We Could All Use a Little Hygge
Winter is a favorite season of mine on the Mendocino Coast. Crisp, cool days welcome us outside for a beach campfire, or, if we are fortunate to get that much-needed rain, we can relax inside with blankets, board games, and cozy cups of coffee, tea, or cocoa. A friend recently introduced me to the idea of “hygge”—the Nordic concept of coziness and embracing the moment, of prioritizing togetherness and family. Helen Russell, author of Year of Living Danishly, defines it as the “complete absence of anything annoying or emotionally overwhelming.” That is what I’m craving this season.
The previous year has revealed so much about our lives, showing in stark relief the balance (or lack thereof) between work and home. America is experiencing a “retirement tsunami” and a “great resignation,” not to mention a “great reshuffling.” People have reevaluated their priorities, often choosing to change careers, move households, or start something new. I can’t tell you how many of my friends are experiencing serious burnout and overwhelm. If I was queen, I would reduce “full-time work” to 30 hours a week with 3-day weekends. It’s time for the cultural pendulum to swing away from the worship of overwork and stress as a status symbol. It’s time for more hygge.
To bring a little hygge into your life, head to the website for Full Circle Wool (p 29) for some cozy wool socks, or curl up with a good book and a cup of our spiced hot cocoa for grown-ups (p 36). Go old school and pick up an album and a pizza pie from Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza and Vinyl (p 42), then take the night off from cooking to delve into your pie while you are carried away by the rich, multi-layered tones that only vinyl can offer. (They sell turntables, too, in case you’re in need.)
Keeping things simple is key to hygge, and with global supply chains on the fritz, we think this is the perfect year to simplify for the holidays. We have a bounty of local products that require next to no long-distance travel. You can select some exquisite bottles from Handley Cellars, founded by pioneering winemaker, Milla Handley (p 11), or from Saracina, expertly crafted by their winemaker, Alex MacGregor (p 25). Or prepare a gift of preserved lemons (p 5) or a tantalizing jar of sumac “spice” (p 21) that will brighten any kitchen in the winter months to come.
Simplification, slowing down, and gratitude are lifelong practices. Appreciation of the present moment and today’s abundance is a meditation. We here at Word of Mouth hope this issue fills your cup. So snuggle in, take a sip of whatever gives you comfort, and enjoy our offerings in this issue. May the holidays land gently for us all.
Warmly,
Holly Madrigal
Publisher
The Magic of Preserved Lemons
A Zesty Addition to Make Your Dish AmaZING
by April Cunningham
Preserving lemons in a salty brine is a tradition from Indian, North African, and 18th century English cuisine. Simple to make, with a very long shelf life in the fridge, preserved lemons add an intense, concentrated lemon flavor to a dish without all the tartness or sour blast. They will quickly become a staple ingredient in your cooking.
How to Make Preserved Lemons
Thoroughly scrub lemons. Cut the nubs off both ends before cutting ¾ of the way through, dividing into four sections that remain attached at the base. Add a teaspoon of kosher (not iodized) salt to the bottom of a pint-sized jar. Put another teaspoon of salt inside the quartered lemon, then push the lemon firmly into the bottom of the jar, open end down, to squish out the juices.
Sprinkle another teaspoon of salt over the top of the lemon.Add one or two bay leaves and a few peppercorns to the jar, then add two more lemons, following the same process. Add a teaspoon of salt on the very top.
The jar should be full of lemon juice from the compressed lemons. If needed, squeeze additional lemon juice into the jar until it is filled roughly ½” from the top.
Screw on the lid, mark the date, and let sit at room temperature for three days to two weeks. Check daily to make sure the lemons are covered with juice, pushing them down if they rise above it. You can add fresh lemon juice to cover them if needed. (Uncovered lemons can develop a white mold that is harmless and just needs to be washed off.)
Put the jar in the refrigerator and let sit for another three weeks before using. They will keep in the fridge for at least six months.
Tips
Use organic lemons and make sure to scrub thoroughly, because you will be eating the rind.
The quantity of salt may seem excessive, but it preserves the lemons. You can rinse the rind before using, if desired.
Plan on three to four lemons per pint-sized jar.
How to Use Preserved Lemons
Preserved lemons can be used in many ways.
Finely dice the rind and use in recipes for a lemony zing.
Puree the pulp (after removing the seeds) along with some rind.
Puree the whole lemon to use in the moment or freeze for later.
Leftover salty lemon juice can be saved and frozen to use in any recipe to replace salt and acid.
Preserved lemons are perfect in Moroccan recipes such as Chicken Tagine and Vegetable Couscous. The puree can be added to salad dressing, while the rind is great chopped into dips (hummus, salsa, eggplant, etc.). You can add them to cooked grains (hot or cold), fold into a sauce for fish or chicken, or mince and add to pasta dishes.
April Cunningham is the head chef of Caring Kitchen, a teen and adult volunteer-based program of North Coast Opportunities that prepares and delivers primarily plant based, nourishing, organic meals for those in our community facing cancer.
Support The Caring Kitchen by purchasing their new cookbook, Nourishing Community, at NCOinc.org.
Hangar 39
by Elizabeth Archer
Local aviation history meets fantastic food at Hangar 39 in South Ukiah, right next door to the airport that inspired its name. Owner and chef Fernando Plazola and his wife, Ashleigh, also own and operate the popular restaurant, Cultivo, downtown next to the courthouse. Hangar 39 is located at the site of the previous Crush Italian Steakhouse. The current building owner is a big fan of Cultivo and reached out to Fernando directly to offer him the restaurant business. Fernando runs on vision and drive, so he was on board right away. Ashleigh is the practical one and needed a little convincing. On top of their shared family responsibilities, she’s a full-time ICU nurse at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley and helps with Cultivo (and witnesses the many demands it makes on Fernando). But Fernando believed in the project and brought her around. According to Ashleigh, “Once we committed to it, we were both inspired to turn it into something that we love.”
The Plazola family moved to the area from Sonoma County in 2014, a return to roots for Ashleigh. Her family has lived here since the late 1800s and includes the founders of the town of Branscomb. Fernando has slowly been moving north his whole life. He was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, grew up in Los Angeles, and moved to the Bay Area, where he trained at the CCA in San Francisco, graduating in 2004. Of course, he was a cook long before he was a chef. “I was always cooking before [the CCA],” he says. “My mom was a really good cook and taught all nine of us kids how to feed ourselves.”
Fernando had been working as the executive chef at a restaurant in Guerneville, more than an hour’s drive from Ukiah. They purchased the downtown restaurant space (formerly the site of Saucy) in December 2017, and they officially opened Cultivo the summer of 2018, which allowed him to stop commuting and start feeding the community they love and call home.
The vision for Hangar 39 combines Ashleigh’s love of local history with Fernando’s commitment to excellent food. Ashleigh’s mother helped coordinate a book series in Laytonville called Through the Eyes of the Elders, which inspired Ashleigh’s own interest in Mendocino County‘s history. “I want the younger generations to know what it used to be like here,” she reflects. Her grandpa was a pilot and a logger who used to fly into all of Mendocino’s small airports, accessing the parcels he logged by plane. This sparked her interest in the history of the local flight community, and she’s been in touch with the county’s historical society seeking more information.
The aviation theme is front and center in the lobby at Hangar 39, where flight atlas manuals from an old encyclopedia found at the Willits airport are displayed. Ashleigh is always on the hunt for more historical photos and artifacts to use throughout the restaurant.
Why Hangar 39, you may ask? The Plazolas wanted a name that would highlight the airiness and loftiness of the building, especially the main dining room. A pilot friend suggested ‘hangar,’ which they combined with Ukiah’s location on the 39th north parallel, a circle of latitude known for its excellent wine grape growing conditions and shared with Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece.
The restaurant had its soft opening in late July, serving dinner Thursday to Saturday and open all-day Sunday. Once the menu is finalized and enough staff is hired and trained, a hard launch will follow.
Not long after the soft opening, my husband and I enjoyed a double date with some friends at Hangar 39. We were greeted promptly and enthusiastically, and the excitement of staff was infectious. Inside the restaurant, the ambience is largely the same as its predecessor—a smart choice by the Plazolas, as the 12,000 square foot restaurant was already well appointed and would have cost a fortune to redecorate. Though there is a patio for outdoor dining, we sat inside due to the cold evening. The high backs of our oversized booth gave us privacy and also made us feel a little safer about dining indoors.
The whole menu is Fernando’s creation, executed by skillful cooks, and although it is surely stressful being responsible for what comes out of two of Ukiah’s kitchens, it certainly works from the diner’s perspective. The Roasted Vegetable Wellington was by far the star of the night: a perfectly baked concoction of thinly sliced, layered vegetables surrounded by flaky phyllo dough—no soggy bottoms here! We would have eaten four times the amount of the sauce that came with it, a pistachio and cream fraiche pesto that added the perfect pop of flavor and acidity. We also enjoyed the Airline Chicken and the classic Caesar and Mendo Local Greens salads, both of which were fresh and tasty.
During a recent return trip, we started with the butternut squash gnocchi, big and pillowy and delicious, and the brie toast with caramelized onions and apple chutney—three generous, gorgeous pieces with just the right mix of comfort and complexity for anyone who loves fall flavors. We had to resist ordering the Wellington again in favor of further exploring the menu, and we settled on an experimental thin-crust pizza with bleu cheese and peaches (“very interesting,” we kept saying to each other) and a grass-fed beef filet with a perfect portion of potatoes au gratin. We neglected to notice the steak knife on our table, but the steak was so tender we had no problem cutting it with a butter knife.
