Shangri-La, This Quietly Elegant Bistro Serves Up Some of Mendocino’s Best Eating
by Anna Levy
Trillium Café—a local favorite housed in a small, white building on Kasten Street—has always had a loyal following. But it seems that lately the Mendocino restaurant’s fan base has only grown. With delicious food, a well-crafted wine list, and an emphasis on California sourcing, this isn’t a surprise.
Still, there’s something special about Trillium. In pre-pandemic times, it was a restaurant chosen for special occasions, or to simply make an everyday meal feel like a celebration. And with the ways it has navigated the changing parameters of life with Covid-19, perhaps people have flocked to it in droves because of the way the restaurant managed to make this time in life feel a little less scary. With picnic basket offerings and a reinvented garden space, Trillium was able to transform into a restaurant that could still make dining out not just possible, but delightful.
Regardless of how the world has changed, for Sandra and Saul McElroy, Trillium has become the kind of place they hoped it would be when they opened in 2014. “It’s exactly how we envisioned it,” Sandra says. “Every time someone comes, they leave having eaten something really healthy and that has a lot of flavor, and we’ve done the best we can on it. We don’t have anything that’s not high-quality.”
To ensure that all guests experience this at the restaurant, Sandra highlights the importance of using the best ingredients possible. Describing the cuisine as “farm-to-table, lots of fish, and seasonal,” she credits excellent ingredients as one of the reasons why diners return time and again. “About 90% of our menu is organic,” she says, and notes that for the wine list, “everything is from Northern California except for one sparkling wine from France.”
Sandra also credits the team running the restaurant for making it a place where tables are fully reserved days in advance. As the head chef, Robert Tamayo designs the menu, and Michelle Fagerroos is the head pastry chef. “I’m lucky to have them,” Sandra comments, before outlining some of the consistent best sellers: an onion tart, any type of fish, gnocchi, risotto that can be made both vegan and gluten-free, each of the desserts. “I feel really good about what we serve.”
The remaining staff, including both back-of-house and front-of-house workers, are also key to Trillium’s success, particularly in recent months. “It’s been a whirlwind of an experience,” Sandra explains. At first, they didn’t know if they would be able to financially weather the uncertain future. At this point, though, she says, “We’ve never been so busy.”
She continues, “One of the reasons we were able to re-open last summer is because we had so many high school kids who wanted to work.” In a time when schools were not yet open for in-person learning, Sandra believes that work became a place of connection. That has impacted their staff’s profile on an ongoing basis. “Half of our staff now are high schoolers.”
In some ways, that is a reality that personally resonates with Sandra, who grew up locally and has worked in many of the most well known restaurants here, taking inspiration from those experiences. “My first job was working at The Moosse Café,” she says, naming the restaurant that formerly occupied the space she now owns. She moved on and eventually added experience to her resume at the Little River Inn, Albion River Inn, and Café Beaujolais. For his part, Saul had a history at former local restaurant 955 before they opened Trillium.
All of that helped shape the idea of what they wanted in their own restaurant. Sandra says Trillium was intended to be “casual fine dining” from the beginning. Even more important, Sandra and Saul’s wealth of experience certainly played a role in Trillium’s ability to adapt to a changing landscape because of Covid-19. “We used to sit 40 inside and 15 on the deck,” Sandra says, as she discusses the challenges that emerged when restaurants had to close. “We were wondering if we’d even be able to re-open, so I was sitting in the restaurant by myself and thinking we needed to do something else.”
Part of the path forward involved taking diners out of the restaurant and into the garden, where they had previously strolled while waiting for their table, or lingered after their meals were done. “We took places in the garden where we could spread tables out,” Sandra says, noting that they worked to nestle diners in among the plants, to ensure both privacy and social distancing. The result was a flip of the restaurant, eventually giving Trillium the ability to seat just about 40 outside. It was something more, though, as well. Under the tall white tent, the tables offered a particular charm that appealed to guests—small nooks surrounded by citrus trees, alstroemeria, nasturtium, and more.
Sandra and Saul also looked for ways to cater to customers who wanted to support the restaurant but didn’t feel comfortable eating in public. Inspiration arrived in the form of a picnic box, which allowed diners to order off the menu and then carry their meal somewhere in town where they felt safe eating. Conscious of the amount of waste such a project could generate, Sandra and Saul opted to use standard dinnerware, with the expectation that guests would return the boxes and dirty dishes when finished. “We’d use wine glasses, a wine opener,” Sandra says, so that people could “take it to the beach or whatever and have the picnic.”
In some ways, the experience has given diners the chance to experience the best of this area. “The climate in Mendocino is great,” Sandra says, noting that it would have been impossible to shift gears into outdoor dining in a place with less hospitable weather. Beyond that, though, “I love being on the ocean. I love the fact that we’re in a small place where we have little farms that bring us the things they grow for us to use on our menu.”
This past year has resulted in some of the busiest times the restaurant has seen. “It always feels like a holiday weekend these days,” Sandra explains. It’s easy to see why. The tables are seamlessly blended into the greenery, surrounded by plants and somehow private, even as they make it possible to watch passers-by peeking over their shoulders to see inside the garden’s tent. The meals are sublime—for lunch, perhaps an Aperol spritz or apricot-raspberry shrub to start; a grilled cheese sandwich made with rich fontina, or the onion tart, marked by creamy goat cheese and a crumbly crust; and an affogato or plum rose Victoria sponge cake to finish. The service throughout is attentive and smooth.
On a recent afternoon, the sun was bright overhead, and there was a line in front of the restaurant. No one seemed to mind the wait, and maybe that’s because word has gotten out. Though the formula for success is simple, it is expertly executed. After more than seven years since it opened, Trillium still manages, with ease, to make a simple meal feel like a celebration.
Trillium Café
10390 Kasten St, Mendocino
(707) 937-3200 | TrilliumMendocino.com
Indoor and outdoor tented seating
Fri - Tues, 11:30am - 2:30pm & 5pm - 8:30pm
Closed Wed & Thu
Food photos courtesy of Trillium Café
Exterior photos by Holly Madrigal
Survive & Thrive
How the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council Helps Us Coexist with Wildfire
As the relentless and catastrophic wildfire seasons of the last several years have shown, fire suppression is not a sufficient long-term approach to living with wildfire. Over time, California learned to adapt building codes to better survive the inevitability of earthquakes. Similarly, we need to adapt how and where we build, how we maintain our properties, and even how we behave, to recognize that Mendocino County’s inhabitants have chosen to live in an environment where wildfire is prevalent.
The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) exists to do help us do just that. Its mission: “to inform, empower, and mobilize county residents to survive and thrive in a wildfire-prone environment.” Incorporated in 2004, the group was an outgrowth of a community mobilization to preserve the firefighting airplane service stationed at the Ukiah Airport. Since then, it has gone through a number of active and inactive periods. But as the threat of wildfire to our communities continues to escalate, an engaged, robust MCFSC is more necessary than ever.
The latest resurgence began in 2018, assisted by the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD). The MCRCD used both its staff and reputation to win grants on behalf of the MCFSC. By the end of 2019, the organization was active enough to require its own staff and executive director. As a result, Scott Cratty assumed MCFSC leadership on January 1, 2020.
Scott came to the MCFSC after working in the local food movement. Among other things, he co-founded the Good Farm Fund, served as General Manager of the Mendocino County Farmers Market Association, managed the Ukiah Farmers Market, and owned and operated the Westside Renaissance Market neighborhood grocery in Ukiah (covered in Word of Mouth, Spring 2017). While jumping from local food into fire may seem like a big shift, there is a common thread: preserving farmland, protecting access to fresh healthy food, and keeping our neighborhoods safe. These priorities share a lot of common ground, opening up opportunities for us to build a robust, safe, and healthy community.
A prescribed burn outside Anderson Valley off of Hwy 253—Spring 2021
As a property owner, there is a lot you can do to be ready to survive and thrive in an area prone to wildfire, and the internet is an excellent source for information. A great first step is to visit CAL FIRE’s Ready, Set, Go program online. Follow the guidance to get you and your family prepared (readyforwildfire.org).
Next, focus on Home Hardening, including creating defensible space (as required by state law) around your home. The first 5 feet around your home, including exterior decks, should be entirely free of combustibles. The 5-30 feet zone should be “lean and green,” with healthy vegetation clustered in islands and open space between them to prevent continuity that could carry fire closer to your home. Between 30 and 100 feet, fuel should be reduced, with brush cut back and removed, tree limbs pruned up to 10 feet, vegetation again clustered into islands, and grass no higher than 4 inches. Instructions and more detail are available in the MCFSC video series available on our site (firesafemendocino.org/homehardening).
It’s important to understand that most homes are not lost during a wildfire due to a wall of flame passing through. Instead, they fall victim to embers that drift in, potentially from a fire that is as much as a mile away. Hardening your home includes steps to protect your home from these dangerous embers, like sealing vents, keeping roofs and gutters empty of dried vegetation, and clearing vegetation around large windows. Windows are more vulnerable to heat than your siding, so if nearby vegetation or other flammable matter is near them, they could shatter and allow embers to enter and ignite your home.
Another fire safe strategy: Help create a resilient and fire safe neighborhood. Unless you have your own handy helicopter and pad or your own personal fire break lane to the freeway, a safe egress for you to escape and first responders to gain access will depend on how well your neighbors have maintained their portions of the access route. Keep in mind that one of the most high-risk situations for your home is when one of your neighbors’ homes catches fire, so even though you can accomplish a lot by preparing your individual property for wildfire, working with your neighbors can significantly increase your fire safety.
An excellent place to start: Organize a Neighborhood Fire Safe Council (NFSC). The MCFSC currently has about 40 affiliated NFSCs, and we hope that your neighborhood will become the 41st. For information on how to begin a NFSC in your area, visit the “Prepare Your Neighborhood” page on our website. You can find out if a NFSC exists near you, and, if not, how to start your own.
In the last 18 months, the MCFSC has increased the scope and scale of its operations tremendously—so much so that it was recently named a state legislature Nonprofit of the Year. Among other things, MCFSC is working to assess and prioritize needs, obtain and manage grants, bring resources to projects, encourage and assist neighborhood groups, provide practical guidance for property maintenance, and work with policy makers. In addition to landing roughly $500,000 of its own grant projects in the last year, MCFSC has taken on the management and implementation of other major grants in partnership with the County of Mendocino.
Among its major projects, MCFSC currently provides county-wide community chipper service (chipperday.com/ mendocino), a program to help income-qualified seniors and handicapped residents (firesafemendocino.org/defensible-space-assistance-program), and a grant project to help qualified county residents upgrade to more fire safe roofs (firesaferoof.com). For information about all of MCFSC’s current programs, go to firesafemendocino.org.
Regardless of how our ideologies might diverge in other respects, there is plenty of common ground to work with when it comes to creating a healthy and safe community. By working together to maintain defensible space, harden our homes, keep escape routes cleared, and stay prepared, we can coexist with wildfire and be a community that survives and thrives in spite of it.
Mendocino County Fire Safe Council
P.O. Box 263, Ukiah, CA 95482
(707) 462-3662 | firesafemendocino.org
Green Uprising Farm
A Small Family Farm Confronts Climate Change
story & photos by Ree Slocum
At a time when small family farms are disappearing, a five-acre farm outside of Willits has been thriving. But because of drought, fires, lowering water tables, and climate change in general, they are currently struggling to continue doing what they love—growing food and herbal medicine for their community.
In the 1990s, Sara Grusky and Michael Foley were Political Science professors in Washington, D.C. They met, appreciated one another’s politics and world view, fell in love, married, and had two children. Michael secured a tenured professorship in D.C., and Sara quit academia to join Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen Organization, working on water issues in Latin America and Africa, where the slogan “Water is Life” was inspired.
During the couple’s time in D.C., Allegra Foley, Michael’s daughter from a previous marriage, was living and working in San Francisco and becoming disillusioned about city life. So she decided to apprentice on a farm in Pescadero. Allegra smiled as she explained, “It was beautiful and everything I ever imagined. We spent our days planting things and making jam. There were trails, and the beach was right there. It was country living!” She attended the U.C. Farm Program that eventually led her, her father, and then Sara into quitting their city jobs and becoming farmers in California. When local family members found land for them to purchase in Little Lake Valley outside of Willits, Michael, Sara, and Allegra were ready.
The farm was an established homestead with water supplied from the bordering Davis Creek. The kitchen garden was surrounded by fruit trees, bushes, and grapes. There was an orchard and meadows. Since their purchase in 2007, the farm has grown with organically sprouted ideas that each person contributed from their diverse and companionable interests. This has resulted in more established vegetable gardens, an ever-expanding medicinal herb garden, additional fruit trees planted yearly, hoop houses and drying sheds, a goat herd, and a new photovoltaic system that powers 90% of the farm, designed and installed by resident Michael Hackleman.
There is much to do, and each person who lives at Green Uprising has responsibilities often based on a passion, one that fits their personality, or a need. Water supply is at the top of the list and is taken care of by Michael Foley and Michael Hackleman. Currently, the two Michaels have their hands full.
When asked how they feel about farming now that they’ve been at it for a while, Michael F. responded, “I still love doing it. I love having plants in the ground and figuring out how to grow them better. I like trouble-shooting and figuring out diseases, all that stuff. One of the reasons I got into farming is that I like putzing around with all the constant repair, rebuilding, devising systems, and keeping them running. I’m peculiar. I just like doing that,” he laughed. Sara added, “The amazing thing about Michael is that he bottom-lines everything. He’s the person everybody goes to if there’s a problem. And that’s from water issues to human relations.”
Sara has many and varied responsibilities. Through the years, she has managed the market garden with Michael and Allegra, planted fruit trees and vines, developed her medicinal herb garden, taken herbal classes, and herded up to seven milk goats with kids, preparing the milk for sale, delivering it, and loving many aspects of it even though it eventually felt like a ball-and-chain. Last year, the CDFA shut them down for selling raw goat milk, so Sara took the opportunity to further develop her passion for herbal medicine instead of goat herding. And she joined Michael in creating other exciting ideas for revenue. “Michael and I have been playing around for a while with the concept of ‘Food is Medicine and Medicine is Food.’ We’re thinking of having classes here,” she said.
The nature of Sara’s early water work with the Nader organization was helping disenfranchised people deal with drought, water privatization, and other related issues. Those issues are now a reality for her family and their farm. Sara disclosed, “Right now, there’s almost no water. We have no idea how long our farm crops will mature since we don’t know if there’ll be enough water or not. There’s not been a season in the last three years that we haven’t been impacted by climate change, whether it’s wildfire or drought.” Though the current water shortage is likely primarily due to climate change, they can’t help but wonder if the large, commercial cannabis grows around them are depleting the ground and surface water that feed the creek and water table.
“It’s a funny, weird, weird moment,” Sara reflects. “Here we are with climate change. We, like everyone else, just want to continue on doing the same things we’ve always done. Now we can’t, and we’re faced with some major decisions about how to move forward. We’ll probably have to let some of our gardens die back, and we have to rethink how we do things.”
Green Uprising, along with many other local farms, is learning to operate within these new climate parameters. Sara, Michael, and Allegra have navigated numerous changes in their lives, and it is something they do well. But truth be told, small farmers will need all our support to survive and thrive in the new normal, and we wish them all the best as they recreate what it means to farm with this new twist.
Green Uprising Farm
2301 E. Hill Rd, Willits CA 95490
(707) 216-5549 | Greenuprisingfresh.wordpress.com
Self-serve Farmstand 9am to dusk, except Thursday
Willits Farmers Market in Rexall Parking lot, Thu 3pm - 5pm
Ree Slocum is a fine art freelance photographer and writer who calls the edge of the wilds in Mendocino County “home.” She takes pleasure living with bird song, the breathing fog, and wildlife’s cast of characters when not on assignments. See her work at ReeSlocumPhotography.com.
Water Smarts for Home & Garden
Strategies to Help Reduce Water Consumption
by Torrey Douglass
With 15 distinct climate zones, California’s rainfall varies greatly from region to region. What hasn’t varied in recent years is the continued decline in said rainfall, plunging a state that already experiences widespread low precipitation into severe drought. Cities and towns are implementing mandatory limits on household water consumption, farmers in the north of the state are reducing planted acreage and selling water to even more desperate farmers in the south, and everyone is anxious about wildfire. It’s dry out there.
Unless you are considering picking up stakes and moving to lusher pastures, there’s never been a better time to examine what’s going on with water usage in your home and on your property. But before you can improve your water situation, you first have to understand it. “It’s not sexy, but the best way to reduce your water use is to first measure it,” Anna Birkas states matter-of-factly. A Mendocino native, ecologist, hydrologist, and licensed general building contractor, Birkas is all about helping folks save water where they can and then applying smart practices to the water they do use (and re-use and re-re-use).
Birkas suggests three different ways to gain insight into your home and garden’s water appetite. Step one, determine if you have any leaks. If you are part of a municipal water system, find the water meter that measures your home’s consumption—it’s often under a removable panel in the sidewalk out front. Check this meter before you go away for a day or two, ensuring that no water will flow while you are gone (be sure to turn off automatic watering and the like). If the meter has moved while you were gone, you have leaks.