For dessert we tried one of their mainstays, a flourless chocolate torte with sugared berries. It has a bit of a chili powder kick, and adding a scoop of ice cream provides a counterbalance to its intensity. We also tried a special panna cotta with pears. If you’ve never made panna cotta, you may not appreciate how hard it is to get a perfect set and a smooth texture. The light, luxurious panna cotta, paired perfectly with crunchy hazelnuts set atop salted caramel, was a sheer triumph.
Hangar 39 is an excellent choice for a special occasion, and even has a large room you can reserve for parties, but it doesn’t have to be consigned to birthdays and anniversaries. With two bars serving a long list of local wines and a wealth of beers on tap, plus crowd-pleasing and reasonably priced classics like pepperoni pizza and an Angus beef burger, this is also the perfect spot for a Thursday night drink or a Sunday afternoon football game on one of the many big screen TVs.
Finally, if you love cocktails, Hangar 39 should be on your radar. We tried several and highly recommend the “Final Approach,” a sweet and strong bourbon concoction with lemon and lime juice and rosemary syrup, as well as “The Crosswind”—lemon vodka, house-made lemonade, and a float of red wine, which, when mixed together, tastes like a bold update to a refreshing sangria.
With a crowd-pleasing menu and bountifully stocked bar, it’s not hard to imagine that Hangar 39 will earn itself some noteworthy mentions in Ukiah’s history books.
Hangar 39
1180 Airport Park Blvd, Ukiah, CA 95482
(707) 404-8822 | Hangar39.com
Thursday - Friday 4pm - 9pm
Saturday - Sunday 11am - 9pm
Elizabeth Archer lives in Ukiah with her beekeeper husband and nature-loving preschooler. She is an enthusiastic eater and home cook, and supports local food and farmers wherever possible.
Milla Handley
A Pioneer for Women and Wine
by Holly Madrigal
Milla Handley wanted to make wines with a come-hither quality, to create flavors that beckon you to learn more, full of complexity and nuance. Wine that hints of a life of intrigue, just steps away around the corner. In some ways, this is like the woman herself. A pioneer among Anderson Valley winemakers, Milla Handley passed away last year. Her legacy lives on in her children and the delicious wines of Handley Cellars.
Milla attended U.C. Davis because it was the one college where she could bring her horse. She initially pursued many of her passions in veterinary science and art. She settled on enology because, when she dreamed of her future, she knew that she wanted a life in the country, and enology could provide that while offering a decent living. She saw it as a way to combine her love of science with art to create a product that could be enjoyed. She met her husband, Rex McClellan, at Davis, and they decided to embark on a journey to find this rural life.
Milla and Rex moved to Sonoma County after graduation to hone her winemaking craft, but they settled in Anderson Valley when Rex got a job with Navarro Vineyards. Shortly after giving birth to her first daughter, Megan, Milla met legendary winemaker Jed Stelle at a playgroup. Jed was working with Edmeades at the time, and Milla soon went to work with him. She learned a great deal from Jed, but following her own independent streak, she set out to make her own vintage. After a trial year spent making wine in the basement, her first official vintage was a 1982 Chardonnay which won a gold medal at the Orange County Fair.
Those accolades helped launch Handley Cellars, and in 1985, Milla and Rex purchased the land where the vineyards and tasting room still sit, nestled in the golden hills in the deep end of Anderson Valley. Initially they planted grapes for sparkling wine, but they pretty quickly shifted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Adding some blocks of Gewürztraminer, an Alsatian white varietal, was a nod to Milla’s mentor, Hans Kobler, then-owner of Lazy Creek Winery. Handley Cellars’ love of the Alsatian varietals continues to this day.
Professionally developing as a winemaker is a lifelong commitment, urging the desired flavors to prominence, balancing the notes to make the perfect end result. In recent years, an increasing number of female winemakers are in the industry, but the number of vineyard owners and labels helmed by women is still very few (some reports show 13%, with 25% of female/spouse co-ownership). Many were inspired by or aware of Milla’s work in Anderson Valley. She took time to mentor, to speak, and to teach what she had learned.
There is still a long way to go in the acceptance of women in this traditionally male-dominated field. Milla was the first woman winemaker and owner in the U.S. to establish a wine label with her own name. “My mom did it all. She made the wine, made the sales calls, and managed the business,” says daughter, Lulu Handley. “She was a maven and was able to buck trends because she really didn’t care what people thought about her.”
Somehow, Milla managed not to be too affected by either praise or criticism. “She was able to set a course and stick to it. She got incredible reviews early on but did not let that sway her from making wine the way she wanted to. Harsh comments rolled off her back. I admired that ego was never part of it,” adds Lulu. Handley wines were crafted to a level of excellence because of Milla’s vision. “Something beautiful that came from her passing was having all these women in the wine industry sharing how she had helped them either by mentorship, or by simply existing in this space as a successful female winemaker and vineyard owner, showing them that their dreams, too, were possible.”
Milla sought to bring forth the taste of Anderson Valley in her wines. She understood that the area was worthy of broader recognition. Revealing the terroir with a deft touch, she felt like a champion for the area by making wines that really represented this place. She originally crafted sparkling wines that elevated the most simple meal, creating a celebration. “There is something magical about the sparkling wine. A bottle of bubbles can transport you,” Lulu muses. Milla liked delicate wines that did not knock you over the head. Describing her excellent Pinot Noir, Lulu shared, “She made wine that beckons you from across the room. Ones that were beguiling, intriguing, welcoming you in.” She liked wines that were a little mysterious. She made wines that kept you interested, ready to explore more, meant to be shared at the table paired with a wonderful meal.
Handley Cellars continues to hold the flame of her legacy. Lulu has been involved with running the business since 2016, around the time that her mom retired. Winemaker Randy Schock worked alongside Milla, learning from her values and skill. Now leading the way, he keeps Handley wines dynamic and evolving, just as Milla would have, bringing forth excellent vintages that retain the high bar set by his predecessor. Looking to the future, they are crafting wines that stem from the original roots of Handley Cellars. Yet they are also exploring new territory, having decided to remove some of the old vines and replace them with an exciting new varietal.
Lulu ensures that Handley Cellars’ devoted customers continue to have access to their favorite Handley vintages. The tasting room has developed a welcoming outdoor garden space to taste flights on site. Or if you want a casual picnic gathering with friends, you can grab a bottle and settle in the Adirondack chairs gazing out over Anderson Valley. The come-hither quality of the wine will draw you in. As you sip your glass of Pinot Noir, imagine Milla Handley inviting you to explore the taste of this place, and you will likely never forget it.
Handley Cellars
3151 Hwy 128, Philo, CA 95466
(707) 895-3876 | HandleyCellars.com
Tastings by appointment | IG and FB : @handleycellars
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Mist Farm
Good Dirt, Dastardly Ravens, and Elusive Emus
by Anna Levy
Mist Farm, located just off of Highway 1 up Little Lake Road from the stoplight in Mendocino—is perhaps a bit off the beaten path, tucked away among houses past the Mendocino K-8 School. For owners Alexia King Richter and husband Karl Richter, though, it’s a labor of love that has grown from a dream into a happy reality.
“Karl has been farming on this property since 2000,” says Alexia. “He grew a variety of berries and sold them to different restaurants and bakers” before they decided to expand. They first tried their hand at the farmers markets before opening their own stand in 2014. She continued, “We started as a small table in our driveway, and after a few years we expanded to more tables, and now finally a permanent wooden structure.”
There, they sell produce of all kinds, ranging from their main crop of strawberries to a wide range of vegetables. “We are on a six-acre piece of property, but we use about three acres for agriculture,” Alexia explains. That includes four greenhouses—for things like tomatoes, cucumbers, and greens—and a half-acre orchard for peaches, plums, pears, apples, cherries, and almonds. “We also raise our own chickens, turkeys, and ducks for eggs and meat,” Alexia notes, as well as pigs for meat and breeding.
Alexia grew up in Mendocino, but farming wasn’t the life she’d envisioned. Though she has fond memories of Gowan’s and The Apple Farm, she says, “I never thought I would be in overalls all day working outside with animals and dirt.” Yet Karl’s love of food production eventually blossomed into a dream for them both. Karl is originally from Arcata. Alexia explains, “My husband has had many jobs, from ranching to fishing to tree falling. His whole life has been working with local resources.” But regardless of his work, she says, he “always had an abundant garden overflowing with vegetables.” That eventually evolved into a love of farming itself. “We mostly learn from failures. You can read all the books and take all the classes, but nature has a way of showing you the right path.”
Those lessons can sometimes be frustrating. Alexia rued, “The ravens cost us not only our sanity but a huge part of our income” by picking off strawberries and attacking baby chicks. She sees how they’re admired because they’re such smart birds, and though they respect and understand that, “after living with their destruction, it’s hard for us to have those same feelings.”
Other times, though, the things that the farm has taught them can become amusing anecdotes that live on not only in their minds but also in the collective memory of the community. For instance, they once brought home 14 adult emus, which broke out of their property and spent two months on the lam. Residents called whenever they spotted one, and Karl would race off to fetch them. Alexia remembers one neighbor who called when a pair of emus strolled up behind her husband, following him on his riding lawn mower, or the time that the emus sent the grammar school into lockdown. “It was quite an adventure,” Alexia remembers, but not one that deterred them. They’ve since raised baby emus, which, she says, is “one of the best adventures ever.”
Throughout, Alexia and Karl have remained true to their philosophy of producing organic, healthy food. “We use only organic farming practices,” she says, including “organic seeds and feed for our animals.” They even make their own compost. “It’s a passion of Karl’s,” Alexia explains, noting that they partner with other organizations to produce what they need. “We get truckloads of chips from the chip companies, brewery waste like spent grain and yeast, and fish from our local fisheries. We mix those items with our farm waste like vegetation, weeds, and manure from our animals.” The result is soil that is in line with their values.
Still, it isn’t just the trials and tribulations of farm life that keep the couple going. It is, instead, the support of—and commitment to—the local community. “Initially we started this farm to make a living on the land we live on, but now our drive is different. It’s for our customers. They count on us, and it’s a great responsibility,” Alexia says.
Interestingly, the pandemic brought increased numbers of people to the farm. “I now worry about traffic jams, it’s so busy. People have been lining up before we open.” She credits the unprecedented moment in history with offering Mist Farm an opportunity to contribute more than just food for customers. “I believe we also give them a sense of security. I’m the only person who has touched their produce, and it was picked the same day,” she says. “People give each other space while shopping, and I believe that’s important to our community.”
Alexia believes it’s that idea of community that will keep the couple going as they look towards the future. “We love the idea of team-running this farm. We have only begun realizing our potential on this small piece of property. We believe, if we had more help and interest, that the farm stand could be so much better.” Increased food production, home-cooked meals, and more are all possibilities. Whatever the future holds, “I think all we would like our community to know is how thankful we are for them,” Alexia says.
That gratitude goes both ways. Mist Farm is indeed a dream come true—for the Richters, of course, and for the many people they feed.
Mist Farm
44051 Little Lake Road, Mendocino CA 95460
(707) 937-3794 | Instagram @mistfarmmendocino | facebook.com/mistfarmmendocino
Hours vary by season.
Anna Levy writes, cooks, and plans travel of all sorts whenever she can. She lives on the Mendocino Coast with her son and two dogs.
Rivers in the Air
The Untapped Potential of Fog Harvesting
by Torrey Douglass
With the exception of the air we breathe, there is nothing we need more than fresh, clean water. It’s why populations are concentrated along the coasts, lakes, and rivers. It’s why farmers keep an eagle eye on the weather and why squabbles over water rights can devolve into vicious litigation. And it’s also why some people look at an encroaching fogbank, and, instead of seeing a cause for cancelling picnic plans or postponing that hot air balloon flight, they see a water tap that can be turned on with the right tools.
The concept of collecting water out of the air through condensation is not new. For over 2,000 years, people have used water from fog for consumption and other human needs like irrigation, washing, and livestock care. The Incas used stone walls that captured and directed water into irrigation channels, and domed stone structures perforated with tiny openings served as “air wells” in deserts in the Middle East.
In more recent decades, a number of companies and organizations have looked to fog harvesting as a method for bringing potable water to communities plagued by water scarcity. FogQuest, a Canadian nonprofit, has installed fog collection projects in a number of countries including Nepal, Morroco, Guatemala, Eritrea, and Chile, among others. In 1992, FogQuest installed its first system comprised of 100 fog collectors—metal frames with 50 square meters of fine netting stretched within each—on a foggy ridge site in Chile called El Tofo. Fog blown through the netting left behind droplets that slid down into piping that carried the water seven kilometers away to storage tanks in Chungungo, a village on the coast. Over the next ten years, the collectors fed water to Chungungo, and its population doubled over the same time period. On a day without fog, the system did not produce any water, but on the days with the heaviest fog, over 100,000 liters (26,417 gallons) of water were sent down the mountain for Chungungo’s citizens—an average of three liters per day per square meter of netting.
Chungungo is not far from Lima, a city that receives an average of just six millimeters of precipitation annually. In such exceptionally dry conditions, the fog harvesting system was a relatively low-cost and effective way to provide water for the community. It could have continued for another ten years and more if local politicians had not begun advocating for alternative water solutions (like a $1M desalination plant) around 2000. In an attempt to demonstrate the need for government investment, the fog harvesters were allowed to fall into disrepair, becoming completely non-operational by 2003. No alternative system was built, and today Chungungo has (again) resorted to the pricey strategy of trucking in water for its people.
The project at El Tofo demonstrated both the potential and the vulnerabilities of fog harvesting. Yes, the system can pull potable water out of the air, but it needs the right conditions environmentally—significant fog with enough wind to push it through the mesh—as well as culturally. Other projects have reported how lack of community buy-in can lead to inattentive infrastructure maintenance and the system’s ultimate failure. So working with the people the system serves, and designing it to integrate effectively into the local customs, is critical for its longevity.
The Warka Water nonprofit puts this wisdom into practice, consistently integrating local expertise, materials, and building methods into its projects. Founded by Italian artist, designer, and architect Arturo Vittori, the nonprofit looks to both old traditions and new advancements to develop sustainable, culturally appropriately solutions for challenges faced in remote and undeveloped areas. Its water tower, a bamboo frame covered in netting, was designed to be rugged enough to endure the elements while also light enough to be replicated without the need for heavy equipment. Vittori has taken the additional and admirable step of making his designs open source, so anyone motivated to do so can create their own Warka Water Tower, adapting it to their particular geographic and cultural context.
The tower, as well as Vittori’s nonprofit, is named after the Warka tree, a large fig tree found in Ethiopia whose ample shade and abundant fruit make it a gathering hub and highly valued resource for a community. In 2015, Warka Water helped a community in Ethiopia install their own tower. Its organic shape resembles a pillar that gracefully narrows upward with a slight flare at the top. The round nature of the tower facilitates fog collection regardless of the wind’s direction. It is designed to collect not just water, but also precipitation and even the condensation that occurs in the evenings and mornings as the temperature change releases moisture from the air. The footprint is small—the diameter of a mature redwood—and it costs less than $1,000. With the whole community on hand to contribute, it goes up in less than a day, and it is constructed with local, biodegradable materials. Once it is up and functioning, the tower collects 100 liters (26 gallons) of water every day.
The work of Vittori and others exploring fog harvesting comes none too soon, as climate change ejects weather and precipitation out of their once-predictable patterns. Researchers continue to experiment with different netting materials, configurations, and coatings to optimize collection. A team at MIT even used an ion emitter to give fog droplets an electric charge that impells them toward a wire mesh, much like how a magnet attracts iron filings. With this approach, the mesh collects significantly more droplets, which are then gathered into a channel that carries the collected water to storage.
I live in the hills of Anderson Valley, and our home sits above a small vale where fog floats by on misty mornings, sometimes layered and light as ribbons of taffeta, other times dense as a wall of cotton. Motivated by California’s ongoing drought conditions and the very real need to find alternative sources of fresh water besides our wells and waterways, I assembled two types of fog catchers. One uses a large filter pad used in AC units, and the other uses vertical fishing line stretched between two threaded rods. The filter pad is an affordable equivalent to the raschel mesh used by FogQuest and other fog harvesting engineers (raschel mesh can be purchased at BaysideFogCollectors.com). The fishing line approach mimics the Baleen found in the mouths of some whales, a profusion of snugly positioned and bristly plates that sift plankton from the water they suck in. Both designs use 1-½” PVC piping for the structures. Instructions follow if you would like to make your own.
At the time of this writing, the fog catchers have yet to be tested and compared. Due to their size, they are only appropriate for smaller applications, like positioning near a tree or garden bed that would benefit from fog-gleaned irrigation. Yet even small fog catchers can help take a little pressure off your current water sources, and the experience of building one can lead to insights that improve the next project, with the potential for scaling up as designs are increasingly optimized.
Only part of Mendocino County is coastline, but all areas experience fog and morning dew on the grass. Drinking fog is, after all, how our famous redwoods slake their thirst. Our future depends on us staying calm in the midst of crisis, and combining creativity, adaptability, and practicality to find new methods for addressing perpetual human needs. We would do well to mimic the redwoods. Perhaps Mendocino folks of tomorrow will toast to wellness and resilience with a tall glass of fog.
Build Your Own Baleen Fog Collector
MATERIALS
(2) 3’ lengths of 1½” PVC pipe
(1) 32” length of 1½” PVC pipe
(2) 90° 1½” PVC elbows
(2) 1½” PVC T-pieces
(4) 9” lengths 1½” PVC
(4) end caps for 1½” PVC
(2) 3’ long threaded metal rods ½” diameter
1000 yds of 3mm fishing line
(2) long U bolts with 1½” bend
(1) 33” length of gutter
INSTRUCTIONS
Drill two 3/4” holes into each of the 3’ lengths of pipe, one 2” from the top and the other, along the same axis, 24” from the top. Attach the elbow pieces to the top of the 3’ lengths and lay them on the floor 3’ apart with the holes facing each other. Place the rods into the drilled holes and the 32” pipe into the elbow on the left side, doing the same on the right to create a U shape. Attach the T-pieces to the bottoms, perpendicular to the top bar. Add two 9” lengths to each T-piece, adding a cap piece to each end. This completes the main structure.
This next step will take a while. Tie the fishing line to the bottom of the rod on one side, and proceed to thread it up and around the top rod then down and around the bottom, using the grooves of the threads to hold each section in place. When you reach the end, tie off the line so it is secure and as taut as possible. Slide the U-bolts onto the side pieces of pipe about 4” from the bottom rod, with one side slightly lower. If the bolts are not snug, screw a small screw into the pipe just below them to prevent sliding. Place a gutter so it is resting on the U-bolts, and push it all the way to the pipe on the higher side to allow it to angle down toward the low side, leaving a small gap. Install the collector in a location that experiences regular fog, facing directly into the wind for best results. Place a vessel under the gutter to collect your fog water.
Photos, top left to right: close up of fishing line stretched over threaded rod; and materials for the baleen fog catcher; the air filter used in the mesh fog catcher. Next row, left to right: the baleen fog catcher; the mesh fog catcher; and materials for the mesh fog catcher.