For country-dwelling residents, check your tank regularly and record daily usage. Any hard-to-explain spikes in flow that don’t match known patterns of usage can indicate leaks in the system. Finding and fixing those escape points is an important first step to saving water.
The second step is to understand the capacity of every water spout on your property. Get a large bucket or other watertight container and clearly mark levels on its side for each half gallon. Place it under each outlet, turn on the water to full, and measure how much you’ve captured after one minute. If the water flows quickly, you can halve the time to thirty seconds and then double the water amount to learn your gallons-per-minute for that spout. Displaying this information on a family notice board or fridge, or even at the point of use, can help the people in your house keep in mind how much of this essential resource flows from each tap.This can hopefully lead to shorter showers and conscientious visits to the sink, interrupting the gush when sudsing up hands or brushing teeth instead of leaving it to swirl down the drain unused.
For the third step, regularly review and maintain your irrigation systems to make sure they are properly sized and leak-free. Do all emitters go to live plants? Plug up an emitter servicing a plant that’s been removed or died. Did a thirsty plant get replaced with one that needs less moisture? Switch out the old emitter for a smaller one. Is every emitter functioning as intended? A broken drip emitter can release 50x more water than it’s supposed to, a big hit to your water budget that can be addressed by replacing it.
Once a property’s existing water system has been optimized with the steps above, take a look at capturing the water that falls on your land, known as rainwater catchment, as well as applications for “gently used” water, known as greywater. Birkas emphasizes that rainwater catchment is only effective if you can store enough of it. A small scale system that fills a 50 gallon barrel would store the average amount of water used by one person in one day—not a great return on your effort. For comprehensive water security, a property needs about 40,000 gallons of storage, filled over the rainy season by directing the rain that falls on the roof into a series of tanks. Due to its scale and expense, this system is not viable for many landowners, in which case Birkas recommends a mid-sized 2,000 gallon system. A tank of that size can be filled, used, and refilled repeatedly throughout the rainy season, with the captured water applied to second tier uses like laundry and toilet flushing. (First tier uses, like cooking, drinking, and washing dishes, should still use municipal water or purified well water.)
Similar to rainwater catchment systems, greywater systems range from simple to complex. The easiest ones are unpressurized, relying on gravity to carry water from showers or a clothes washer to plants that beautify the property. Though the laundry-to-landscape approach is safe, effective, and easy to implement, not every municipality includes it in their codes. Fortunately, such systems are legal in Mendocino County, and they do not require a permit (though a permit is required for plumbing alterations). Guidance and requirements are available on the county’s website on a page called Mendocino County Water Agency Drought and Water Conservation Resources, which you can find in the Mendocino County Water Agency area, curiously stored in the Transportation section.
YouTube is another excellent source of information, with an abundance of DIY video tutorials explaining greywater projects for beginners. Look for videos from a Bay Area group called Greywater Action, formerly the Greywater Guerillas. In one called Greywater 101, co-founder Laura Allen demonstrates how she redirects water from her clothes washer to a border of lush raspberry plants that have grown taller than she is, all watered exclusively by her greywater system since they were put in the ground.
Because simple greywater systems are unpressurized, it’s important to put your plants where the water is, not vice versa. “You have to work with gravity,” says Birkas. “You have to think through the physics of flow.” It’s vital that the water remain underground, in pipes, with no exposure to air, ending in a mulch basin where it is deposited to nourish trees and other plants planted nearby. A more complex greywater system can result in even more savings, and incorporating it into a new home build is roughly the same cost as traditional plumbing. Adding it to existing homes can be more costly and sometimes is not possible.
To round out your water-wise measures, there are other easy, manual steps you can take to conserve water. Clean, unused water should never go down the drain. Keep a pitcher near the sink and a bucket by the shower to capture the cold water that comes out while you’re waiting for the hot to arrive, and use it to flush the toilet, water plants, or refill the dog’s water bowl. If you rinse soapy dishes in a separate container of clean water, that can also be used to flush toilets or water trees and ornamental plants.
If you want to go big with water conservation on your property, hiring a company like Village Ecosystems, begun by Anna Birkas, will bring in a team of experts to implement a variety of water-saving measures. They can create rain catchment and greywater systems, address post-fire erosion, look at stormwater and wastewater management, and ensure regulatory compliance. In addition to measures that conserve water inside your home, they can apply changes to the land to retain more of the water that falls on it. Planting native plants and building swales can slow down water as it flows over the soil, reducing runoff, preventing erosion, and allowing the moisture to sink into the earth and replenish groundwater.
And if you want to go really big with water conservation, advocate for a recycled water plant in your area, like the one implemented by the City of Ukiah in 2019. Since it launched, the water recycling program has saved roughly 1000 acre feet of water every year, offsetting 30% of the district’s use. The system collects sewage water, sends it through a sand filter, disinfects it with chlorine, and then distributes it for free to farms, vineyards, schools, and parks. While the resulting water is not potable, it’s appropriate for irrigation and meets standards determined by the State Water Resources Control Board.
Reducing demand on their existing water sources by 30% is impressive and a goal we can all aspire to. Through actions large and small, we can use less water and be smarter about the water we do use. With experts like Birkas to show us what’s possible, we’ll be better equipped to weather the dry days ahead of us.
If you are looking for professional help developing a greywater system or other ways to make your property water-smart, contact Anna Birkas at Village Ecosystems: (707) 391-1761 | VillageEcosystems.com
Catchment photo by SuSanA Secretariat, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Greywater photos courtesy of Greywater Action: GreywaterAction.org. Top graphic designed by Freepik - Freepik.com.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her husband, two children, and a constantly revolving population of pets and farm animals.
Venison Jerky
A Spicy, Smoky, Tangy Family Favorite
by Alan Thomas
During deer season, friends who prefer hunting to butchering will sometimes gift us a portion of venison in exchange for help processing the animal. Venison is a lean, vitamin- and mineral-rich meat that does well when used in recipes that typically call for beef. And with less calories than chicken breast, it can arguably be called a truly heart-healthy red meat. Deer jerky is a family favorite, and it disappears almost as fast as it is lifted off the dehydrator’s screens.
After cutting steaks from the legs and shoulders, I thinly slice the remaining meat for jerky. It’s the jerky that my wife, kids, and neighbors can’t get enough of, and the recipe, which is not written down, is different each time. As a result, you’ll find lots of alternatives in the recipe below to combine for that spicy, smoky, tangy, slightly sweet mix that is venison jerky.
Note: This doesn’t have to be deer—a good, lean piece of beef works great, too.
Venison Jerky
Preparation
I slice the meat approximately 1/8” thick and divide into containers with lids or large zip lock bags. This allows me to try a couple of different marinades each time.
The Marinade
I’ll basically check the fridge for whatever bottles of sauce might be suitable. I’m looking for heat, smoke, sweet, and something with vinegar. I treat this stage as a means to clean up the condiment shelves on the fridge door, using up those bottles with an inch of something good left in them that are taking up valuable fridge real estate. I’ll take a pint measuring jug and finely chop some garlic, ginger, and a jalapeño and throw it all in. I’ll then look at the bottles and most likely put a couple of good glugs (yes, that’s a measurement in our household) of a hot sauce—it might be a habañero or as basic as good old Tapatío. Do not hold back on the amount. I’ll then find some smoke, often in the form of toasted sesame oil, which is nice and subtle. Smoked paprika is also good, or maybe a smokey bbq sauce. I’ll then add some apple cider vinegar and often the juice of a lemon. A good shot of ketchup or orange juice adds some sweet to the party. When the amount in the measuring jug is a little more than half a pint, and the little pinky taste test makes me smile and my scalp sweat, I’ll stir well then empty it into one of the containers of the thinly sliced deer meat.
One down, another marinade to go. This could be as simple as a much hotter version of marinade number one, or you can take number two in a totally different direction, which tends to be the way I roll. I’ve done a great Indian spice marinade with cumin, coriander, and garam masala. It totally depends on what you have on hand and what needs using up. I’ve not made a bad one yet!
Dehydrating
I like to put the containers in the fridge for 3 - 4 days so that the marinades find their way into the meat. I then get out the dehydrator, lay the marinated pieces on the racks, close but not touching each other, then dehydrate for between 4 - 5 hours on the jerky setting, until they’re dried but still have some give when bent. Taste test, and if some of the smaller pieces are drying out faster than others, then simply pull them out when you think they’re ready.
These don’t last long in our house, but as the weather can still be hot this time of year, we store the jerky in airtight containers in the fridge.
Photo by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Alan Thomas lives on a hillside with his family in Anderson Valley, where he raises cattle and pigs, putters in the garden, and tries to make the home he built a little more finished every day.