Build Your Own Mesh Fog Collector
MATERIALS
(3) 3’ lengths of 1½” PVC pipe
(2) 90° 1½” PVC elbows
(2) 1½” PVC T-pieces
(4) 9” lengths 1½” PVC
(4) end caps for 1½” PVC
(1) 20” x 30” air cleaning filter
(16) zip ties
(2) long U bolts with 1½” bend
(1) 33” length of gutter
INSTRUCTIONS
Using the elbow pieces, attach the 3 lengths of PVC pipe into a U shape. Attach the T-pieces to the bottom of the U, perpendicular to the top bar. Add two 9” lengths to each T-piece, adding a cap piece to each end. This completes the main structure.
Using the zip ties, attach the filter mesh to the structure, hanging first from the top bar and then securing to the sides. Slide the U-bolts onto the side pieces of pipe about 4” from the bottom of the filter, with one side slightly lower. If the bolts are not snug, screw a small screw into the pipe just below them to prevent sliding. Place a gutter so it is resting on the U-bolts, and push it all the way to the pipe on the higher side to allow it to angle down toward the low side, leaving a small gap. Install the collector in a location that experiences regular fog, facing directly into the wind for best results. Place a vessel under the gutter to collect your fog water.
*This photo of fog harvesting equipment in Chile does not depict a FogQuest project, though it shows the same type of system used. For photos and information about FogQuest, visit FogQuest.org.
main photo by Debra Eloise. p18 cobweb photo by Norbert Velescu courtesy of Unsplash; fog catchers image Atrapanieblas en Alto Patache by Nicole Saffie, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. redwood branch photo by Jeremy Bezanger courtesy of Unsplash.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville and the art director for Word of Mouth magazine.
Sourberry
Zesty Sumac Drupes Might Be Growing in Your Own Backyard
by Torrey Douglass
Fruit from the hardy sourberry provided a lemony tang to dishes long before lemons were introduced to North America. The berries—bright red, slightly sticky, and roughly ¼” long—ripen in fall and can persist through the winter, a welcome food source for birds, other wildlife, and even people!
Also known as three-leafed sumac or rhus aromatica, the plant can grow as a low groundcover 2-3’ high or a large, bushy shrub up to 6-8’, depending on the amounts of light and moisture it receives. It is drought tolerant and boasts glossy green leaves in groups of threes, just like its cousin, poison oak. Sumac is common all along the western coast, from Baja California to Oregon, showing up in a variety of landscapes from oak woodlands, seasonal streams, and chaparral, primarily below 3500’ elevation.
Za’atar spice blend
The sumac fruit are drupes that contain a single hard seed, ripening from light green to dark red as the year rolls along. Wait until the berries are a rich red before picking. (Gloves and old clothes are advised due to the fruits’ sticky coating.) Indigenous Americans used the berries to settle an upset stomach or ease a toothache, or to make a refreshing, tart drink not unlike lemonade. If you try your hand at a sourberry lemonade, don’t rinse off the berries’ sticky coating, as that adds a natural sweetness to the drink. Instead, soak the berries in cold water for 2-4 hours before draining through increasingly finer meshes to remove any particulates.
Where the fruit really shines is in your spice cabinet. Sumac is widely used in Middle Eastern cooking, often as a key element of the popular Za’atar spice blend in combination with sesame seeds, thyme, oregano, and salt. But it’s perfectly suited to be used as a standalone ingredient as well, in place of lemons or vinegar for a tangy, gently acid flavor. Sumac adds spark to lentils, meats, fish, hummus, roasted vegetables—really any dish that could use a zesty wake-me-up.
Instructions
To make the sumac “spice,” first dry the berries. In hot and dry weather, you can do this by spreading them out on a cookie sheet under a protective screen, but in colder seasons, put those sheets in the oven for 3-4 days, periodically turning it on the “low” setting (less than 150 degrees) several times each day.
Once the berries are dry, grind them gently with a mortar and pestle—hard enough to press out the seeds from the fruit, but not so hard as to crush those seeds. Move the mixture to a plate, then “shimmy” the plate and tilt it, placing your hand perpendicular to the plate to hold the hulls back and let the seeds slide away under it. Discard the seeds.
After cleaning and drying the pestle, return the hulls to it and finish grinding into a powder (you can also use a coffee grinder for this step). Store in a jar. Soon you’ll be reaching for it whenever you’re cooking up something delicious in your kitchen.
Note: Like cashews, mangos, and pistachios, sumac is in the Anacardiaceae family. If you have allergies or food sensitivities to these foods and/or poison oak, avoid eating sumac.
Fruit Photo by Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Spice photo by annafood, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Word of Mouth Vegan Holiday Gift Guide
We often put together a sweet selection of local goods and nibbles you can offer as gifts to friends and family for the holidays. This year, just for fun, we’re adding an extra twist: as well as being produced with care and expertise in Mendocino County (and a few from a little further away), each of our recommendations is also vegan. So no matter who you are giving to, we’re pretty sure you can find a gift that fits.
Vegan Cheese from The Bewildered Pig
Chef Janelle Weaver dedicated the bulk of summer 2021 to researching and experimenting with how to make sublime vegan cheeses, and her effort has been well worth it. The Bewildered Pig now offers Faux-Mage, three unique vegan “cheeses.” The collection includes a flavor-packed “Powerhouse Spread,” a luscious Camembert-like cheese cultured with fermented locally grown grains, and a Faux-Mozz, a soft cheese made from a cashew base.
Available by pre-order only at TheBewilderedPig.com.
Gift Certificates for Vegan Restaurants
We are fortunate in this county to have some truly outstanding vegan restaurants. Fog Eater Cafe in Mendocino Village serves up “California Cuisine with a Southern Twang,” while Ravens Restaurant at The Stanford Inn offers an elegant menu of seasonally inspired dishes, often sourced right out of the inn’s garden. For casual Caribbean fare that’s both hearty and delicious, head to Taste Buds in Ukiah.
Chile Treats from Boonville Barn Collective
The folks at Boonville Barn Collective, makers of the culinarily beloved Piment d’Ville, have some new goodies! Favorites include their Citrus and Chile marmalade, a seasoning salt made with Daybreak Seaweed featuring wakame and sea salt, and even a floral and fruity kombucha vinegar by our friends over at Wilder Kombucha. (If an item you want is sold out on the website, stop by the Ukiah Natural Foods Coop.)
Gift Tote from Filigreen Farm
Filigreen Farm in Anderson Valley has gathered a selection of the season’s bounty into a gift tote for your friends and family. The tote includes a 500ml bottle of olive oil, dried fruit (peaches, prunes, and raisins), an everlasting bouquet, and quince apple butter. All items are Demeter certified Biodynamic, CCOF certified organic, and all grown and produced at Filigreen Farm.
Email farmstand@filigreenfarm.com to order and pick up at a designated time at Velma’s Farm Stand in Boonville.
The Terra Sávia Beauty Box
You can be just as conscientious about what goes on your body as what goes in it. With that in mind, natural beauty products are a great gift for the people you love. Created with their own lavender and olive oil, the Beauty Box from Terra Sávia—Hopland’s winery, vineyard, and olive mill—includes a gentle olive oil soap, a refreshing lavender spritzer, and a delicate olive oil moisturizing cream with a light lavender scent.
Hot Drinks to Warm the Vegan Soul
One of our favorite cold-weather drinks is the spicy and nourishing Tuber Tonic from Mendocino Tea Company. For coffee lovers, we are fortunate to have an abundance of high quality roasters in the county: Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, Little Green Bean in Point Arena, and award-winning Black Oak Coffee in Ukiah.
MendocinoTea.com | ThanksgivingCoffee.com
LittleGreenBeanRoastery.com | BlackOakCoffee.com
A Bit Farther Afield
Our neighbors to the south have some excellent vegan gift options as well. The lavish dishes at Cozy Plum Bistro in Santa Rosa deliver scrumptious satisfaction one normally doesn’t associate with vegan food. To see the benefits of eating vegan, folks can visit Charlie’s Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary in Sonoma, offering both farm tours and animal sponsorships. Also from Sonoma, Renegade Foods is an online shop that sells 3-packs of plant-based charcuterie with Spanish flavors.
Saracina Winery
Geeking Out with Winemaker Alex MacGregor
story and photos by Ree Slocum
Alex MacGregor embarked upon a lifetime of wine exploration after graduating with a business degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Twenty of those years have been spent at Saracina Vineyards near Hopland, creating wines with owners John Fetzer and Patty Rock. They dry farm the vineyard, focusing on interesting varieties and old vine varietals.
From the get-go, MacGregor’s passion for the craft and Fetzer’s extensive connections among regional wineries granted him access to other vineyards in the area. “I got to taste everybody’s vineyard,” MacGregor said. He sampled their wines, bought and harvested their grapes, and crafted his own distinctive wines for the Saracina label as well as his own, Trinafour Cellars.
Three years ago, Saracina was purchased by Marc Taub, a third generation importer who was named Wine Star Person of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Alex has gained a reputation for producing some of the finest limited production wines in the county and beyond, to such a degree that Taub sees MacGregor as “… the treasure that came with the property.” And it’s a truly stunning property, with rolling hills dotted with oaks, glittering ponds, and, of course, those dry-farmed vineyards.
MacGregor and I sat in Saracina’s bright and airy tasting room tucked at the foot of an oak-topped vineyard hillside. We sampled wines while he talked about each, as well as the wider world of winemaking.
We sat down at a table in front of four wine glasses; a notepad, tasting menu, and pen; a plate with crackers and soft cheese; and, of course, a collection of wines from Saracina’s latest release. “We’re going to have a little snack and taste current releases. The snack is a breakfast Brie with honey comb. It’s delicious with this newly bottled first release 2019 Anderson Valley Chardonnay from Valley Foothills. This got 17 months on oak and it’s made with native yeast and native malolactic.” Thus was my curiosity piqued.