Mendocino County’s Climate-Conscious Companies
Five Businesses Taking Measures to Care for the Planet
by Cozette Ellis
Surf Market
Surf Market in Gualala offers a wide variety of ethically- sourced local produce, seafood, and other artisanal goods. It works to grow the local economy and food systems through involvement in the Mendo-Lake Food Hub and the Go Local Mendonoma Coast. Through the market’s partnership with Sonoma Clean Power, they use solar by day and geothermal by night, achieving a long-pursued goal of powering the store with 100% locally-produced renewable energy.
Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op
Driving through Ukiah, you cannot miss the sage green Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op, or their shiny new two-story expansion project. The Co-op not only values the quality of their products, but they also work to increase the quality of life for their community. In 2020, they donated $8,450 to community grants and nonprofits, $7,839 to 29 local schools, and $2,224 to local nonprofits with their former change-for-change program. They also give all food waste generated in-store to farmers for animal feed, and they donate “unsaleable”—read, not pretty enough—food to Plowshares.
Thanksgiving Coffee
If you have lived in Mendocino County for some time, you likely know Thanksgiving Coffee. Founded in the Noyo Harbor in 1972, this coffee company has been locally and internationally involved in social justice and environmental sustainability work from the start. It’s a Certified B Corp, as well as Fair Trade and USDA Organic certified. The company partners with small coffee-grower cooperatives on five continents. In addition, they are the primary sponsor of Bee Bold Alliance, a pollinator protection organization.
Harvest Market
Harvest Market in Fort Bragg and Harvest at Mendosa’s in Mendocino are two of the best options if you’re in the area and in need of a local grocery store. A family-run business since its founding in 1985, and a Certified B Corporation, Harvest Market has implemented multiple climate-conscious practices over the years, such as adding solar panels at both stores, banning single-use bags two years before the state mandate, installing LED lights, implementing new refrigeration systems that are 82% more efficient, and focusing on organic produce.
Terra Sávia
Terra Sávia is a winery and olive mill dedicated to conservation, sustainability, and memorable experiences. Terra Sávia exists in the “Grandeur of Simple,” and offers a unique experience with recycled ancient redwood furniture, dozens of rescued animals milling about, fruit and floral gardens, a local nursery, and a produce farmstand—an environment that welcomes everyone. A perfect setting for their organic, award-winning olive oils and wines.
Roma's Vineyard
A California Couple Returns from Alaska to Pursue Pinot Perfection
by Torrey Douglass
“I was a bird born without wings,” muses Dean Carrell as he leans back in his dining room chair while scratching his grey beard. “I always wanted to fly.”
Born in Bakersfield in 1940, Dean grew up in Tivy Valley in the Sierra Foothills, right at the mouth of the Kings River. He liked to sit on the riverbank and study the red-tailed hawks, pondering how a creature heavier than air could stay aloft. He says, “I was the worst student in the world—I always wanted to be outdoors.” As a result, he left school early and worked as a heavy equipment operator, always wondering how he could join those hawks up in the sky.
At first, Dean thought becoming an airline pilot was the purview of the well-educated and well-to-do. Then one day he found a magazine article about a prospector named McClintock who was exploring Venuzuela. He discovered gold in a remote mountain crevice—so remote that returning on foot to retrieve more of the bounty was unthinkable. Instead McClintock hired a pilot by the name of James Angel—an adventurer who was credited with “discovering” the world’s highest waterfall, also in Venezuela. Angel pushed the limits of his tiny plane to return McClintock to the cache of gold. He skillfully landed on a high plateau, and the first payload they brought home allowed him to purchase a bigger and more powerful plane. Reading about the pair’s adventure sparked Dean’s determination to learn to fly.
Newly inspired, Dean was careful with his money and saved up for a Cessna 180, hiring a pilot to teach him how to fly as soon as he’d purchased it. At the time, a minimum of 40 hours of flight time was required to earn a pilot’s license, but Dean’s instructor recommended him to the FAA with just 30 hours under his belt—possibly because Dean used his own plane for the lessons, depriving the instructor of plane rental income that usually boosted the lesson fees.
So it came to be that in 1967, Dean took to the California skies and headed to Alaska, a mythic place where there was plenty of outdoors to go around. Once there, he flew folks out into the wilds to hunt and fish, gained air experience, earned additional certifications, and ultimately started his own charter business, Alaska Travel Air. It was situated off of Lake Hood on the Anchorage International Airport—the only seaplane base with a control tower in existence.
There were other guide services in the area, including one which Suzi Arago and her then-husband owned and operated. Whenever clients wanted to cross the mountain range by small plane rather than taking the more standard route by commercial airline, there was only one man in the area “crazy enough to do it”—Dean Carrell of Alaska Travel Air. He landed planes on land, water, and glaciers; he threaded them through narrow mountain passes that required sideways maneuvering to come through unscathed; and he had too many close calls to count. He claims it was a combination of luck, God’s grace, and expertise that allowed him, time after time, to “save the bacon.”
Dean and Suzi were friends for years until a time came when they were each unattached and could become closer. They opened a fishing lodge in 1982, welcoming guests who sought the trout and salmon that blessed Alaska’s lakes and rivers. Two years later, they married and sold the charter business, though Dean continued to fly lodge guests into the bush.
The lodge was a family affair, with Dean’s mother Roma in the kitchen cooking for guests. Before long, Dean and Suzi welcomed a daughter, Jeri, and later a baby boy, Ben, into the world. On nights Dean was expected home, Suzi would wait anxiously for the growl of his plane in the sky, not able to rest easy until he was back on the ground. The lodge was the epicenter of their lives for seven years, and Dean’s plane allowed them to introduce guests to the stunning Alaskan wilderness, be they hunters, fish catchers, photographers, or thrill seekers. What was for many a once-in-a-lifetime adventure was their daily bread-and-butter.
But eventually the time came when a change was needed. Between their two little ones, Suzi’s anxiety, and Dean’s understanding that “the nine lives of a bush pilot get lived up after a while,” they decided to move back to California. In 1989 they left the lodge in the capable hands of family members and moved to Suzi’s childhood town, Mill Valley, to figure out what would come next.
Part of the appeal of Mill Valley was the opportunity to live near Suzi’s family. They socialized frequently, gatherings enlivened by Napa Valley wines—wines that were still somewhat new on the wider wine scene and thus still seen as irreverent upstarts. Dean and Suzi were instantly enamored with the variety, depth, and subtleties of California wines, and Pinot Noir topped the list of their favorites. Dean had found his new calling and, with Suzi’s support, they decided to devote their next chapter to the farming and making of Pinot Noir.
The years that followed saw Dean and Suzi combing the Northern California region for the right property to grow Pinot Noir. Besides Mill Valley, they lived in Calistoga and Dry Creek, but until a friend introduced them to Anderson Valley, they had never found a consistently excellent Pinot. In 1990, they purchased 120 acres of Anderson Valley ridgetop, a property that boasted 50 acres of prime vineyard land.
They planted grapes and named the vineyard after Dean’s mother, Roma. The vineyard grows Pinot Noir grapes exclusively, fruit that becomes Roma’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, Rosé, and Mistelle. Mistelle is a port-style wine made from Pinot grapes that stay on the vine past ripeness and into raisining, a phase also called noble rot. “I let it go as long as possible before the bears take them,” shares Dean. The fermentation phase ceases when the wine is moved to stainless steel tanks, at which point they add a premium high alcohol grape distillate from Wine Secrets in Sebastopol. This distillate adds special aromatics and minerality, and is the last step before bottling. The result is a sweet, intense, fruity dessert wine that is the perfect finale to an enticing meal.
Dean subscribes to a couple of truisms common among winemakers. One is “A good wine is made in the vineyard.” As such, he heartily eschews winemaking shortcuts like chaptalization (adding sugar during winemaking to boost fermentation of low-sugar grapes) or “watering back” (adding water to reduce alcohol levels and increase volume). He also agrees with the idea that the best wine is made from grapes that suffer. Dean dry farms their vines to force the roots deep into the ground to find water. This practice builds resistance to disease and allows the fruit to pick up nuance from the soil.
Ultimately, Dean wants low yield, high quality harvests that have more concentrated flavors. He uses 100% new French oak barrels, scoffing at wine enthusiasts who deride wines that are “too oaky.” Dean notes that the most expensive wines available are fermented in 100% new French oak barrels. At up to $1,000 each, those barrels “take the profit out of the process,” and he believes those who deride their use are looking at budgets rather than product quality. And for Dean, quality always wins.
So while this second career probably won’t fill their wallet, it most definitely fills their hearts. “Our profit is our way of life,” he concludes, and, looking around, it’s hard to disagree. Their home sits high above Anderson Valley, with expansive views that encompass meadows, vineyards, and forests stretching below them into the valley, then rising again on the far side where layers of distant ridges cradle the ocean fog. To get any higher would require Dean to renew his pilot’s license.