MacGregor then dives deep into the technical details, clearly his happy place. “Primary fermentation is yeast converting sugar into ethanol, with CO2 as a byproduct. Almost all red wines go through a secondary fermentation, where malic acid is bacterially metabolized to form lactic acid. It’s softer, increases the pH, and also gives the wine microbial stability,” he explained.
He then went into detail about the native malolactic acid: “Ninety to 99% of the world’s red wines go through [a secondary] malolactic fermentation, but not all white wines go through malolactic. None of the low pH or aromatic, snappy white wines go through it, but chardonnay is a real candidate for it.” One of the by-products of the fermentation is diacetyl, which gives it “that buttery aroma—like movie popcorn,” he laughed.
“Bottom line is, this Chardonnay went through malolactic fermentation with native malo. We don’t inoculate the wines in the winery for malolactic. It’s in barrels, in our hoses. It’s in our skin. It’s on the floors. It’s in the drains. It’s a house-strain, for sure. It’s a very low diacetyl producer, so you’ll notice the wine is not super buttery.”
And the taste of the Anderson Valley Chardonnay paired beautifully with the rich breakfast Brie with honey. The smooth and unassuming bouquet of flavors were yummy from start to finish which, I think, belied the youth of the 2019 Chardonnay. This was later confirmed when Alex said, “We’re crafting these wines so they’re drinkable right away.”
To further convey the intricacies of winemaking and wine tasting, MacGregor explained, “The idea is to have two wines that are completely different in style.” So we compared the 2019 Valley Foothills Chardonnay and the 2020 Unoaked Chardonnay from Saracina’s original Sun Dial Ranch vineyard, planted in 1981. “They’re the same grape variety and they’re 20 miles apart from each other. The 2020 is pretty straight forward. Super cold fermentation. That’s what captures all of those esters you like [the fruity aromas]. It takes a month to go dry.” He continued, “It’s crisp like a Granny Smith apple and naked with no malolactic influence. It’s done with cultured yeast, no oak, no malo. It’s full of those peach and pear and stone fruit esters and they’re very fleeting. They will dissipate in time, so drink it early for the fruitness. But if you’re looking for more nuance, secondary and tertiary compounds—the leathers, the darker red fruits, and earth and dust—then you wait. The 2018 version of Unoaked Chard is delicious right now.”
MacGregor then moved to the red blend, Winter’s Edge. The grape varieties are from Casa Verde vineyard in Redwood Valley, owned by viticulturist Peter Chevalier. According to MacGregor, Chevalier “is the top viticulturist in Northern California,” a pro farmer who likes to find and resuscitate old vineyards like Casa Verde. “These are now 76-year-old vines. Winter’s Edge is a field blend. It’s head pruned, dry farmed, CCOF Certified and is a mix of carignan, grenache, might be a little bit of old vine cabernet, and French Colombard. The wine has high acid. It’s not super tannic. It has the acidity and pH of a white wine. It’s tart: pomegranate and cranberryish and bone dry.”
The Winter’s Edge Blend is an excellent accompaniment to earthy and savory winter meals. Says MacGregor, “This wine pairs well with chicken and anything with mushrooms—a mushroom tart, a ragout, or just mushrooms sautéed on toast with parsley and butter would be good with it.”
Our conversation ranged wide, illuminating fascinating facts about the process of winemaking. MacGregor described how “stirring the lees” with a stainless-steel paddle agitates the sediment in the tank or barrel, releasing a protein that binds tannins to improve the wine’s “mouth feel.” He explained that adding chicken egg whites—their own—to wines coalesces with the sediments in the wine, clarifying and stabilizing it while making the sediments easier to remove. And he went on to break down how adding some stems to pinot noir helps shift the pH, giving a “fatter mouth feel,” adding more longevity along with a bit of tannin. That tannin “adds to the structure of the wine,” and “you get a little bit more mid-palate.” To see if grape stems are ripe enough to add, you can chew on one right in the field to taste if the tannins are ready.
When we step back to consider the big picture, MacGregor reflects that this past year has been a rough one for farmers. “My yields have been tragic this year because of the drought. It was hot, no water, and a tiny, tiny crop. This vineyard [Charlie Sawyer’s vineyard off of Redemeyer Road outside of Ukiah] typically yields six tons. We got 1.9 tons of it this year,” MacGregor said. I asked, “How much are you going to bottle?” His response: “Not enough!”
He added, “We’re going to have enough [zinfandel] for the tasting room. I have enough chard to go into the broad market and maybe sauv blanc with half the markets we’re usually in. Rosé, half, too. So not great. We just won’t have as much. But we’ll sell more direct, so our profitability will increase.” MacGregor seems to have adopted the view held by Saracina’s previous owner, John Fetzer. He reminisces how “John had a very farming attitude about it. ‘That’s farming. You take your lumps farming,’ he’d say.”
Despite these challenges, it helps that Saracina is in the unique position of having enough water, thanks to a high-water table, dry farming methods, and a savvy winemaker. They’re planting new vines and will continue dry farming. As a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and Winery, they embrace a number of climate- and environmentally-friendly measures, safeguarding the property’s 140-year-old olive trees, tending its vegetable gardens and bee hives, and keeping a protective eye on the variety of bird and wild animal life that cohabitate there. The wine cave, dug out of solid rock, naturally cools bottles that would otherwise need a more energy-guzzling storage solution. All told, Saracina is situated within a breathtaking landscape with a talented team producing delicious handcrafted, limited production wines. For wine lovers, particularly those partial to Mendocino County, consider it essential for your tasting travel plans.
Saracina Winery
11684 South Highway 101, Hopland
(707) 670-0199 | Saracina.com
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.
Full Circle Wool
Tackling Climate Change with Tiny Sheep
by Torrey Douglass
What do sponges, wildfire safety, and 45 of the world’s smallest sheep have in common? The answer: Marie Hoff, a maker and shepherd living in Potter Valley.
Marie was in her late 20s when she decided that she’d had enough of the financial uncertainty of life in the Bay Area. Her post-college years had begun as a free-spirited time of living as cheaply as possible, working random jobs, and devoting the rest of her energy to creating and experiencing art with friends. But promising career openings for arts degree graduates are limited at the best of times; in an economy still reeling from the Great Recession, they had dried up faster than splashed paint. Eventually the grind of service jobs with no clear path to a more stable existence began to deflate her spirit. Marie knew it was time to take a step back, take stock, and figure out something new.
So began a period of reflection. Marie looked back on her patchwork of jobs and realized her favorite employment had been in the farmers markets. Meeting the farmers, selling the produce, and participating in a food system that was healthier for people and the climate aligned with her values and brought her joy. After growing up in Southern California suburbs, she’d been drawn to the Bay Area by its energy and artistic vibrancy. Now it was time to seek new pastures again.
Marie is warm, thoughtful, and patient, all good qualities in both a farmer and a friend. She reached out to contacts she’d made at the farmers markets and began spending time on their farms, working beside them, and learning all she could. “I loved the lifestyle,” she shares. “I thought, ‘This is where I’m supposed to be.’” She particularly loved the West Sonoma farms and, through housesitting and live/work arrangements, was soon able to shift her home base out of the city.
Marie spent some time living with her friend and mentor, Hazel Flett of Bodega Pastures, where she worked with sheep for the first time. Remembering that period, Marie reflects, “I liked moving around with them, shepherding them to new pastures and learning about their flock dynamics, seeing how my movement affected them and developed a relationship to them. And then how my movement and their movement impacted the land and grasses, how the relationship between me and the sheep affected the landscape.”
Not long after, Marie worked at Heart Felt Fiber Farm south of Santa Rosa, under the wise guidance of farmer and fiber artist Leslie Adkins. On a trip to the East Coast to meet other sheep ranchers, Leslie visited a Massachusetts farm where she encountered the smallest breed of sheep in the world: the Ouessant. Originally from the westernmost French island, Ile d’Ouessant, the sheep weigh around 50 pounds and stand 18” at the shoulder for ewes, 19” for rams. They are curious and gentle, yet hardy and independent enough to endure the cold wet winters in the hills of their home island.
Leslie was smitten by the Ouessant and purchased a pair for her farm. After returning to California, she convinced Marie to buy some of her own, and soon seven more joined the original two. Collectively, they were the first of the breed on the West Coast. Marie called her flock the Capella Grazing Project, aptly named after the shepherd star. She changed the name to Full Circle Wool after moving to Potter Valley three years later in 2016, not wanting to be confused with the Calpella community.
Full Circle Wool sells products made from wool provided by Marie’s herd and also sourced from other ranches in the region. She only uses wool that is Climate Beneficial™, described on her site as “a verification by Fibershed (501c3 nonprofit), confirming that the fiber is grown on a farm or ranch operating under, and actively implementing, a Carbon Farm Plan.”
Full Circle Wool products include wool sponges, handkerchiefs, skeins of beautiful yarn, and art hangings. It’s even possible to sponsor a newborn lamb. Sponsors get to name the lamb, visit it, and receive photo updates as it grows. They are sent wool from the spring and fall shearings, and can even attend a wool crafting class led by Marie. Not surprisingly, sponsorships, which open up in late October and early November, tend to sell out fast.
Wool products are ideal for climate conscious customers: sheep eat the grass to produce the wool, the wool is processed and used to make all sorts of items like sweaters, blankets, and rugs, and at the end of their life cycle, those goods can be composted and returned to the soil that grows the grass for the sheep. The weakest part of the cycle is the making of products—lots of wool gets thrown out because there are so few artisans to buy it. Restoring the infrastructure for processing to strengthen the overall market is a motivating factor behind Full Circle Wool.