The opposite side of their Spanish-style home looks out over Roma’s Vineyard and the smaller, densely forested Indian Creek valley behind that. Suzi shares, “I wake up in the morning and I look out, and this is what I see. Even a rainy day is a good day. The wine is just the frosting on the cake. It enhances our life.”
“We like to make a wine we know people will enjoy drinking and will enjoy with us,” adds Dean. These days he manages his six acres of grapes with very little outside help. “Producing a top wine takes all of my ambition and all of my interest. Some pilots fly until their very last day. I had so much flying in Alaska, I fulfilled every dream I had: glacier landings, float landings—I became a master of them all. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I wanted to master every aspect of bush flying so I could do it with confidence.” After 25 years in the cockpit, his itch to take to the skies is well and truly scratched. He’s happy to keep his feet on the ground where he can devote his time and energy into grape growing and winemaking.
Future plans include welcoming small groups up to the property one Sunday afternoon a month, where guests can taste wines, walk in the vineyard, and take in the views. In the meantime, Dean works on a new winemaking building and tends the vineyard. Pilots can be a hard-headed bunch, refusing to comply with gravity’s mandates. Dean applies the same stubborn determination to making exceptional wines—living, working, and toasting the good life up on the ridgetop where he’s closest to the sky.
Purchase wine from Roma’s Vineyard and learn about upcoming events at RomasVineyard.com.
Photos courtesy of Roma’s Vineyard
The Bohemian Chemist
Herbal Apothecary & In-House Sungrown Cannabis Line Now Open at The Madrones
by Jim Roberts • photos by Nik Zvolensky
I arrived in the cannabis business somewhat unwillingly when my 90-year-old mother, Rosemary, informed me she didn’t think she could continue working in her cannabis garden. My initial thought was, “Ok, let’s figure out something else we can do in that space.” I soon realized that what Mother meant was that, although she couldn’t work in the garden, she expected the cannabis cultivation to continue, intending for me to take over a tradition she had started years prior.
Of course, I had been involved in the past with harvests, but I already had two properties with multiple businesses that kept me very busy most of the year. Taking on a cannabis business had not been part of my plans. At the time, the market was transitioning to a legal one with the passing of Proposition 64. All the prior cultivation at Sugar Hill Farm had been under a medical use program, as my mom suffers from debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. Cannabis provided an alternate way for her to deal with pain and inflammation. Rosemary is a lifelong gardener with a gift for nurturing plants into the best versions of themselves, and I believe her cannabis ointment far surpassed other medicinal lines on the market. After much thought, I decided to enter the emerging legal cannabis market, adding farmer to the collection of hats I wear daily and discovering my new passion project.
The name Sugar Hill Farm came from Rosemary’s childhood nickname, “Sugar.” A maverick in spirit, she grew up in a farming family in the Deep South, one of 14 kids who struggled from harvest to harvest to keep the family fed and clothed. At 15, she ran away from home and never looked back. A family in Miami took her in, allowing her to pursue a career in modeling and show business. She headlined in nightclubs, helped open the first television station in Cuba, and ventured to California to compete in the Miss Universe pageant as Miss Florida.
Rosemary met my father while in California. He worked in the restaurant business and, after they married, her attention soon turned to caring for their growing family. I remember as a child her passion for gardening. Any free moment she would be outside, tending to our vegetable garden, composting, and working the grounds of the old home my parents purchased back in the 1960s. She was always game for growing something new—including the cannabis plants that my brother and I urged her to grow when we were just out of high school. Of course, thanks to her talents, they were the biggest plants I have ever seen. Years later, settled in Anderson Valley and at retirement age, Rosemary created Sugar Hill Farm.
The farm is just five acres in the town of Philo, and it sits on a hill overlooking the long sweep of valley that stretches towards the ocean. We have shade gardens with tree-sized rhododendrons, an orchard, over 500 rose bushes, peonies and dahlias, sweeping perennial borders, and a 5,000 square foot state-licensed cannabis garden. My partner, Brian, and I decided to build a home on the property in 2015 so we could be closer to Rosemary as she ages in place. At the time, I was in the process of converting my home and design business of 25 years to what is now The Madrones, a Mediterranean complex with three tasting rooms, a shop, guest quarters, and a restaurant. After designing and opening this public space, I was ready for a new project, a place we could call our forever home.
We took inspiration from salvaged building materials, appreciating their sense of history and integrating them into the construction. I’ve always enjoyed combining the best of old and new in my designs, an approach I used when creating The Madrones and then again at the adjacent Brambles property after Brian purchased it a few years later. At Sugar Hill Farm, we designed and built a stone house with a lookout tower and expansive windows to soak in the views of vineyards, old growth redwoods, and rolling hills. It took five years of building and countless trips in our moving van to pick up windows, doors, appliances, artifacts, and iron rails from various junkyards and salvage companies. This is now home for us, the place where each passing season brings its own routine and list of chores that need tending. For those that live in the country on a ranch or farm, the months and seasons set the markers of your day, motivating you every morning to get up and head outside for another day of work.
After settling in at Sugar Hill Farm, we continued the cultivation of cannabis that Rosemary had started years earlier. We maintained some of her best practices, amending the native soil every year with garden compost, including manure as well as organic supplements and fertilizers. Thankfully I have never needed to spray a crop for pests, and I can remember only one year when we brought in ladybugs to combat an aphid problem. Through trial and error, we have learned which cultivars grow best at our particular location and which to avoid. We prefer growing from seed over planting clones, and we use a jewelers loupe daily during harvest season to check the plants’ trichomes (resin) for ripeness.
The less satisfying work of cannabis farming is navigating state and local regulations. I have never come across anything as difficult and restrictive in all my years of doing business. The state does not classify cannabis cultivation as agriculture—instead it is considered a commercial endeavor with strict environmental oversight and regulations. For our licensing, we have to be reviewed by Fish and Wildlife, register with the state water board to prove our water source and monitor annual usage, and meet CEQA requirements for environmental impacts. No other crop in our state is required to do this. Add to that an unstable market and mind-numbing compliance issues, and the result is that small legacy farmers in our county are struggling for survival. They are also challenged by the rapid vertical integration of large cannabis companies that now cultivate their own plants to supply their product lines. We came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that we needed to rethink our path forward to avoid a possible extinction event.
It took many lengthy discussions, but we ultimately decided that our next venture should be a cannabis retail location at The Madrones. We had a space that was open and, with three wine tasting rooms on the property, we wanted to offer something different to our guests and the community as a whole. We followed a similar format used by many of the small production wineries in Anderson Valley who focus on “Estate Grown Grapes,” wine clubs, and the terroir of a specific appellation. We decided to specialize in local, sungrown flower from our farm as well as other small family farms, provided they follow our best practices and maintain high quality standards. This approach allows us to support other legacy farmers in the area.
By creating our own product line and a retail location, we are able to offer our premium cannabis products locally, as well as in other retail locations throughout California. Our state micro-business license allows us the flexibility of retail sales, packaging, and manufacturing, as well as wholesale distribution. Once the local regulations were wrangled and the business plan in place, we were finally able to get back to working on the fun parts of our new venture.
When thinking through the brand, I pushed past the over-used and utterly expected references to the 1960s and looked further back to the roaring 20s—a time when people were free spirited and unconventional, and the world held hope. The Bohemian Chemist brand was born, inspired by the free thinkers of that time with whom I have always felt a connection. I hired a London-based graphic designer to help us with the Art Deco feel and a package designer out of Southern California to work with me on the design vision. For the retail space, we purchased the vintage interiors of a pharmacy from Hungary that had been in the same family since 1910. We extended this feel of yesteryear into the adjacent hotel gift shop and guest check-in, using old fashioned, polished wood cabinetry purchased at a Philadelphia auction house and adding an ornate brass vintage cash register on top of the check-in counter for the final flourish.
We call The Bohemian Chemist our “herbal apothecary,” and besides our house brand, we carry several other Anderson Valley product lines, including edibles, topicals, and other remedies to soothe what may ail the weary visitor. We also created a treatment room where we offer facials and massages from licensed technicians. Future plans include consultation services from cannabis health practitioners for customers seeking wellness benefits from the plant.
As California, our county, and many other parts of the country wrestle with how to build this newly legal sector, the reality on the ground is, to put it mildly, messy. Creating a new business in any field is a highly demanding undertaking, and when the rats’ nest of regulations are layered on top, it can lead to frustration and, on the worst days, despair. It’s in those moments I take a walk out to the garden as the sun sets over the hills. I think on the footloose love of fun that typified the 20s and hope that our efforts help customers tap into some of that joie de vivre. And I reflect on the courage and tenaciousness that led Sugar to forge her own path, bringing us to this beautiful spot where we can walk among the roses and peonies, the fruit trees and perennials, and the leafy cannabis plants, encouraging them all to grow into the best versions of themselves.
The Bohemian Chemist
Located in The Madrones
9000 Hwy 128, Philo, CA 95466
(707) 895-2955 | TheBohemianChemist.com
Open Thu - Mon, 10am - 7pm & Wed, 11am – 5pm.
Closed Tuesdays.
Small Places with Big Impact
Mendocino County Residents Support Orphanage in Haiti
by Jen Dalton
In 2020, Hearthstone Village celebrated ten years of service to the nutrition and education of orphaned girls in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, ranked the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is plagued by poverty and civil unrest, where kidnappings, child prostitution, and, as a recent UN report summarized, “a widespread sense of insecurity” is the norm. In an environment as unstable as this, only ten percent of Haitians graduate from high school.
The Hearthstone volunteers and donor supporters, based largely in Mendocino County, have successfully helped ten girls in Haiti graduate from high school over the last two years—a huge beating-the-odds story. Their secret to success lies in a strong, supportive, community-based foundation and generous donors who help feed, house, and send these girls to private schools in their neighborhoods, encouraging them to become a part of the fabric of their community.
Hearthstone Village has been around for decades. The founding board members originate from the Ukiah community and identify as “back to the landers.” Most took their inspiration from Rudolph Steiner, with an organizational emphasis on his philosophies, including the importance of multi-generational communities. Founded by Lynn Dress-Meadows, Shawna Hesseil, Deborah Mead, and Deborah Lovett, today the all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization includes Mendocino County locals whose names you might recognize: Nancy (Niv) McGivney, Serena Miller, Juanita-Joy Riddell, Michelle Maxwell, Laura Wedderburn, Emily Frey, Jen Dalton, Nancy Watanabe, Kirin Riddell, and a newcomer based in Chicago, Bryan Rogers.
According to Dress-Meadows, the original plan was to create a multi-generational community in the Ukiah area that could take in children who needed care. Frey said the envisioned project was “an orphanage,” while Riddell described it as “a permanent housing facility for children in medical need.” The project encountered significant red tape and was never approved by Mendocino County government. So Dress-Meadows, Riddell, and their husbands, who owned property in El Cardonal, Baja Mexico, developed the project with the local community there, and eventually raised enough money to build a multi-purpose community center. A sister organization, Tu Hogar, is now responsible for operations in Baja, while Hearthstone Village continues to support the medical needs of a few small families.
The work of the organization transitioned toward Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake, a magnitude-7.0 centered in Port-au-Prince, which killed over 200,000 people and injured more than 300,000. In less than a minute, more than a quarter of a million homes and buildings collapsed. This included 4,000 schools, eight hospitals, 75 government buildings, and the presidential palace—more than 70% of all buildings in the country. This devastation wreaked havoc on transportation and communication networks, and survivors had no way of contacting family members and friends. More than 600,000 people left Port-au-Prince due to an epidemic spread of cholera, which lasted until just before the Covid-19 pandemic. Haitians, especially children, also faced psychological issues, and an incalculable number of children were orphaned. The cultural, personal, societal, and infrastructural damage was beyond comprehension.
Medical teams—including Dress-Meadows, Wedderburn, and Frey from Ukiah—came from around the world to provide emergency medical care to those injured in the disaster. At the time of the 2010 earthquake, they had been working as doctors and physician assistants at the Ukiah Valley Medical Center (now Adventist Hospital). While in Port-au-Prince, they wanted to connect with an orphanage to support, and they toured two. One was large and sufficiently supported by the Catholic Church; the other was Reveil Matinal Orphanage Foundation (RMOF). RMOF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization “that rescues, loves, and takes care of orphaned children. It was founded in 2007 in Queens, New York. However, the orphanage itself is located in Port-au-Prince in Haiti.”
Dress-Meadows contacted the founders, Charlucie and Jay Jaboin, Haitian expats living in New York, and agreed to support the orphanage in two major realms: nutrition and education. These remain Hearthstone Village’s focus, although the organization now also pays the staff’s salaries and has developed a relationship with Maison de Jasmine, the dorm-style living arrangement for RMOF girls who age out of the orphanage after they turn eighteen. The founders are still very much involved in supporting more than 33 girls, ranging in age from 1 year to 22 years, who are a part of the RMOF community.
According to 2014 estimations, there are nearly one million orphans in Haiti. The number of orphanages is estimated to be around 760, and the number of children in orphanages is approximately 32,000. Hearthstone Village and RMOF support girls and educate them to help break the cycle of poverty. Studies have shown that educating girls is the number one way to reduce poverty, as educated girls have families later and are often able to contribute to family income. This is a primary reason why Hearthstone Village focuses on education and a stable home environment.
Per Haitian law, all orphans must vacate the orphanage after their 18th birthday. All schools in Haiti are private. There is no public school system nationally or in the cities—the primary reason that only ten percent of Haitians are high school graduates. To create some educational equity, many orphanages bring teachers in or create a “school” at the orphanage. One of the main problems with this noble arrangement is that, since kids must leave at 18, many of these youth miss out on education support and don’t get to complete their education goals. This is what makes Hearthstone Village and RMOF different.
Though RMOF is a state-sanctioned orphanage and receives new girls through that system, as girls age out, Hearthstone Village prefers to focus on the idea of community and supporting them financially until they stabilize, whether through university, vocational school, or employment. Hearthstone Village raises money to send each girl to a school in their neighborhood which meets their educational aptitude and interest, and they bring in tutors to help them excel, thus helping each girl become their best selves through the opportunity of education, nutrition, and a safe place to live. Volunteer board member and Education Liaison, Niv McGivney, works closely with Jean-Wesly Demosthene, RMOF’s on-site Administrator, to monitor grades, progress, and special needs. Despite the impacts of the pandemic and civil unrest forcing schools to close periodically through the last year, two girls have finished their first year at Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince.
Financially, Hearthstone operates on $100k-$120k per year. For the work in Haiti, there are three funds: the education fund, the general fund, and a new higher education fund. A program with dedicated education sponsors is the backbone of the education fund, and Hearthstone is always looking for people who want to support one or more of the girls throughout their educational journey. One girl usually has three or more sponsors, who each pay $750/year to fund her education costs. The general fund pays for staff salaries, household expenses, food, internet, clean water, and medical coverage. The higher education fund was recently started to meet the growing needs of the graduates. It’s easy to get involved and be part of nurturing and educating this remarkable group of girls and young women.
UPDATE: Due to our production schedule, this article was received prior to the current political upheaval caused by the assasination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse on July 7. We reached out to Jen to ask for an update on the school and its residents. From Jen: “It’s been chaos [in Haiti] for years. The girls are in a relatively safe neighborhood in Port-au-Prince and have male escorts drive them to school. We were able to buy a school bus and have a paid driver, Louchard, whom we would all trust with our lives! And, when school is cancelled due to the unrest, or the pandemic, the girls help tutor each other at home (and thanks to a grant from the Kodak Foundation, we were able to help them create a robust library!). They read to each other, study together and use education as a form of entertainment when the country is on lockdown! We really hope things calm down soon so we can visit again. For now, we are grateful they are safe and thriving despite all the hardships.”
www.hearthstone-village.org
@herdreamsmatter (Instagram)
Facebook: Hearthstone-Village
To become an education sponsor: nivmcgiv@gmail.com
Photos courtesy of Hearthstone Village
Jen Dalton is the Vice President of Hearthstone Village. Her visits to Haiti have opened her heart in unexpected ways. She is also an author (Of Butterflies & Bullies) and a community facilitator (Kitchen Table Consulting). She lives and grows food in Ukiah.
Gardening & Growth in the Mendocino County Jail
story & photos by Zohar Zaied
On a spring morning inside the perimeter of the Mendocino County Jail, a group of inmates joined members of a volunteer group for a check-in before they started their day. Each member of the circle had the option to share what s/he would personally offer to the group on this day. After check-in, the crew got to work in the 1/8th acre vegetable garden, which provides food, flowers, and some experience to cultivate a better future for the participants. The garden project is one of many programs offered by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, which provides targeted resources to assist inmates to interrupt the incarceration cycle.
Though a garden has existed in various forms at the jail, gardening as a component of rehabilitation started informally at the Mendocino County Jail in 2012. Lifetime gardener John Holt, with the help of a crew of inmates, transformed land within the facility’s perimeter into a working vegetable garden.
When he agreed to take on the jail’s garden project, Holt found the grounds were overgrown with weeds, the compacted garden beds were full of rocks, and he recalls that the garden was dubbed “the Stony Jail Garden” by the first group of inmates he trained. The garden has been transformed. Today, the rocks sifted from the garden beds can be found in the borders of some of the flowerbeds which line most of the jail’s secured walkways.