Marie’s understanding of this cycle, as well as of the strengths and vulnerabilities involved in sheep ranching, can be traced to her work with the Fibershed, a nonprofit that develops regional fiber and dye systems while prioritizing economy, equity, and ecology. She served as the Producer Program Coordinator from 2016-2019, a multifaceted role in which she coordinated with the different producers, helped to organize events like the Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium and Fashion Gala, worked on the blog, managed the Climate Beneficial program, and oversaw in-person meetups for producers. “It taught me a lot of skills related to admin work that, while sometimes tedious, are really helpful in running Full Circle Wool,” Marie remembers. “I learned a lot about the different producers in Northern California, the different land bases, the different fibers and what landscapes they grow on, and carbon farming.”
Today Marie’s herd numbers 44, with 10 ewes, 14 lambs, 16 wethers (castrated males), and 4 rams. There is one Black Welsh Mountain Ram to maintain genetic diversity, since it’s challenging to purchase and ship new purebred Ouessant from afar. The flock provides more than just wool for Marie’s products. They are uniquely designed for wildfire fuel abatement to make properties more fire safe. Thanks to their short stature, attributed to the poor food sources of their home island, the sheep evolved into indiscriminate browsers (who eat brush and leafy branches) and grazers (who eat grasses and ground plants). Plants passed over by more finicky beasts, like poison oak and coyote brush, are deluxe entrees for the Ouessant. This is one reason they are so hardy and can thrive even in drought years. And thanks to their small size, they can eat down brush and tall grasses without damaging the land by erosion the way larger hoofed animals do. They leave nothing behind but cleared pastures and enriched soil from the nutrients their waste leaves on the land.
Vineyards like to hire the herd in January or February, right before bud break. The sheep eat down the cover crop when it is high but has not yet gone to seed. Ewes are best for vineyards, as the males’ enthusiasm can damage vines. The wethers are excellent for general fuel abatement, usually in March or April when the vegetation is thick and green after winter’s rain.
Marie likes to consider the sheep and what they provide from a holistic perspective. “If you think about it, the sheep are turning accumulated fire fuel into sponges and leaving the soil improved in the process,” she observes. The sponges are popular and sell out frequently, which is not surprising—all sponges need to be replaced on the regular, but wool sponges can be composted after use, while their synthetic counterparts end up in the landfill, or, worse, shred into microplastics that endanger ocean life. The challenge of keeping the products in stock reaffirms Marie’s take that manufacturing is the weakest part of the “Full Circle” that inspires her work. But with the patience, creativity, and determination she’s exhibited so far, Marie and Full Circle Wool are equipped to take on the challenge.
Full Circle Wool
PO Box 123, Potter Valley, CA 95469
FullCircleWool.com
Eco Wave Power
Harnessing Energy from the Ocean
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
Ocean energy is thought to be the next great frontier for reducing fossil fuel dependence. Unlike solar energy, which only works when the sun shines, or wind energy, which operates only when the wind blows, the ocean offers a constant source of wave power, as well as regularly-intervalled tidal power possibilities. Yet past projects with great potential—tidal turbines, ocean-harvested wind energy, and off-shore wave energy generators, to name a few—have faced significant obstacles, with very high price tags and equipment struggling to withstand the rigors of the harsh ocean environment.
Enter Inna Braverman and her company, Eco Wave Power (EWP). Currently a Swedish company which originated in Israel in 2011, Inna Braverman was only 24 years old when she launched EWP. Born in the Ukraine only two weeks before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster released an unprecedented amount of particulate matter and radioactive gases, she suffered respiratory arrest and was resuscitated by her mother. She has lived her life with the feeling that she was given a second chance to make a difference.
When Inna was young, her family moved to a town in Israel called Akko, with little to do but go to the beach. She was fascinated by the waves, but she didn’t become interested in waves as a source of power until her early twenties, after a stint at an environmental company. At that time, almost all wave energy projects were of an offshore nature and therefore were both exorbitantly expensive and suffered from a high failure rate. So, she became fascinated with the idea of developing an innovative wave energy technology which would be cost-efficient, reliable, environmentally friendly, and fully insurable. She came up with her own ideas of efficiently harnessing the power of onshore and nearshore waves. She was unable to do anything with her ideas, however, as she did not have the relevant contacts or the necessary financial resources. One day, she was invited to a social event where she met David Leb, a Canadian businessman and avid surfer, who shared a similar passion for wave power. They soon discovered their shared fascination with the potential energy that could be provided by the power of the ocean. Together, they birthed Eco Wave Power.
A Political Science/English Literature major and a businessman/surfing aficionado respectively, Braverman and Leb had to seek out both funding and engineering support to turn their ideas into a practical solution complete with sketches and blueprints. To that end, they made connections in the Ukraine, where they launched a competition between 300 engineers, ultimately choosing a team of five to make their ideas a reality. They subsequently rented a wave pool in the Hydromechanical Institute in Kiev to test different floater shapes, then increased the size of the system and installed it in the Crimean peninsula in the Ukraine, where the waters and weather are harsh. If the equipment can withstand the brutal conditions there, it increases the potential locations where they can be installed around the world. In 2014, they moved the floaters to Israel at Jaffa Port, the oldest port in the world. They then successfully developed the only grid-connected wave energy array system in Gibraltar, which has been operating in since 2016. In fact, they set a world record in 2018 by providing more than 15,000 hours of grid-connected power.
Braverman attributes her success to her deep passion for the project. She feels that “passion is the greatest renewable energy source.” She is particularly interested in bringing power from renewable energy to developing countries, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where 70% of people are not connected to any source of electricity.
Approximately 40% of the world’s population—2.4 billion people—live within 62 miles of a coast. “Wave energy alone can produce twice the amount of electricity that the world produces now,“ says Braverman, noting that The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believes that it offers a potential of 32,000 TWh of electricity. Unlike many ocean power technologies currently being developed, the Eco Wave modules are not installed off-shore or embedded into the sea floor. Instead, the floater modules are appended to already existing structures such as piers, jetties, and breakwaters.
Braverman explained, “The floaters are going up and down, pushing hydro cylinders, creating pressure in land-located accumulators, and this pressure is used to turn a hydro motor, which turns generators, which produce clean electricity to the grid.” The floaters begin operating when the waves are between half a meter and five meters high. If the waves are higher than that, or if a storm rolls in, an automated fail-safe function is activated, and the floaters either raise into a locked position above sea level, or they lock into a safe position deeper in the water to avoid damage. When the danger abates, the floaters automatically resume their power-generating position. The remainder of the power generation system is on land, which considerably reduces installation costs, as well as mitigating seawater and storm damage to costly equipment.
According to EWP, and verified by third party testing, the technology is environmentally friendly, has no negative
impact on the surrounding environment, and does not release any emissions. Yair Rudick, Business Development manager at EWP, said, “When designing our technology, we made the strategic decision to install our system on existing marine structures to avoid introducing new presence into the ocean environment and ensure that the local marine environment remains undisturbed. We also put an emphasis on ensuring that all the materials and components used in our system meet the highest environmental standards. For example, the hydraulic fluid used in the Eco Wave Power technology is bio-degradable … Furthermore, our system does not pose any problems for fishermen, as our floaters function in much the same way as boats moored to the relevant marine structure.”
EWP has just secured a development grant for the Sea Wave Energy Powered Microgrid for Remote Islands and Rural Coasts project. Braverman explained, “Wave energy is an immense source of renewable energy which can become greatly beneficial for Island and coastal communities that often have to rely on capital intensive and polluting solutions … The use of wave energy in such locations will lower the pollution levels while creating a new local industry and work places, which presents an additional set of benefits to the local population.” She noted that they have recently dual-listed Eco Wave Power on the U.S. NASDAQ (Stock Symbol: WAVE) and were successful in obtaining funding for the execution of the EWP’s near-future plans, which include the goal to expand their technology to the U.S.—the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world—including coastal California. These goals are in line with the Biden Administration’s stated desire to more fully develop alternative power sources and make tackling climate change one of their top priorities. She urged, “The time to act is now! . . . The potential of wave energy in the country is estimated at 3,500 TWh per year.”
Eco Wave Power has received the United National Global Climate Action Award, among many other commendations, and has secured 17 patents and patents pending for their clean wave energy generating technology, with one of the pending patents for adding solar panels on top of the floater arrays to generate additional energy. The company’s technology is comparatively cost effective, roughly the same as solar energy and a bit cheaper than wind energy. Their stance is that the world will only reduce its dependence on fossil fuels by utilizing multiple renewable energy methods in tandem, including solar, wind, hydro, and other non-polluting energy sources.
With projects in the pipeline in Brazil, Chile, Vietnam, Mexico, China, Portugal, Israel, U.K., Scotland, Gibraltar, Thailand, and other locations, and with passionate people like Braverman and Leb at the helm of this unique company, perhaps we can reverse our current climate woes and move into a healthier future. Ms. Braverman said, “Our mission is changing the world! And yes, I need you to help me. I cannot stand alone.” Let’s spread the word about this emerging technology and do our part to move fossil fuels to the past, where they belong.
Eco Wave Power
52 Derech Menachem Begin St., Tel Aviv-Yafo, 6713701, Israel
+972-3-509-4017 | EcoWavePower.com
Dawn Emery Ballantine lives in Anderson Valley where she curates and sells books at her tiny bookshop, Hedgehog Books, edits this magazine, and has always been awed by the power of the ocean.