Holt maintained a hand-written record of the fruits and vegetables his crews have harvested over the years. In 2017, the garden crew brought in over five tons of produce, used by the kitchen to prepare meals for the inmate population at the jail and youth at Juvenile Hall. Unconditional Freedom Project volunteer, Marla Moffet, estimates that, under its current configuration, the garden stands to produce approximately 11,000 pounds of produce per year, saving potentially up to $18,000 in food cost.
A more significant savings to the taxpayers, however, comes from the potential to reduce recidivism at the local incarceration level, an effort that lines up with the Sheriff’s Office mission at the jail. In 2018, the weighted average cost to house an inmate at a county jail amounted to just under $160 per day in California, according to a Board of State Community Corrections report. That adds up to over $58,000 per year.
In February of 2021, members of the Unconditional Freedom Project (UFP) teamed up with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to formalize rehabilitation efforts for some of the jail’s inmates by way of the garden. “Any gardener can manage the soil, plant starts, and harvest in the fall. The real job [in an incarceration setting] is offering guidance,” said Holt, who was on hand in early 2021 to help transition the garden to UFP volunteers. UFP brings a program to Mendocino County that has already seen success in California’s state prison system through the “Art of Soul Making Program,” a correspondence course which “seeks to repurpose the experience of incarceration from mere punishment to something truly restorative.”
“It’s one of the more positive aspects of being incarcerated,” program participant Aaron Beardslee says. He often sees produce he has planted and grown end up in the jail’s kitchen. “Even though we’re behind a fence, we’re in a garden. You can put your hands on the results.”
“The whole idea is getting people connected to the earth,” Moffet says. “Just like the earth is an ecosystem, we are an ecosystem.” UFP introduces program participants to these concepts through gardening. To further the restorative efforts of their program, UFP has enrolled 27 incarcerated men and 35 women in the Art of Soul Making correspondence course.
Collaborating with UFP is part of an effort by Mendocino County Sheriff, Matt Kendall, to provide rehabilitation opportunities for county jail inmates. Today, inmates at the 305-bed facility access educational opportunities, job training, and other restorative programs during incarceration. The mission is to heal trauma and return incarcerated residents to the community in better shape than they were in when they entered the jail.
California’s oldest operating state prison, San Quentin, was the first in the state to develop a vegetable garden within its walls. According to Planting Justice, the state inmates involved in San Quentin’s garden program have a 10% recidivism rate, thanks to program follow-up and meaningful employment opportunities for inmates upon their release from prison. That number is significantly lower than the national average. A recent Pew Charitable Trusts study showed over 40 percent of inmates nationally return to state prison within three years of their release.
Beyond the benefits to incarcerated individuals at the county jail, an on-site garden represents a piece of relaxation to staff. Every time Mendocino County Corrections Lieutenant Joyce Spears walks from her office in the Sheriff’s Office administration building to the county’s jail, she passes by the landscaping inside the facility’s perimeter. “The flowers are my favorite,” Spears says. Deputies walk through the gardens every time they check the security of the perimeter, often stopping to pick a strawberry or tomato when in season. The garden provides a soft visual contrast to the institutional setting of the correctional facility. The Lieutenant and veteran corrections staffer has watched the garden develop over the past few decades into its current incarnation.
According to Moffet, the current garden crew has already planted over 1,500 starts to populate the project’s summer garden, with more plants coming for a winter garden in the coming months. UFP staff spoke with jail kitchen supervisor, Peggy Luna, to find out specifically which vegetables would most benefit the kitchen. Luna requested tomatoes, squash, leafy greens, eggplants, and cucumbers. Harvests of early season leafy greens have already made their way from the garden to the jail’s kitchen, and from there on to the plates of the inmates who helped to grow them. Hopefully, the experience will provide more options for them when they are outside once again.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office
951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah | MendocinoSheriff.com
Unconditional Freedom Project
1275 4th St. #3220, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
UnconditionalFreedom.org
Zohar Zaied grew up in Mendocino County and has been employed with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office since 2002. He is a regular contributor for Corrections1.com
Café Poppy & Thatcher Hotel
Hopland’s Historic Hangout
story & photos by Holly Madrigal
The small community of Hopland is the first town north of San Francisco on the 101 where you encounter a crosswalk, a nice reminder to slow down in Mendocino County. Near that crosswalk on Highway 101, a bright sign marks the official first spot to stop for a cocktail—Café Poppy and Thatcher Hotel. Completely renovated with modern amenities, the stately iconic Victorian balances a clean, modern aesthetic with the historic character of the property. Thatcher Hotel reopened in October of 2019, but the pandemic silenced the fanfare. This past March, they were able to shake off the forced lethargy of the lockdown and reopen room rentals with all the safety precautions in place.
Café Poppy is a sunny modern space in Thatcher Hotel which offers Plank Coffee and espresso drinks. All the baked goods are homemade, and their hours cater to the breakfast and lunch crowds. The Caprese Panini and the Farro Salad with kale and fresh strawberries looked especially enticing. The café transitions to small plates in the evening to partner with the seasonal craft cocktails at the adjoining Bar Thatcher. The stunning original wooden bar looks like it arrived straight out of the Old West, but it has been beautifully updated to enhance the design style.
The library fills this bibliophile’s heart with joy. It was kept intentionally unique, and you may be surprised to learn that the books are slightly controversial. They have also used the books as design elements, with some spines turned toward the back of the shelf to display clean lines, and with others organized by hue. The entire space is peppered with curiosities, and the wooden rolling ladder and fireplace welcome visitors to sit and talk philosophy with their Sazerac.
The Gallery just down the hall is a spacious area that can hold 50-60 people for a sit-down dinner, or more than 100 for standing cocktail events. The floor-to-ceiling doors open onto a stylish veranda with firepit seating areas. A lower-level garden space has its own firepit and opens up to a bar and micro-brewery downstairs. The sleek dipping pool area has shaded lounges, outdoor showers, and a pergola. The local secret: You can get a pool pass to enjoy the water if the inn is not fully booked and the pool reserved for guests.
The collaborators on Thatcher Hotel’s revival include a number of Hopland neighbors. The similar aesthetic blends perfectly with the historic character of the property. It’s as if they revealed the core beauty of the hotel, uplifting the key design elements and stripping the rest away, leaving clean, modern lines. The renovation modified a 24-room hotel into one with 18 rooms complete with spacious bathrooms and luxurious appointments. The Harvest Room boasts a modern clawfoot soaking tub and a leather seating area with a view from the iconic corner cupola. Another room has views of the eastern hills, golden and wreathed in vineyards. Sleek concrete sinks and minimalist open showers provide a luxurious spa feel. Currently, Thatcher Hotel serves guests Thursday through Saturday nights, while Stock Farm, the inn next door, welcomes guests throughout the week.
The entire property has been renovated to create a welcoming respite from the road. A variety of bites, all within steps of each other, beckons you to stop and stretch your legs. Hopland is a hidden gem boasting fine dining, amazing beer, and unpretentious high-quality wines, and it is just a short jaunt up the meandering highway from the city. Now Thatcher Hotel and Café Poppy welcome visitors to stop and stay. We have a slower pace here in Mendocino County, and this is the perfect oasis.
Thatcher Hotel & Café Poppy
13401 Hwy 101, Hopland | (707) 723-0838 | ThatcherHotel.com
Evening Stays Thursday - Saturday nights
Café Poppy Fri - Sun, 8am - 2pm
Bar Thatcher Fri - Sat, 12pm - 8pm
Roses, Orange, and Spice
Fog Eater Cafe Toasts the Season
by Haley Samas-Berry
Autumn illustrates the beauty of change. At the Fog Eater Cafe, our restaurant is expanding to include a wine shop at 45104 Main Street in Mendocino. We will offer bottles of natural and organic wines made locally and elsewhere, with a focus on coastal wines with little intervention. Also available will be a variety of local sundries—some from our cafe (pickle plate and pimento cheese, anyone?) and some other exciting treats which, when paired with natural wine, make for a most delightful picnic basket. Wine, of course, brings us to a wonderful seasonal treat: making your own homemade garden vermouth. This fortified wine is a common cocktail ingredient that is deliciously enjoyed on its own (we like ours over ice with a citrus peel) or employed in classic cocktails like the Manhattan, the Negroni, or the Martinez.
Autumnal Vermouth
Courtesy of Fog Eater Cafe
Ingredients
750ml light body red wine
½ c brandy or Cognac (this fortifies the wine for preservation)
10g mugwort
25g rose petals
10g bitter orange peels
5g wormwood
5g green cardamom pods
10g rosehips
5g allspice
And add a handful of green herbs from your garden that excite you!
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a large glass container. Let sit for 3 weeks in a dark place, shaking occasionally. Strain herbs using tea strainer. Sweeten to taste with simple syrup or honey (approx. ½ cup).
Serve and enjoy!
Fog Eater Cafe
45104 Main Street, Mendocino
(707) 397-1806 | FogEaterCafe.com
Happy Hour Wed - Sat, 4 - 5pm
Dinner Wed - Sat, 5 - 8:30pm
Brunch Sun, 10 - 2pm
Photo by Annie Spratt courtesy of Unsplash
Peace & Plenty Farm
Growing Saffron in Lake County
by Holly Madrigal
An exceptionally exotic, faraway spice is now being cultivated very close to home. Crimson-gold saffron threads are plucked from purple-hued blooms right in Lake County, at Peace & Plenty Farm in Kelseyville. Saffron is harvested from the stigma of the saffron crocus (crocus sativus), a fall-blooming variety whose harvest begins around mid-October and lasts into November. It likes a Mediterranean climate and well-drained soil and requires zero water in the summer, which works well for Lake County. “We think of it as gathering the eyelashes of the sun,” shares Melinda Price, co-owner of the farm.
The exquisite aroma and flavor of saffron are used throughout much of the world to impart color, amber flavor notes, and complexity to culinary dishes. The largest grows of commercial saffron are found in Iran, with small amounts produced in Spain, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. “There are some neat groups like Rumi Spice that are helping war widows and veterans transition from growing opium to growing saffron. Iran is the predominant grower, but there are international sanctions. So, most of that is sent to Spain and rebranded as Spanish saffron. As a high-value crop, there is much adulteration in the market. There is a third more saffron sold in the world than is grown,” explains Melinda, noting that threads or stigmas of other flowers are often used to bulk up shipments.
Melinda and her husband, Simon Avery, began Peace & Plenty Farm in 2017 with no previous cultivation experience. The couple met in 2016, and both had a shared vision to begin farming. They began to research how they could make a living while working outside. What could they grow that could provide a decent income? Canadian intensive farmer Jean Martin Fortier was an inspiration, but the two were unsure if they could jump right into the level of planning required of that method, let alone make a living selling carrots or kale. “Ironically, we are making a living selling carrots and kale,” laughs Melinda. “Our farm stand has become a significant portion of our income. We are one of only a handful of farm stands in our area, and people often stop by.” The farm stand fridge is filled with crisp cucumbers, bags of bright green spinach, pesto, and saffron lemonade, which glows a brilliant yellow.
“So we researched possible things to grow: Hops—too much water; Mushrooms—we don’t want to live in a warehouse; Vanilla—no, not working in California,” explains Melinda. In one of those synchronistic moments, Simon was driving home from work when he heard a story on NPR about the University of Vermont’s program to help small farmers introduce saffron into their rotation of crops, following in the tradition of the Amish and Mennonite farms, which have been growing saffron for centuries. Far from a luxury item, it gets cooked into many dishes and steeped in milk for drinking, and they eat it as part of their daily diet. “And now I realize that having large families to help harvest must have been a benefit,” laughs Melinda. “Each of these blooms gets picked by human hands. No machine can do this. Working with a harvest crew is resource-intensive.”
After much research, they settled on saffron as their crop of choice. The spice has the highest value per weight in the world, more than gold, more than cannabis. “We did some Google searches, and no one was growing saffron in California, no one!” says Melinda. She went to a conference in Vermont that year and bought 7,000 corms (the small bulb that grows the plant) before they even purchased the farm. “I didn’t want to miss the timing,” says Melinda. “If I hadn’t bought them, we would have had to wait a whole other year!”
They started looking for property and quickly got priced out of Sonoma County. They saw a listing for the property in Kelseyville that was everything they wanted. An old horse ranch that had gone to seed, it had a lot of fences and about seven acres of star thistle. “It all happened quickly once we found it,” adds Melinda. “We moved in and were on a shoestring budget. Simon and I have built all this as we go. We didn’t have the capital to rent a machine or equipment to clear it, so Simon used a weed-whacker and cut it all down by hand. He is still ruined by it. But we were on a schedule. We had purchased corms and needed to get them in the ground by September of that year.”
The process has not been without challenges. Gophers were the primary nemesis the first year; now the entire saffron patch is underlaid with hardware cloth. They learned the hard way not to water heavily. “Little did we know that would cause some of the corms to rot,” exclaims Melinda. “We sure learned that lesson.” Another obstacle—the widely held belief that saffron is a rare spice only used with particular dishes. As evidenced by their experience with the Amish mentioned above, “We want to promote this spice as an everyday enjoyment, not just an ingredient to leave on the shelf,” explains Melinda.
Melinda and Simon are balanced with their specialties. Melinda thrives with the saffron sales, marketing, and managing their farm stays. Simon makes everything happen, building the beautiful spaces, planning construction, and working the farm. “Simon can build anything or fix anything,” says Melinda, “all the irrigation, and remodeling.” Everything on the farm is aesthetically stunning, from the board and batten farmstand and cold storage to the rows of 720 manicured lavender plants, tidy vegetable rows, and a hoop house where tiered racks of chamomile and calendula blossoms dry for their custom-made teas. The couple works together to harvest the vegetables and saffron.
To start reawakening and blooming in the fall, crocus sativus needs really cold nights and a bit of moisture. “When the bloom starts, it will be one or three flowers the first day, then the next day maybe thirty, then a hundred, and all of a sudden you will be picking 44,000 flowers in one day. That was our record last year.” Melinda describes what sets them apart is that they harvest at night time when the flowers are just starting to emerge. Experience has shown them that when the sunlight hits the blossoms, they begin to open and the moisture in the stigma escapes. By shifting to a nocturnal harvest, the saffron remains plump and extremely flavorful. “They are bright, bright fluorescent red and full of life.” They pluck the flowers out of the field intact. One bulb can produce twenty-five blossoms, sending out one bloom and then another a few hours later. They make multiple harvest passes through the night as new blossoms emerge.
They gather and place the full blooms in cold storage, then undertake the tedious process of plucking out each stigma. “We sit and develop these piles of flowers around us, piles of purple. We gather the blossoms and toss them out in piles under the walnut trees for the bees. The bees come and rustle around in the discarded blooms and become absolutely coated with the pollen. Even though we have removed the stigma, there is so much goodness left for them.”
The first harvest in 2017 was 25 grams, the second year yielded 300 grams, the third year they brought in a kilo, and last year they harvested two kilos of saffron! They are happy with this amount. They have no need to be on every supermarket shelf, but would rather curate their vendors and focus on creating really beautiful products. “For example, I may have been put on this earth to make our saffron-infused honey,” says Melinda. “We partnered with a local beekeeper to use his raw honey. It is just so special.”
The future is bright at Peace & Plenty Farm. The couple is restoring the historic barn and will begin booking weddings in early 2022. They currently host farm stays where guests can sleep in a restored vintage airstream in the saffron farm and gaze out across the lavender fields. If you have a moment, stop by the self-serve farm stand. Simon shares that they once had a visitor buy a bunch of greens, only to throw it over the fence to their happy chicken flock. “It was the silliest thing, using a $4 bunch of greens, so Melinda made little seed bags for 25¢ so that people can feed the birds,” he laughs. “Visitors love it, and we have really fat chickens now.”
The farm welcomed Martha Stewart Living Magazine a few years ago and is preparing for a visit by PBS this fall. The couple is in discussions to host farm-to-table dinners with Arnon, former chef at Chez Panisse, creating a saffron-influenced meal, with locally made Obsidian wines to complement the menu. The last dinner served out under the walnut trees sold out in three days, so act swiftly if you want to partake.
“We do like to think about the cool correlations between this plant and our lives. My ancestry is Dutch and of course, they grew bulbs. Simon is British and there used to be “Crocers” in England in medieval times who grew saffron. There is a town in England called Saffron-on-Walden. Even though they don’t have the experience of growing saffron, there are hints and echoes in our ancestry.” A barn on the farm proudly displays a large quilt square as part of the Quilt Trails project. The couple learned the name of the heritage quilt was the “Peace and Plenty” design, and it felt like providence. “We knew that would be the name of our farm, because what more could we want than Peace & Plenty,” adds Melinda.
As Ruby, the resident pup, sits in the shade of the farm stand, the light pours in golden beams through the saffron honey, making the individual jars of stigmas glow red. Take a cool jar of saffron lemonade from the fridge and pop the top. You will swear you can taste the sunshine on your tongue.
Peace & Plenty Farm
4550 Soda Bay Rd, Kelseyville | PeacePlentyFarm.com
Farmstand open daily 9am to dusk
Stay on the farm:airbnb.com/users/show/729211
Photo p 44 by Karen Pavone. All other photos by Holly Madrigal.