Boozy Hot Chocolate
Mix & Match at Every Step for a Sweet Winter Warm-Up
by Torrey Douglass
Sometimes the answer to the question "Which one?" is really just, "Yes, please." There are so many yummy hot chocolate recipes available, we decided to take a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure approach to this season's Bebemos beverage: a rich and luscious hot chocolate with a grown-up twist. Take a gander through the steps below, pick which option strikes your fancy for each (sometimes more than one, as in the case of toppings), and curl up next to your favorite heat source (fireplace, wood burning stove, kind human with nice eyes, cuddly creature) to indulge in this hot-sweet-chocolatey-boozy treat.
Step 1: The Chocolate
2 tablespoons cocoa powder or 3/4 oz solid baking chocolate
The chocolate is the foundation of your drink, so whatever you choose, go for quality. You can opt for a solid, semi-sweet block of premium chocolate melted over a double boiler, or an excellent cocoa powder (both Ukiah Natural Foods Coop and Boont Berry Farm have great cocoa in bulk, and I go for the cocoa rouge if it's available). Pro tip: semi-sweet chocolate chips will do in a pinch, just skip the sweetener.
Step 2: The Milk
1 cup
I used to love the creamy richness of organic whole milk, and it's still a great option, but I find alternative milks are equally tasty and don't leave me feeling sluggish. Unsweetened almond milk or oat milk are my favorites. If you're using a solid chocolate, heat over a double boiler until melted, then slowly add in the milk while whisking. If you're using powdered cocoa, place a small saucepan with the milk over medium-low heat and whisk the cocoa into it.
Step 3: The Sweetener
2 teaspoons
I prefer honey, but organic sugar works, too. You can also use monkfruit sweetener, date syrup, and other sugar alternatives. Add to the saucepan after the chocolate is well blended. A hand held milk frother works well for this, or just whisk it in.
Step 4: The Booze
1 ounce
You can double-down on the rich, creaminess theme and use Bailey’s Irish Cream (non-dairy version is available) or Kahlua. Whiskey is popular, and I've even heard of people using red wine. Pour the hot chocolate into a large mug so the liquid does not fill it more than 3/4 full, then pour in 1 oz of the alcohol of your choice before adding …
Step 5: The Toppings
Go wild.
Here’s where you can channel both your 5-year-old self and your inner Julia Child into some creative jubilation. Cap your drink with a generous “hat” of whipped cream or latte-style milk foam. Dust it with nutmeg, cocoa powder, cinnamon, or even some Piment d'Ville chile. If you're really going for it, a chocolate or caramel syrup would not be out of the question. And, of course, there's always marshmallows of any size to complete your wintery elixir. Once you're done bedazzling your beverage, both your inner child and outer adult can sit back and savor your customized cocoa.
Photo by Cecilia O’Reilly courtesy of Unsplash
Undersea Activism
Restoring the Kelp Forests of Northern California
by Lisa Ludwigsen
From shore they glisten as massively dense, slowly undulating, impenetrable masses of shiny ocean plants. Below the surface, kelp forests host complex ecosystems of plant life, marine mammals, fish, birds, and invertebrates. These vast underwater forests have existed for thousands of years, providing healthy sources of food, shelter, materials, and cultural practices. But it is safe to say that we don’t yet fully understand all the ways they contribute to the planet’s wellbeing.
What we do understand is that over 95% of the bull kelp forests along Northern California’s coast have disappeared since 2014, when a sudden marine water heat wave caused upheaval in the entire ecosystem of the coastal Pacific Ocean. The warm water coincided with a mysterious sea star wasting syndrome, killing the sea stars and allowing their main food source, purple sea urchins, to explode in population. Those urchins, in turn, voraciously fed on the kelp, eradicating most of the kelp forests in an astoundingly short time. As the kelp forests disappeared, so did the plant and animal life dependent on that habitat. The scenario is alarming, yes, but organized restoration efforts are showing real promise.
Bull kelp is a type of seaweed which requires the typical cold water of the Pacific coast, thriving from Alaska to California. With an annual growing cycle and impressive growth rates of up to a foot per day, the kelp anchors via bulbous holdfasts in relatively shallow, rocky areas with moderate wave action. If you live near or visit the coasts of Northern California, you have likely seen them. Stalks of bull kelp—the stipe—can grow up to 65 feet in length and are held up by the spherical float, an air-filled buoyant ball supporting many flat blades that create a layer on or near the surface. These plants really do create underwater forests, providing food and shelter for a wide variety of animals. At year’s end, the kelp dies, and new plants are produced for the following year. The dead kelp masses continue to provide nourishment as they float on the surface.
The Surfrider Foundation is an international nonprofit environmental organization with over 100 chapters. The Mendocino County chapter has provided volunteers since 2002 to help keep beaches and water clean and accessible. Increasingly, Mendocino County Surfrider Foundation has been working to protect our coast from offshore oil and gas drilling, and to curtail the expansion of underwater sonar and weapons testing by the U.S. Navy. Surfrider is also assisting with kelp restoration through a broader based collective called KELPRR (Kelp Ecosystem Landscape Partnership for Research on Resilience), a coalition of marine scientists, divers, tribes, nonprofits, fish catchers, and others.
One crucial step to stop further decimation of kelp is the removal of purple sea urchins from the ocean floor. “We are seeing positive outcomes from urchin management efforts on our coast,” says Nicole Paisley Martensen, chairperson of the Surfrider Foundation, Mendocino County Chapter. “Over the past two years, the Noyo Center for Marine Science coordinated urchin removal efforts with commercial divers under guidance from California Department of Fish and Wildlife, removing over two million urchins from kelp ‘oasis’ zones at Noyo Bay, Caspar Cove, and Albion Cove,” she explains. The efforts in these survey zones have been surprisingly effective and have brought additional attention from policy makers and others.
In July, 2021, Congressman Jared Huffman introduced the KELP Act—Keeping Ecosystems Living and Productive Act, HR4458. Funded by NOAA, it proposes to provide $50 million annually from 2022 through 2026 for the conservation, restoration, and/or management of natural kelp forest ecosystems. “Working with Congressman Huffman and his team on writing this proposed legislation was such an honor,” says Nicole. “It felt like this is the leap that needs to be taken to jump from grassroots triage to federally-funded crisis prevention.” As of this printing, Congress has not yet voted to enact the KELP Act.
Alarmed by the state of the kelp forests, a group of concerned Northern California-based artists and activists have engaged with scientists working directly on kelp recovery to create the project titled Above/Below. The artists come from Santa Cruz to Mendocino and work in a range of media including film, multi-media, watercolor, large silk cyanotypes, and kelp itself. The science component includes representatives from The Nature Conservancy, the Estuary & Ocean Science Center at San Francisco State, U.C. Berkeley Herbarium, Noyo Center for Marine Science, and the Kelp Recovery Program at the Greater Farallones Association.
To launch the three-year awareness building campaign, Above/Below held a gathering of approximately 100 stakeholders in Sausalito in October 2021, with presentations by the science community and exhibits of work from the involved artists. Nibbles were sourced from fish that interact with kelp forests, including rockfish, salmon roe, anchovies, and, of course, Uni Onigiri—sea urchins. Oysters were provided by Hog Island, located on Tomales Bay in Marshall, California.
The event was organized in part by Marianna Leuschel, a Sausalito woman who became curious about the role of kelp while walking the beaches around Point Arena. It wasn’t long before she learned about the dire situation the kelp forests face, and she felt compelled to help others understand as well. With a background in communications and a network of inspired and creative friends, Marianna spearheaded Above/Below to use food, art, and science to “tell a compelling story of the kelp forests on the North Coast, and inspire people to get involved in supporting the protection and restoration of these endangered forests of the ocean.” Appealing to the public on multiple levels is essential since, as Marianna points out, it’s “an issue that is challenging for many of us to experience—because kelp forests live in a realm not visible to most—but one that touches all of our lives through our local foods, ecology, culture, and climate.”
A particularly illuminating speaker at the event was Rietta Hohman, coordinator for the Kelp Recovery Program at the Greater Farallones Association. The association is addressing the kelp crisis with a three-pronged approach: restoration, research, and partnerships. The restoration involves urchin removal in the zones near the shore where kelp usually thrives, as well as growing kelp in labs and then planting them out in the ocean once they are hardy enough to survive. Research includes monitoring the kelp zones off the coast of Sonoma and Mendocino to keep an eye on which areas need the most attention. And partnerships are enhanced through KELPRR, which brings together concerned stakeholders and is open to anyone who wants to participate.
It’s encouraging to hear about Hohman’s work, and indeed about the efforts of all the people and organizations who care about the kelp forests: policymakers, researchers, surfers, scientists, artists, and just concerned citizens like Marianna who want to make a difference. If 95% of the dry land forests in Northern California had disappeared, there would understandably be an urgent outcry for immediate and intense corrective action. With our underwater kelp forests in equal peril, it’s imperative that we pursue all options available for ceasing and reversing their devestation. Fortunately, the abundance of skills, knowledge, concern, and creativity the different participants bring to this issue have put us on a path where that just might be possible.
How can you help?
Know where your food comes from—eat seafood from regenerative sources. Oyster, clams, mussels, and seaweed improve waterways.
Ask your representatives to support the KELP Act.
Join the KELPRR email list at
farallones.org.
Visit the Noyo Center for Marine Science in Fort Bragg.
Join Surfriders at
mendocino.surfrider.org.
Visit the ocean! Take your children and experience the wonder of the ocean and tide pools.
Find out more about Mendocino County’s collaborative efforts to eradicate purple seas urchins via eco-culinary activism in the Word of Mouth Summer 2020 issue.
Photos: Van Damme State Beach by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Art event photos by Torrey Douglass. Bull kelp photo by Keith Johnson.
Lisa Ludwigsen is a writer and marketer working with food, farms, and family small businesses throughout Northern California. She has worked in organic agriculture, natural foods, and environmental education for over 20 years.
Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl
Serving Up Pizza, Music, and Movies in Downtown Willits
story & photos by Charlie Cathcart
Loyal customers formerly knew this location as Main Street Music & Video, a longtime favorite of folks looking to grab a movie rental or a vinyl album. The pandemic wreaked havoc on many businesses of all types and sizes in 2020, and Main Street was no different. It also made clear a truth that some had already accepted—video stores were going out of style.
That Main Street Music & Video was still in existence in 2020 showed that it was standing the test of time. But owner Pete Swanton knew that he would have to try something new to continue to be successful. Opening a new business is never easy, but luckily he already had a successful business that just needed a breath of fresh air.
Pete was quite familiar with pizza, having grown up in New Jersey, so when he envisioned Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to pay homage to his roots. His previous foray into food service, a dumpling shop called Nite Bite, turned out to be a little ambitious for the community. Pizza provided a perfect opportunity to feed customers with something classic and family friendly, with a bit of flair.
A new wood-fired oven was installed, as well as an updated kitchen with equipment from a previous venture into food service. New staff were brought in, and the evolution into Flying Dog Pizza was complete in late October of 2020. What was the worst that could go wrong in the midst of a global pandemic?
The menu has evolved in much the same way as the store did. It started out rather basic, but now offers lots of variety. Specials showcase new items every week, with things you may not think of when you first think of pizza. (Pulled pork in a wood-fired oven is hard to beat.) The menu also offers a new dessert pizza every week, with specialties ranging from blueberry sauce to pears to chai custard.
Ashleigh, the head chef and kitchen manager, says, “We care about our ingredients here. I think that shows in our pizzas. We are always trying to do something new and fun for our weekly specials and dessert pizzas.” One of her favorite specials featured a pear and bacon pizza with sliced red onions and a parmesan white sauce, a mozzarella/provolone cheese blend, and hot honey on the crust, all topped with arugula. She also highly recommends the cinnamon roll dessert pizza, reminding folks to ”Eat it hot!”
Pete has always had a dedication to responsible business practices, and this proved no different for Flying Dog. The kitchen produces very little garbage and composts everything else. There is a dedication to quality ingredients, including local produce and nitrite-free meat. And perhaps most importantly, there is a commitment toward making a positive impact in the community.
Adaptability has been crucial for businesses during the pandemic, and Flying Dog is no exception. One innovation that’s proved especially popular with the pizza-loving community is the monthly Mimosa Sunday brunch. Held on the first Sunday of every month from 10am to 2pm, it offers an inspired menu of fun breakfast pizzas to enjoy with the aforementioned mimosas. Throw in a few of your favorite people and it’s the ideal way to round out your weekend.
It’s never been easy to start a new business, and that is especially true in today’s pandemic reality. It will take our local communities to ensure that small businesses like Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl survive. The good news? In this case, doing your part is no hardship, what with amazing wood-fired pizzas and an abundance of records and movies to explore. So come on by for pizza, and grab some vinyl treasures before you head home.
Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl
65 S Main St, Willits, CA 95490
(707) 459-4747
Facebook: @mainstreetmusicandvideowillits
Instagram: @flyingdogwoodfiredpizzavinyl
Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday: 4 - 8:30pm | Friday, Saturday: 12 - 8:30pm
Sunday: 12 - 7pm | Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Charlie Cathcart is originally from New Jersey. He has lived in Willits for about a year with his uncle, Pete Swanton, where he can get his fill of delicious pizza.
Marin’s Cattle Controversy
Organizers Want Ranchers Out of Point Reyes National Seashore
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Point Reyes National Seashore, located in Marin County, is a 71,000-acre jewel comprised of stunning beaches, dense forests, esteros, rolling grasslands, historic ranches, and even a waterfall. The park’s proximity to the 7 million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area ensures heavy year-round use by locals as well as visitors from far off places. More people than ever are enjoying the spectacular natural scenery that Point Reyes offers.
The park’s proximity to such a large population provides a rare illustration of the interplay between public and private lands, especially as it pertains to the ranching of beef and dairy cattle, which has been an integral part of the area since the 1850s. Several of the existing 20 ranches operating within park boundaries were founded to meet the needs of Gold Rush-booming San Francisco to the south. Beef and dairy products were transported via barges and sailing ships from docks inland to feed hungry San Franciscans.
One hundred seventy years later, these ranching operations have come under scrutiny for the environmental impacts caused by grazing cattle, including damage to native plants, erosion, and run-off into estuaries, creeks, and Tomales Bay, which supports thriving aquaculture farms growing oysters, mussels, and clams.
In a portion of the park, cattle also compete for water and forage with a herd of native tule elk, one of two subspecies native to California that were reintroduced to the park in 1978, after having been hunted to near extinction by 1850. The herd living at the tip of Point Reyes National Seashore, at Pierce Point, has been so successful post-reintroduction that it has exhausted both fresh water and grazing resources. The exceptional drought has exacerbated the herd’s challenges to the point that they suffer various ailments brought on by deprivation, including starvation. It is a heart wrenching situation.
Without the balance of natural predators, herds of managed or wild native animals can naturally outgrow their habitat. Elk predators, primarily bears and wolves, are not part of the current Point Reyes ecosystem. Mountain lions are present in Point Reyes, but not in sufficient numbers to control the herd, nor are they a primary predator of elk. In order to stay healthy, managed herds like the Point Reyes Tule Elk require culling or relocation. Culling is often conducted through permitted hunting, which can also generate funding for the park. But hunting is not feasible in a place so densely utilized by the public, so the job of culling falls to those charged with management, in this case the Point Reyes National Seashore.
This complex collection of issues rose to the forefront in 2016, when three environmental groups filed a lawsuit claiming the park did not properly study the environmental impacts of ranching within the park. Organized protests, exposés, films, and letter-writing campaigns highlighting the suffering of the elk and concerns over poorly managed ranches led to vocal and organized demands to cease all commercial operations within the park. This would allow native ecosystems to be restored and the elk to roam freely within the national seashore. In many ways, this makes sense—restore the park to its pristine condition, allowing visitors to experience a model of the area’s original, natural state, when native people lived on and managed the land.
The protest activity was also timed with the scheduled review of the ranching leases by the National Park Service. Activists were demanding that the leases not be renewed. Yet in August 2021, the leases were approved for an additional 20 years, with option for renewal. Other aspects of the new agreement included stricter oversight of ranching in sensitive riparian, wetland, and estuarine habitats; reducing the acreage used for ranching; and allowing fewer dairy animals. Also in the agreement: no new dairy operations and no commercial poultry or row crops. The controversy and disagreement will no doubt continue.
When looked at through the lens of local food production, this complicated scenario reveals yet another dimension. What would happen if we eliminated a sustainable food source produced within a stone’s throw of a major population center, especially in these times of ongoing food supply uncertainty? Where does our food actually come from? We’re seeing the cracks in our food system in the form of empty grocery shelves and steadily rising prices. One of the many lessons of the pandemic is that these food insecurities might not be temporary. It may be time to rethink how our food is produced and distributed.
Chris Jepson, grocery manager of Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op, which has been in business since 1976, reminds us that the pandemic, coupled with climate change, revealed that food shipped long distances, via a centralized distribution system, has considerable inherent flaws. “I used to place regular orders from our main distributor and be confident that the truck would show up, on time, four days a week,” shares Chris. “At the height of the pandemic, trucks didn’t show up at all, or only half the order was delivered.” We continue to see those empty shelves of products we’ve always considered as staples. Chris adds, “I still have significant challenges with supplies of some staple items, so I now rely on a variety of distributors to source essential food for our customers, and it is still a challenge.”
Food prices are also on the rise. Ongoing drought has severely limited corn production in the Midwest, which affects prices on everything from cereal to meat, because animals, especially poultry, rely on inexpensive feed to keep prices low. “Without corn, prices on many products go way up,” says Chris. Labor shortages continue to hamper international shipping of everything from food products to ingredients and packaging. It really is surprising that a system so ingrained in Americans’ expectation of food stability could falter so quickly.
While the quantity of food produced from historic ranching operations in Point Reyes National Seashore isn’t large in the big picture, it does represent a sustainable food source close to home. As Chris says, “Short term food production leases do not provide incentive for farmers or ranchers to care for the land. The idea that livestock operations can continue to exist in the same place for 150 years is the very definition of sustainable farming.”
Whit Strain, a second-generation aquaculture farmer with leases in Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay, believes there is room for everyone—for the public to enjoy Point Reyes National Seashore and farmers to produce food there. Oysters are exceptional water filterers, but they require clean water in order to be suitable for consumption. “We are downstream from just about everyone,” says Whit. After big winter storms, run-off from Point Reyes ranches causes bacteria levels in the bay to rise and prevents oysters from being harvested until water quality improves. This consideration is built into the expectations of aquaculture farmers in Point Reyes. Whit says, “Humans are part of the problem and part of the solution. There is a lot of interest in the environmental benefits of aquaculture and much we can do to continue to care for this place while producing very high-quality food.”
Reconciling the preservation of public lands with the business interests of the ranchers that use it is a complex issue. It’s important to keep sustainably produced local food a top consideration in decisions regarding land use as we move forward in these uncertain times. Chris Jepson points to a poignant quote from food writer Paul Greenberg: “There is no more intimate relationship we can have with our environment than to eat from it.” Ultimately, if we take care of our environment, it will take care of us.
Photo p 45 Cows on Point Reyes (37434p) by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons