Publisher's Note
One of the joys of publishing this magazine is being introduced to the sheer volume of items made and crafted in Mendocino County. It’s a secret peek into a world of expert artisans, craftspeople, and creators. In this issue alone we discover olives, cookies, woven rugs, mushroom dyes, goat cheese, and sparkling wine. Our team of contributors and I have doors opened to us to see first-hand this wealth of creativity and bounty. I sometimes hear the cynical refrain that “no one knows how to make things anymore.” Well I disagree, and we have the stories to prove it.
The craftsmanship that we describe in our pages is often learned over decades. Jennie Henderson’s expertise in weaving began in the 1970s and spanned several countries and cultures (p 16). She possesses a key quality I have noticed among our local craftspeople—a creative fire that is undoused by any obstacle, sustaining them through patient and determined problem-solving until their work is complete. When Miriam Rice (p 33) began dyeing fabric with mushrooms foraged in the forests of Mendocino, she was scratching a creative itch. What began as a fun exploration of pigment led to a groundbreaking text on the practice that has inspired other craftspeople across the globe.
Yvonne and Jurg of Olivino crush and press their own olive oil to achieve a freshness of taste derived from the rolling stones of a cold press (p 5). Their facility is available for other olive growers as well, allowing a community of farmers to produce more of this treasured elixir. Ana and Gil Cox (p 23) have generously cared for both their goat herd and the land that sustains it for more than 40 years, resulting in delectable goat cheese that’s gentle on the planet.
I am continually inspired by the creative work of my friends and neighbors. This holiday season, I challenge you to support these local artisans and maybe even to indulge your own creative side. Perhaps this year is the time to share the gift of homemade jam or blackberry cordial. I am partial to oranges ringed with cloves hung on an evergreen tree. Perhaps you could try your hand at the sourdough trend. And who knows? Someday that playful experiment might turn into a hobby that turns into something more. You might even end up in our pages, joining the passionate, unique makers we at Word of Mouth love to discover and share with you.
Warmly,
Holly Madrigal
Publisher
Olive Oil
Liquid Gold from a Late-Year Harvest
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Frantoio, Leccino, and Pendolino could be the names of a quaint trattoria or maybe the Italian bakery around the corner. In fact, those are the names of small, flavorful Italian olives that produce a unique, Tuscan-style olive oil. While they aren’t ideal for eating due to their small size, relatively large pit, and minimal flesh, these olive varieties produce exceptional oil: complex and bright, grassy, peppery, and pungent. Fortunately for those of us living in the hot, dry regions of northern California, these Italian varieties are just a few of the many types of olives that thrive here.
At last count, there are over 20 producers of olive oil in Mendocino and Lake counties. Most are small batch operations that are adjuncts to other farming endeavors, especially wine production. Olive trees are not only elegant, low maintenance landscape trees, but they also produce food, oil, and wildlife habitat.
One reason olives do so well in inland Mendocino and Lake counties is the true Mediterranean climate, defined by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. A tiny percentage of global landmass is truly Mediterranean—roughly 3%. Though olives can be grown in other environments, true Mediterranean conditions produce the best olives, which were first domesticated in the 8th century BCE.
According to some studies, those ancient peoples were onto something. The polyphenols, monounsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil have been credited with preventing Alzheimer’s, reducing inflammation, helping support the nervous system, and improving heart health, among other health and beauty benefits.
In those ancient times, the oil was extracted by crushing the olives with large stones. The carved base was large and flat, roughly four feet in diameter, and included a lip around the perimeter. A stone in the center supported a wooden post that held a large, wheel-shaped stone perpendicular to the base. The wheel’s rotations along the lip of the base pressed the oil out of the fruit. The concept is pretty much the same today.
Individual oils vary in color, flavor, and intensity. Tuscan varieties result in a pungent oil with grassy and peppery notes, while olives originating from other regions yield different flavor profiles. Larger olives, such as the Spanish Sevillano or Manzanilla, have distinctive qualities that produce delicious oil, whether blended or on their own.
Here at home, planting olive trees and producing oil is a natural fit with the agricultural world. Olive harvest takes place in late November and December, which doesn’t compete with other crops. Stored properly, oil will keep for many months.
Olivino in Hopland is one of the area’s largest olive growers and producers of extra virgin olive oil. Owners Yvonne Hall and Jurg Fisher mill olives for clients throughout the region using two mills, including a traditional stone mill and a hammermill. Yvonne and Jurg also tend 2,500 Tuscan trees on their property, Romendo Ranch, in the highlands of Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Under the brand Terra Sávia, Olivino produces three single variety oils and a blend of five varieties. They also produce the very popular Meyer Lemon Olive Oil.
Olivino’s convenient location just off Highway 101 allows local growers to deliver their olives for milling on harvest day, a crucial step in producing premium extra virgin olive oil. The mills extract oil without the use of heat, since heat degrades quality. In order to receive an “extra virgin” designation, the oil must be free from any alterations in color, taste, nutrients, or vitamins and crushed without the use of heat or chemicals.
“We always put quality and care first with our milling practices,” said Yvonne. “Whether it’s for our own olives or our customers, we are dedicated to producing the best extra virgin olive oil possible. Plus, milling oil for our friends and neighbors gives us great pleasure. We strongly believe that the road to sustainability is easier when traveled with friends.”
One of those friends is Ken Ingels, just up the road in Talmage. Ken trucks his annual harvest of Frantoio, Leccino, Ascalano, and Maurino olives the short distance to Olivino for milling. “Our 350 trellised trees produce between 30 and 70 gallons of oil a year,” shared Ken. That quantity of oil allows Ken to sell at a few local markets—Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op, Harvest Market, Bottle Shop Deli in Talmage, and Schat’s Bakery in Ukiah—and to gift to friends. He also occasionally makes olive oil-based soap.
North of Olivino, along Highway 101, Saracina Vineyards’ tasting room is the setting for a group of stout, gnarled olive trees estimated to be over 120 years old. The trees were transplanted in 2018 from an orchard in Corning by Saracina owner Mark Talb; John Fetzer, who is Saracina’s original owner; and Alex Macgregor, Saracina’s director of winemaking. Macgregor stated, ”Once we decided to move 48 trees from Corning to the Hopland property, we needed to figure out a few critical logistical challenges.” He added, “We felt confident that we could do it, so we heavily pruned them, trenched around the root ball, watered them thoroughly, and then carefully lifted the trees onto a lowboy trailer. The trees had to fit under the freeway overpasses, so they had to be under 14’ tall. Fortunately, we were able to complete the job within one day.” All but one of the trees survived. Historical research through the U.C. Davis Agriculture Department determined that the trees were probably originally planted in 1878 or 1879.
Saracina also uses Olivino for milling. Macgregor stated, “There is nothing more magical than watching olives being processed. When the olives first hit the mill, they make a deep rumble, then it slowly quiets down as the olives are broken down.” He added, “The smells, the entire process really, feels very grounding and authentic. It’s a great time, and we appreciate the quality of work at Olivino.”
Saracina sells oil from their trees exclusively in their tasting room. Stop by to grab a bottle or two for gifts and for your own kitchen. Make sure to tip your hat to the stately old trees out front. If you listen closely, I think you may be able to hear those trees telling stories about the old days.
Olive oil unique to Mendocino and Lake counties is a real treat. Keep your eyes open at local farmers markets, tasting rooms, and grocery stores. It will transform your cooking and eating, and you’ll be taking part in an enduring tradition packed with health, vitality, and deliciousness.
Serving Suggestion: Ice Cream with Olivino Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
Yvonne Hall, co-owner of Olivino olive mill, created this simple, elegant dessert.
On 1-2 scoops of organic vanilla ice cream, drizzle up to a tablespoon of Terra Sávia Meyer Lemon olive oil. Sprinkle a few grains of Maldon’s sea salt over the top. Serve with biscotti.
Lisa Ludwigsen is a writer and marketer working with food, farms, and family small businesses. She has worked in organic agriculture, natural foods, and environmental education for over 20 years.
Pomo Land Back
The Movement to Heal Land and Restore Promises
by D. H. Shook
In 1850, Pomo Tribes, including the great-grandparents of Michael Hunter, the current Coyote Valley Tribal Chairman, lived on the land that is now known as Jackson Demonstration State Forest. This forest land—before it was called Jackson Demonstration State Forest, before Fort Bragg was named Fort Bragg, before Willits was known as Willits—was the home of Pomo and Coast Yuki Tribes. This is where they made baskets and gathered medicines and wild food.
Before white people colonized the area, this forest was a vast cathedral of redwoods that stretched across the mountain for 50,000 acres, all the way from the inland valley to the great Pacific Ocean. Some of the trees had diameters of more than 20 feet and were as much as 3,000 years old. Just for a moment, imagine what a forest like that sounded like, felt like, looked like! The Pomo and Coast Yuki hunted and fished and raised their families for thousands of years, and there are ancestral sites sacred to them in this forest.
In 1861, Jason Green Jackson claimed the land now known as Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) and formed the Caspar Lumber Company. It is estimated that an average of 2 million board feet of redwood came out of the Caspar Lumber Company annually until 1947, when the land was purchased by the State of California from the Caspar Lumber Company. In 1949, it was designated a ‘demonstration’ forest, intended to provide examples of logging practices. The mandate for the management of JDSF was also set up in 1949, and CAL FIRE was placed in charge of forest management in 1973.
It’s important to note here that CAL FIRE is a complex agency with 10 separate programs. Our heroic firefighters are part of the CAL FIRE Fire Protection Program, which is distinct from the Resource Management and the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection that manage state forests.
Pomo Land Back is a movement that focuses on the Pomo and Coast Yuki tribes gaining a co-management position with CAL FIRE at JDSF. At the heart of the movement is the desire for recognition that the forest contains sites sacred to these tribes, starting with a moratorium on commercial logging there. The estimates of remaining old growth redwood trees at JDSF range between 3% and 6%. Along with the old growth decimated there, much of the second growth is also gone. Priscilla Hunter, Coyote Valley Pomo Elder and former Chairwoman of the Coyote Valley Pomo Tribe, explained, “We want to let the land and forest heal.”
Polly Girvin, attorney and advocate for the Coyote Valley Pomo Tribe, explained, “It is an indigenous obligation to protect the trees, the water, air, and wildlife. They look at the world through a lens where all things are related, interconnected. They do not objectify and dissect the parts, these are their relatives … In Pomo tradition and lore, it is believed that the souls of their people enter the trees after they die—they have an ancestral, a family connection to the trees.”
Many groups are working to protect the remaining trees in JDSF, including a coalition of Pomo Tribes, Coast Yuki Tribe, PomoLandBack.org, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), the Trail Stewards, SaveJackson.org, Earth First, and Mendocino County Youth for Climate. For the Native American tribes, it is also important to preserve the cultural landscape within the forest. There are village sites and groups of trees that were tended and used for a purpose, of historical value not only for the Native tribes but for the full history of Mendocino County. Polly Girvin emphasized that “The Pomo Land Back is a social justice issue as well as a climate issue … There is a cultural landscape, rich in history, that is more than an arrowhead or grinding stone.”
On August 28, 2022, a gathering of people, organized by Mendocino County Youth for Climate, met at the edge of the JDSF outside of Caspar to support the Pomo Land Back movement. Colorful banners hung from the trees, tables were loaded with food, and people of all ages stood chatting in small groups. Under a sun tent, Bernadette Smith from the Manchester Point Arena Band of Pomo stepped up to a microphone and sang, in the Pomo language, songs of her people. Her strong, clear voice was so heartfelt that it was truly stunning. Next, another Pomo Land Back supporter announced, “We need a rainbow of people to make this happen!” A voice from the crowd responded, “No more broken promises!”—a prominent slogan on the PomoLandBack.org website.
Broken promises and worse have a long legacy in the state of California. Back in January 6, 1851, the first Governor of California, Peter Burnett, included in his State of the State address his feelings about the California Native American population:
“That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected … While we cannot anticipate this result but with painful regret, the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power or wisdom of man to avert … Our American experience has demonstrated the fact that the two races cannot live in the same vicinity in peace.“
Fast forward to June 18, 2019, when Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order B-10-11. The first part of Newsom’s Executive Order contains a formal apology to the California Native Americans for the extensive and protracted atrocities imposed on them by the state of California. Governor Newsom reaffirmed Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown’s Executive Order of September 25, 2011, N-15-19, “which requires the Governor’s Tribal Advisor and the Administration to engage in government-to-government consultation with California Native American tribes regarding policies that may affect tribal communities.”
Newsom’s Executive Order codified a mandate to negotiate with the local California Native Americans. To that end, Tribal Chairman Michael Hunter met with the Secretary of Natural Resources, Wade Crowfoot, and members of his staff in an effort to form a co-management plan for the Pomo and Coast Yuki ancestral land known as JDSF. The topics of sacred sites in relation to road placements and timber harvesting played a large part in these negotiations. As a result, suspension of five of the approved Timber Harvest Plans (THPs) in JDSF was announced in early 2022. It was not only the Native American tribes who celebrated this, but here in Mendocino County many people, from all walks of life, shared in the celebration.
Then on August 18, 2022, the California Natural Resources Agency and CAL FIRE declared a “Revitalizing of the Management of Jackson Demonstration State Forest.” This declaration announced the adoption of a “modern vision” in compliance with state law, with California values of ecology and social justice to be incorporated in the management plan of JDSF. This declaration indicated a dramatic shift in management practices.
But the fine words offered in the “modernized vision” did not translate into action. Seven days after the vision was announced, without consultation or notification to the Coyote Valley Tribe Chairman—or to any of the JDSF advocate groups—CAL FIRE announced that logging operations would resume. Despite the Forest Practice Act and Rules, on September 21, 2022, 36 hours after an unusually heavy rain of 2.5 to 3 inches, heavy equipment continued work in the mud, creating a destructive mess and upheaval that the Forest Practice Act and Rules was designed to prevent.
The KZYX Pomo Perspective radio show on September 19, 2022, featured an interview with Michael Hunter and Matthew Simmons, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) staff attorney. They emphasized that it is important to understand that the CAL FIRE/JDSF-approved THPs allow for numerous piles of slash to be left along the roads that have been cut in to haul the timber out. The THPs allow for certain trees to be girdled, which kills them, and leaves them standing dead—a practice in direct violation of Mendocino County’s 2016 ordinance. Michael Hunter said, “Go to PomoLandBack.org and you can see the videos and images. In 2022, they are clear-cutting! … People don’t realize that forest fires start because lightning hits kindling from all the slash and dead trees they left out there … How many times do we need to make a clear-cut and look at the findings? In JDSF we see this logging demonstration ‘experiment’ repeated again and again.”
Practices like this that increase fire risk and exacerbate drought should be prohibited or at least discouraged by independent oversight, but unfortunately CAL FIRE has no such check on its power. CAL FIRE is ostensibly advised on forest management by the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG), formed in 2008 to recommend “how best to manage the forest in the public interest,” according to its website.* The site also asserts that the group consists of 13 members from various fields and interests, including “timber and logging industry, environmental and conservation organizations, scientific and research fields, and recreation representatives.” Yet 10 of the existing 13 members are invested in the forest’s commerical benefits over its ecological health and cultural significance, creating a biased imbalance in the group’s recommendations.
Simmons described JAG as “ … a body with no power.” Chairman Hunter explained, “I am at the table negotiating a co-management plan [with Secretary Wade Crowfoot and his staff] and I have zero decision-making authority. Zero!” Hunter continued, “While I am at the table negotiating a co-management plan, I am the only one who is not being paid by the State of California … You’ve got to look at where the big [political] donations are coming from. [State Senator] McGuire, [Assemblyman] Woods, [Congressman] Huffman—none of them were at the table, [even though] we had collected 4,000 wet signatures from our community.”
We already know that logging has a huge impact on waterways. Compounding the concerns about waterway erosion, wildlife habitat loss, fire hazard, loss of California natural resources (old and second growth redwoods), and degradation of historic sites, there is another very real problem. Ample evidence is available, globally, that excessive logging contributes to the trend towards drought. And given that only 3% - 6% of the old and 2nd growth redwood is left, it is clear that the logging has been excessive.
Simmons described the process that CAL FIRE goes through to harvest and sell timber from the state-owned forest:
For private logging projects in California, the forester isn’t required to complete an EIR [Environmental Impact Report]. Instead, they complete a less environmentally rigorous document called a Timber Harvest Plan (THP). After they complete that document, CAL FIRE as the lead agency reviews the plan and makes sure it follows the Forest Practice Act and Rules. THPs are available for public review on CAL FIRE’s website CALTREES.
For JDSF, CAL FIRE is both the land owner and the regulatory agency. So they write the THP and then determine whether it is adequate.
Simmons continued, “[CAL FIRE’s] currently approved plans on JDSF, which if completed would damage both Pomo sacred sites and mature second growth redwood groves, demonstrate that JDSF needs a comprehensive update to its management mandate in order for the forest to match the values of the people of California. Simply making small adjustments to these plans does not remedy the situation. We need a solution that will protect this forest in perpetuity.”
The issue with the preservation of JDSF is larger than Mendocino County. There are a number of advocacy groups working to protect the remaining old and second growth trees in JDSF. This is a situation where social justice is married to ecological responsibility, which moves the Pomo Land Back movement onto the world stage and provides an excellent forum to demonstrate values appropriate for the 21st century. The time for ecological accountability based on scientific evidence and social responsibility is past due. There needs to be an authentic oversight mechanism employed so we can get out of the fox-watching-the-hen-house syndrome.
The forest is more than trees that make lumber. The JDSF redwood trees are a huge carbon bank, far more valuable and more durable as an asset than the comparatively meager profit from a few timber sales. JDSF is the home to rare and important wildlife. And JDSF holds sacred ground for indigenous Californians, which is an issue that warrants serious consideration and study. It is a complex and vital ecosystem which has value beyond measure.
Jackson Demonstration State Forest has inspired a level of devotion from so many people that little old ladies are getting arrested in Sacramento in an effort to draw public attention to the issue. School-age kids are organizing gatherings. Folks are having fundraisers to raise money for legal expenses. Ladies are making quilts to raffle, musicians are showing up to entertain, ecology groups are doing what they can. The Pomo Land Back movement has significant support, and it presents an opportunity to include oversight of JDSF with the very people whose ancestors once called it home.
Learn more at PomoLandBack.com.
* jacksonforest.com/JAG/advisory_top.htm
All photos except Priscilla Hunter courtesy of Pomo Land Back.
Priscilla Hunter photo by D.H. Shook.
A long-time Mendonesian, Deborah Shook lives in a cottage on the edge of the forest. She takes pleasure in playing in her garden and tackling a culinary challenge.
Cafe 1
Fort Bragg’s Don’t-Miss Diner is the Place for Always Scrumptious Homestyle Food
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
Unashamedly eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table, I heard the waitress ask, “Have you decided yet?” The woman put her menu down in despair, groaning, “It’s so hard to choose!” And it is hard to choose at Cafe 1 in Fort Bragg, which features a menu where everything is consistently delicious and good for you.
Founded 20 years ago, the ethos of Cafe 1, including much of the menu, has remained unchanged since Maria Andrea Mex and her husband, Miguel Mex, purchased the restaurant 16 years ago. Andrea explained that one of the original owners had been a dietician at the local hospital, and creating a restaurant that served healthy food was important to her. When Andrea and Miguel took the reins, they decided that they wanted that same level of health for their growing family and the broader community, so they kept the basic tenets of organic, chemical-free, and non-GMO offerings.
Andrea and Miguel grew up in a small town in Yucatán, Mexico, and they married and moved here 30 years ago to be closer to Andrea’s parents. Initially, Andrea worked as a cashier at a local supermarket and Miguel worked in area restaurants, but their family began to grow and life became more hectic. They decided that they didn’t want to work jobs where they were separated all day, coming home exhausted with little energy for the family, so they decided to purchase their own restaurant. They found Cafe 1, and it has since become a family affair.
Miguel is the main chef, and Andrea wears any hat needed at any given moment. They now have three children—Cynthia (26), Angel (22), and Santiago (10). Cynthia and Angel help in the front of the house and pitch in elsewhere whenever needed. As Andrea said, “They are always there, and sometimes we need some extra hands.” Santiago, while not officially old enough to work, grows sprouts with his mom for the restaurant, and he’s always willing to help put away dishes if he happens to be there.
The family works together and they live together, a recipe for potential conflict. But Andrea explained, “there is no fighting here, no fighting at home—always peace and a good environment everywhere.” Andrea said that the key to their success is, “We have good communication, and we have to be clear with everything.”
That sense of a peaceful environment permeates Cafe 1. The waitstaff always greet customers with a warm and welcoming smile, and the atmosphere is relaxed and home-like, with a diner-style feel and decor. The menu is extensive, and it is one of the few places in the county which offers a wide variety of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, as well as plenty of choices for carnivores. Local favorites include the Hippie Scramble, made with tofu and fresh veggies; Huevos Rancheros (with eggs) or Divisaderos (with tofu), their delicious take on the Mexican classic; and the Shiitake Mushroom Hash made with shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, peppers, and onions. Turkey bacon and sausage, omelets, pancakes, french toast, and waffles round out their breakfast menu, and they even have vegan butter and cheese, and gluten-free options.
The lunch menu is also generous, packed with sandwiches, soups, and salads, favorites including the Filled and Grilled Portobello Mushroom—a marinated portobello mushroom filled with braised tofu, roasted garlic, spinach, and zucchini topped with an apple-pepper pesto and provolone, grilled into a sandwich with your bread of choice. And don’t miss the Salmon Tropical Tacos. Fresh and delicious!
Though the menu has not substantively changed, the Mex family keeps it fresh with their daily specials, offered up by family and staff members alike as the mood strikes them. They all try to keep an open mind to new ideas, saying “Well, why don’t we try it!” According to Andrea, “New ideas are blooming. We let our customers know, we are not just warming up food … we do it all by order, there’s nothing pre-made and microwaved. We take it by order, the chef cooks each order, it’s all fresh.” They source the bulk of their produce from Earl’s Organic Produce based in San Francisco, and they supplement with purchases from various vendors at the local farmers market.
Cafe 1 keeps their seven employees busy, open every day for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Though this makes their patrons happy, it means that the family doesn’t get much time off. Andrea shared that they are planning a rare family trip to Yucatán to visit Miguel’s father. After the trials of COVID, it will be a welcome respite. As with most restaurants, the challenges posed by COVID were difficult to weather. They survived, but “We worked hard for it. It was a challenge every day, every morning,” Andrea confessed. They were able to stay open, closing indoor seating and taking over a portion of the TravelLodge parking lot as covered outdoor seating, utilizing a side window for orders and carry-out. The fickle coastal winds would blow over their outdoor tent, and that required a level of vigilance they were glad to be rid of. The local FoodRunners also helped business by making food deliveries in the area.
One side benefit of COVID was that they were able to launch their own brand of Cafe 1 salsas—Habañero, Jalapeño, and Chipotle Habañero sauces, certified organic, and certified spicy! They also sell Cafe 1 patches for your hat or jacket, as well as Thanksgiving Coffee’s Cafe 1 blend, created especially for their restaurant.
Business has grown and changed over the past 16 years, and they have some new ideas. They have just begun serving beer and wine—hooray for mimosas with brunch!
The family’s current dreams for expansion include growing more of their own produce for use in the restaurant. They have started small with the sprout project, explained Andrea, and now “we have plans and are putting ideas together for growing our own food.” They hope to find a home with some land so that they can move closer to that goal, which is very important to all of them. They are also working toward purchasing a new location in downtown Fort Bragg, where Cafe 1 will eventually make its new home.
Cafe 1 started as a place to eat delicious healthy food with excellent vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. Andrea and Miguel decided to keep it that way for the health of their family and community. A restaurant where the focus is about making delicious, healthy food for people to eat and enjoy, while making a living and supporting the whole family—that’s something we can all get behind.
Cafe 1
753 N Main St, Fort Bragg
(707) 964-3309 | cafe-one.square.site
Open daily 8am - 2:30pm
Photos by Dawn Emery Ballantine and the Mex family
Dawn Emery Ballantine lives in Anderson Valley where she curates and sells books Hedgehog Books and edits this magazine.
Henderson Studios
Expertly Crafted Fiber Art Made in Mendocino County from Start to Finish
by Torrey Douglass
When weaver Jennie Henderson and her husband Michael were building their home and looking for carpeting, she knew what she wanted. “I went from place to place, asking for wool. They kept trying to talk me into the synthetic carpets, but I kept asking.” The pair have enjoyed that same wool carpet in their home for 25 years, and Jennie notes, “My sister down in Sea Ranch has regular carpeting and she’s had to replace it twice during the same amount of time. Mine still looks like new.”
Jennie’s love of wool began well before her hunt for carpeting. It has brought her around the world to England, New Zealand, and Mexico, but the first spark was lit in Denmark. A college student at the time, she was ostensibly in Denmark to study International Relations—at least that’s what her parents understood. But she spent all the time she could spare (and maybe more) learning about weaving instead. “I mostly hung out in craft shops and weaving studios and took a class at the Tomtex weaving studio/shop,” Jennie recalls. She even cashed in her return ticket to purchase her first loom by the Swedish company Glimåkra, the gold standard for weaving looms, which she shipped home to southern California. Once back on home soil, she jumped into weaving, guided by nothing but how-to books and her artist’s intuition.
This passion for working wool was a natural extension of Jennie’s lifelong love of creating with fiber. Her grandmother lived with them when Jennie was young, and she passed along her skills in both knitting and tatting (a delicate craft where thread is knotted and looped, sometimes to make doilies). By the time she was in high school, Jennie was sewing shirts and dresses she had dyed herself.
While she was a student at Whittier College in Los Angeles, Jennie met Michael Henderson at her dorm, which had once been a hospital—the very hospital in which Michael had been born. They were introduced through friends and they connected through their love of art and the outdoors. After they married, Jennie worked as a teacher in El Monte while Michael completed his Masters in Counseling. They took trips into the desert whenever they could to escape the traffic and pollution of Los Angeles.
In 1977, Jennie’s family purchased the campground at Anchor Bay, and they invited the couple to move up and manage its operations, leaving Los Angeles behind for good. Jennie’s weaving output at that time consisted of handspun sweaters she would sell at local craft fairs, woven with mail-order fleece from New Zealand, since local products could not compare in quality. In 1980, she visited family friends on a sheep ranch in New Zealand, and Jennie’s original spark of interest in weaving wool turned into a blaze.
“I love the process from beginning to end,” shares Jennie. “I like all the touching and feeling involved.” She’s spun everything from pet hair to dryer lint, but she landed on sheep wool as her preferred material and now uses it exclusively, finally able to source good wool locally. Alder Creek Ranch in Manchester raises Icelandic sheep, a breed known for producing fleece that is strong, beautiful, and soft. Jennie also enjoys using wool from Romney sheep, a New Zealand breed, whose fleece is the perfect balance of soft and durable with a long staple, and common enough locally so it’s easy to find.
Jennie exudes the embodied energy of a creative person who has found her groove. She strides around her studio and a high-ceilinged living room with a large stone hearth, clearly the heart of the home. Looms, spinning wheels, baskets of wool, and works in various stages of progress are everywhere. Not unlike pianos, many of the looms made their way to her when the original owners passed away and the heirs needed to re-home them. Her quick laugh, inviting warmth, and obvious enthusiasm for weaving all speak to a person who finds deep satisfaction in doing her work.
Jennie’s creative process relies heavily on her artistic intuition. She does not sketch out designs, instead opting to just get started and see what happens. She weaves in one direction for a spell, then will change course when the time feels right. In the past she has dyed her fleece with natural dyes made from foraged plant matter like bark, lichen, moss, and mushrooms, but today she likes to let the natural colors of the wool form the design. The bulk of her work includes throws, shawls, and rugs, though she plays around with smaller items like scarves to round out the offerings during open studios. Sometimes she’ll wash the fleece, sometimes she’ll card it, but usually she prefers to “spin in the grease with flicking but no carding”—in other words, she uses unwashed, uncarded fleece that has had the ends combed out to remove tangles. Jennie elaborates, “Holding the staple (the length of sheared wool) by the sheared end, you flick out the curl or snarled weathered ends in order to easily spin directly from the staple. Very long, low crimp wool like a nice Romney fleece is great to do this way, and you can get a beautiful worsted spin with very little work.”
Jennie can rely on her intuition since it’s rooted in deep experience informed by a broad study of different weaving traditions. She learned the techniques of Navajo weaving from friend and neighbor Jacquetta Nisbet, and she attended workshops at Pacific Textile Arts in Fort Bragg with renowned rug weaver Jason Collingwood from Colchester, England. One of her most treasured periods of study was in 2013 in the artisan pueblo of Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca, a village of traditional Zapotec weavers, where she studied with Master Weaver Erasto “Tito” Mendoza and learned weaving methods that are centuries old. On the wall of her studio is a gift from some of the weavers she worked with during her stay—a small rug incorporating the three primary traditional patterns used by Zapotec weavers to remind Jennie of what she learned there.These experiences have developed a deep well of inspiration and ability on which Jennie can draw when she sits down at her loom, not unlike a singer training their voice to reach new octaves so they can perform a broader array of songs.
The undyed fleeces of Jennie’s rugs result in a muted palette of creamy white, varied browns, and soft greys. Yet the pieces use clean lines, bold shapes, and contrast between light and dark to create striking designs in spite of the softness of both the hues and the medium. In some rugs the forms are sharply geometric, while in others they are organic. Yet in all of them, the abstract compositions evoke the natural world, bringing to mind light reflecting off water, or the silhouette of hills on the horizon during the colorless hour before the sun restores vibrancy to the landscape.
For people looking to warm up their space with a stunning hand-woven wool rug, Jennie sells her work through twice-yearly open studio tours on the coast, on the FiberShed Marketplace website, and at The Discovery Gallery Cooperative in Gualala. Useful and beautiful, a rug from Henderson Studios is a genuine Mendocino artifact, made from locally grown wool in the hills above Point Arena, with Jennie’s love for her craft and her home woven into every one.
Henderson Studios
Point Arena, CA
HendersonStudiosPointArena.com
FibershedMarketplace.com/merchants/henderson-studios
Photos by Torrey Douglass
Mendocino Cookie Company
Baking Daily Delights for the Past 40 Years
by Anna Levy
It’s been 40 years since Don and Beverlee Younger fell in love with Mendocino on a vacation and determined that they would build a life on the North Coast. They lived in Fremont at the time, and within two years, they had succeeded in making the move. They wanted to build a business that would be viable in the village, and, noticing the lack of a local cookie shop, they opened Mendocino Cookie Company in 1984 in the old Shell gas station near the Volunteer Fire Department.
All these years later, some things have changed—they are now located in The Company Store in Fort Bragg, for instance—but it’s still a family business. Beverlee oversees the production side of things, while their daughter Wendy runs the retail shop. Don and Beverlee’s son, Mike, is responsible for the maintenance and repairs to keep the business running smoothly. And grandson Quinn mans the espresso bar as a barista several days a week.
In the beginning, cookies were baked a dozen or so at a time using a household mixer, but the operation has grown considerably. “We bake ten varieties of cookies daily, with a different special cookie featured each day, including favorites such as Backpacker cookies, traditional Scottish shortbread, and of course chocolate chip cookies.” For her part, Wendy finds herself drawn to the Backpacker cookies—packed with oats, raisins, coconut, chocolate, butterscotch, and walnuts—as well as the chocolate shortbread with chocolate chips, while Beverlee prefers the Mocha Buzz, a caffeinated celebration of coffee and chocolate. They offer treats such as scones, muffins, and espresso drinks as well, with a host of both regular flavors and rotating specials.
Wendy says that they focus on the quality of ingredients as a foundation for excellence. She told me, “All of our chips come directly from Guittard Chocolate Company in San Francisco . . . they ship 500 pounds at a time to our door.” They use only the best for coffee and espresso, sourced from Peerless Coffee and Tea, an award-winning, family-owned coffee roastery in Oakland which has operated for more than 95 years. After working together for nearly three decades, Wendy shares that “We feel like part of their family.”
Certainly, there are challenges in running a business in a rural area, including the cost of freight, not to mention the cost of repairs when something needs to be fixed, but it’s worth it, Wendy says. “We love our community,” she notes, and shared that they have donated thousands of cookies to local non-profits.
Mendocino Cookie Company is a local institution which has expanded to include a nationwide cookie mail-order component. Their products are also available at other local spots—you can find their cookies at Jenny’s Giant Burger and their cookie dough at both the shop and at Purity Market. “We also make egg-free cookie dough for Cowlick’s Ice Cream cookie dough variety.”
As they look toward the future, they hope to continue building their relationship with both neighbors and visitors, someday passing the business on “for the next generation” and beyond, continuing to provide people with something to make their day a little sweeter. The Spicy Dark Chocolate Mocha, created to warm you up on cozy winter days, may be a great place to start.
Mendocino Cookie Company (aka Zappa’s)
301 North Main St. in Fort Bragg
707-964-0282 | MendocinoCookies.com
Open Mon - Sat 7am – 5pm, Sun 8am – 5pm
Anna Levy writes, cooks, and plans travel of all sorts whenever she can. She lives on the Mendocino Coast with her family.
Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese
A Legacy of Care for Land and Animals
by Lisa Ludwigsen
For Gil and Ana Cox, the principles of regenerative agriculture have always been just a way of life. On a picturesque farm called Summer Breeze Ranch in Little Lake Valley outside of Willits, the couple use their combined eighty years of experience to produce Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese, a delicacy that rivals any in the country. They do this by respecting and paying close attention to the well-being of their animals and their land.
Gil and Ana started their business in 1983 as Carmel Valley Chevre in Carmel Valley. In 2001, they moved to Mendocino County, where they found a supportive, pro-agriculture community, and their business flourished. They have become an integral part of the farming community here.
Their 130-acre ranch is home to a herd of Alpine, La Mancha, and Nubian dairy goats. The ranch operates as a closed system, meaning that there are no outside inputs—everything for the ranch is produced on the property. The goats eat hay grown on the ranch. Their diet is supplemented with dairy produced on the farm. Compost used to fertilize the fields is also created on the farm. Rotational grazing keeps both animals and fields healthy and productive.
The Coxes utilize the principles of regenerative agriculture—a movement which promotes a series of practices addressing the overall health of the land, plants, and animals within the farming system. The phrase was coined in the 1980s by Robert Rodale of the Rodale Institute, and the practices emphasize reducing turning soil, utilizing compost for mulching and fertilizing, increasing biodiversity, and rotating crops including the grazing of animals. These practices improve the quality of topsoil and the ecosystem, and an added benefit is that more carbon is retained in the soils. These farming practices are even catching on with large conventional farms and corporate entities like PepsiCo and Unilever, which are directing their supply chain farms to incorporate regenerative practices.
True to the method, Ana and Gil are on a first name basis with each animal in the herd. “We are close to each of our animals,” said Ana. “They really are the air we breathe.” Gil is the primary cheese maker and, unlike most cheese makers, they do not import any milk to make their cheese.All of their cheese is made exclusively from milk produced on the ranch. This is how traditional small farms and ranches operated in the past, and it works for the Coxes.
“At one point, we had accounts throughout the area and sold at 22 farmers markets each week,” shared Ana. “Now that we’re getting older, we’ve reduced our output to keep it within our capacity.” The Coxes have also been challenged with finding labor to support the farm. “Since our long-term foreman left due to health issues, we have had a very tough time finding a replacement,” she added.
While dairy farming is rewarding, it is demanding work. Goats need to be milked twice a day, no matter what. Even a small herd requires an extraordinary amount of time and knowledge in order to keep it happy and thriving. The ranching and cheese-making aspects of the operation are just the beginning. Production, packaging, and distribution are also all done on-site.
The question of legacy and transition is now on the forefront of their minds. Both Gil and Ana are in their late 70s, and they want to ensure that they can pass on their ranch to new owners who possess the same level of care and spirit. “It’s surprisingly difficult to find people who want to work this hard,” shared Ana. Cannabis has been a big attraction for young farmers, but animals’ needs, especially dairy animals, are very different.
“Our dream is to keep this ranch doing what it’s been doing” Ana said, adding, “Our ranch has great water, 88 acres of hay, a dairy, creamery, and a new barn.” They are also looking into creating a trust or turning it over to a university as an educational resource.
The Coxes’ operation is simultaneously a living history model and a vision for the future. The goal was never to create a national brand or to expand substantially and sell to a corporation. It was to build a business that supports the lifestyle of those involved, utilizing the principles of regenerative agriculture. In a world that rewards short-term profits at the expense of future well-being, it’s a living example of responsible business practices and an immeasurable gift to whoever next stewards the land.
If you haven’t had the chance to sample Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese, rush out and get some. The level of attention and care are evident in the entire line of delectable cheeses that Ana and Gil create, including creamy chevres, ashed Tomette, Bouchon, and a complex Tome du Mendocino. Shamrock Artisan Goat cheeses can be found at local markets including Ukiah Natural Foods, Renaissance Market in Ukiah, Harvest Market in Fort Bragg, Mariposa Market in Willits, and Geiger Market in Laytonville.
Purchase cheese and find out more at ShamrockArtisanGoatCheese.com.
Flex those Mussels
Gifts from the Sea in Sturdy Packages
by Holly Madrigal
One of the most easily harvested local treasures is the mussels that encrust the shoreline, visible all over the rocks, especially at low tide. But as with any wild foods, it pays to be smart and to research what you are eating before you bite. Wild forage at your own risk. Ask questions from locals and heed their advice.
Good rules of thumb:
Only eat mussels in months with an “R,” avoiding the summer when toxic algaes can bloom and the mussels are spawning, which can alter the taste.
There is often a quarantine period from May to October to avoid paralytic shellfish poisoning—NOT something to mess around with. Call the California Shellfish Biotoxin Information Line at 1-800-553-4133 just to be extra cautious and ensure that the area you are foraging is safe.
Double check that the waters and the weather are safe at the time that you plan to forage.
Go at low tide, as mussel beds form on rocks at the tideline. Respect the ocean and keep your wits about you.
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to try harvesting and enjoying these small shellfish delicacies. You can pick up a fishing license at one of the local shops, or purchase one online. (If you don’t have a license, you can be fined by Fish & Wildlife.) This license will allow you to forage up to 10 pounds of the mollusc, with this caveat: You are not allowed to use tools, so bring strong gloves and a bucket to hold your goodies.
To prepare your harvest, place the mussels in a colander and run water over them, using your hands or a stiff brush to rub off any debris like seaweed, sand, barnacles, or mud spots that could be on the shell. If you find any mussels with open shells, lightly tap that mussel against the side of the sink. If the mussel closes up again in response to this stimulus, it’s alive. If it doesn’t respond, discard it.
The beard of a mussel is the clump of hair-like fibers that sprouts from the shell. To remove the beard from the mussel, grab it with your thumb and forefinger and tug it toward the hinge of the mussel shell. You can also use a knife to gently scrape away the beard.
Once your mussels are cleaned and debearded, they’re ready to cook and eat. Try them in a white wine sauce, served with crusty bread. Slather them in aioli or melted butter. Or, try the delicious recipe that follows.
Drunken Mussels
This easy recipe is quick and delicious. Just bring a flavorful, wine-based broth to a boil, add mussels and cover, cook until they open, and eat. Yum!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 lemon, zested
2 c white wine
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 slices bread, grilled
2 lemon wedges for garnish
Directions
Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and let sizzle for about 30 seconds. Season with red pepper flakes and lemon zest, stirring for about 45 seconds.
Quickly pour wine into the pan and season with black pepper. Bring to a boil, stir in mussels, and cover immediately. Shake the pot and let boil for 1 minute.
Stir again, replace the cover, and let it boil for 2 more minutes. The shells will begin to open. Stir in parsley, cover the pot, and simmer until all the shells are open, 1 to 3 minutes.
Serve with grilled bread and lemon wedge.
Photo by Magda Ehlers courtesy of Pexels.
United and Determined
Survival in a Time of War
by Aimee Nord
Aimee & Brady Nord
My husband Brady and I first arrived in Ukraine in 2015 on a rainy autumn day, gray and dreary, perhaps matching the mood of the 50 other volunteers. We were Peace Corps’ first group back since pulling out during the Maidan revolution just 2 years before. In those first few days, we felt jet lag and the sudden chill of October in Eastern Europe, excited but also wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. We were completely mystified by the alphabet of squashed-bugs and rocket ships, vaguely taken aback by the poppy-seed buns that were decidedly not chocolate, and apprehensive about starting our fourth year of marriage living apart for three months, not to mention about the families we would live with, whom we knew nothing about.
But that melted away as quickly as the rain, and soon autumn enthralled us all, with our new lifestyle of walking down dirt sideroads on a runner of frosted leaves, enjoying sunlit afternoons under a bright yellow canopy. We discovered little gems each day in our new town: a performance in traditional embroidered dresses at the House of Culture, a military ceremony around a bronze statue adorned with flowers and candles in the town center, a box of puppies behind a tree, a bridge over a wide river with weeping willows on each side, a brightly colored playground of tires and metal, the view from the front steps of the library, the golden domes of the nearby orthodox church. And every house was covered in grape arbors over the path to the front door, dark rich soil sprouting root vegetables, kneeling women with headscarves in every backyard plot, and smoke hanging low in the cold air from the piles of burning leaves that lasted for weeks and made us choke.
Despite my limited language, I grew close with my host family members by sharing our days through charades every evening—snorting like a pig to share how my host dad was chased through his fields by a wild boar, now hanging in the cellar; vacuuming up my underwear and dying of laughter with my host mom when we realized; locking my host dad out of the house in his underwear on a chilly morning, as I went to class while he was just trying to feed the chickens. And my 12-year-old host sister, giggling with her friend when Brady came to visit, giggling at my notebook of Ukrainian lessons and trying to correct it, dressing up together in traditional embroidered vishyvankas and flower headdresses, doing exercise routines in the upstairs loft until we were exhausted. I cried the day we went to our permanent home, exchanging big hugs and telling my host mom, Ya loobloo tebe, and hearing it in return through her tears—I love you.
Today, 8 months into the war with Russia.
“New Message: Nosivka Family,” I read on a little banner on my phone. My breath catches in my throat. It’s been one day since the barrage of a reported 100 missiles were sent to every region of Ukraine.
My now 19-year-old Ukrainian sister, Dasha, speaks for the family, as her English surpassed my Ukrainian some time ago. She starts with “hello” and a Ukrainian smiley-face symbol after her greeting, but I can see the next word and something plummets inside me. “Unfortunately, yesterday I and Inna [her older sister] were in Kyiv.” Oh no, I think; Kyiv had been hit hard. “And it was all terrible, we did not feel such fear even when we were surrounded.”
My heart withers at this news. For months, their little village was occupied for miles on every side. While Nosivka was enough off the main roads that Russian soldiers weren’t stationed there, my host mom, a Labor and Delivery nurse, was operating on civilian gunshot wounds in the next town over. The whole family was sleeping next to the potatoes and beets on the cold cement floor of their cellar, wearing winter coats to supplement the blankets, only flashlights for comfort. That same cellar had so warmed my heart seven years ago when I first came to live with them, helping me to understand this family and people more than anything else had up to that point—a people who are connected to the land, the soil, all things that grow. Nosivka was surrounded for months, with news every day of the war crimes being committed in other occupied regions—rape and executions, torture as sport—following strict curfews lest they be next. I tried unsuccessfully during this time to send packages of food, which had disappeared from stores, to gently suggest they come live with us in the U.S., to get myself to sleep through the night instead of checking for updates, waiting for bad news.
Dasha continues about her time in Kyiv, a two hour train ride from her village: “I saw and very clearly heard 8 explosions, after which I went to shelter. There was no light in Kyiv until 22:00. It was very scary.” She sends pictures of smoke clouds over buildings, a dark video of a child with a cat, presumably in the shelter. The challenge of a second language adds an eloquence to Dasha’s short sentences: “A rocket fell in front of my university and destroyed the park.”
I later see pictures of Shevchenko Park, one of our favorite parks in a city of magnificent green spaces. This one is great for people-watching. It’s where the old men come to play chess every day, in a little sunken area with cement chess boards imprinted on the tables, packed with beards and focus and the energy of the weightlifting area of a gym. It’s big, and one part butts up to a beautiful, bright red building, one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Shevchenko University.
Dasha shares, “Yes, I study in the red building of Shevchenko University. Unfortunately, now there are no windows and doors.” I know the playground was also hit; I see pictures of puffy toddlers in mittens and hats, now playing in the enormous hole next to the jungle gym.
Dasha continues, “Now many people are leaving Ukraine again, because the lights are being turned off more and more often and it is cold everywhere because the heating does not work.” I think of how I did the math some months ago, that more than half of all children in Ukraine have been displaced. I read on, “Every day the prices are increasing, even eggs, which used to be bought for $1, now cost $2.50. Our Ukrainian products are becoming more expensive than those imported from other countries. It is difficult, but we have to survive it.” She ends with a grinning emoji, eyes closed they’re so happy.
I know they have not had meat for months, that they are surviving more now on their garden produce than ever before. She is the picture of Ukrainian strength and steadfastness, which I have seen in many posts from other friends. There is a saying right now, “Each fighting on their own front.” They are more knit together than ever before, to each other, to their land. This is their home, and survival is not a question.
I don’t know what to think about the upcoming winter months, as frosty autumn begins with rolling blackouts across the country. There is not enough energy to keep lights on over a dark winter, nor enough oil to keep warm. It will be difficult, I almost hear Dasha’s voice, but a happy thought hits me—someday, this will be over, and they will have grown to become the most prepared country in Europe, with months (please not years) of practice defending themselves in more and more advanced ways. They will be the most brotherly country on the continent, too, having had to come together like never before. Dasha’s last emoji makes a little more sense to me, though it still makes me want to cry.
If you are interested in delving deeper into stories of Ukrainian culture and way of life, please consider buying the Babusya’s Kitchen Cookbook, compiled by Peace Corps Volunteers over many years from their local babusyas, host mothers, friends and colleagues. Your $30 goes towards supporting mini-grants for Ukrainians running small projects to serve their neighbors during these hard times.
Not Just for New Year’s
Locally Produced Sparkling Wines Are an Every Day Delight
by Lisa Ludwigsen
These days, sparkling wine has moved from a special occasion indulgence to an everyday player in the mix of modern cocktails, especially in northern California, where vintners are producing a wide selection of appealing and often affordable bubbles. While Napa and Sonoma are typically touted for their sparkling wines, Mendocino County’s fine selections certainly hold their own among their splashier counterparts to the south.
Sparkling wines are close, if not identical, to their counterparts made in France, yet the name Champagne can only be used for wine made in that region. Everything else must be labeled sparkling wine.
There is a sparkling style for most every palate and occasion, from French-style L’Ermitage to Brut Rouge, Cuvée Brut, Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noir, Crémant, and Pétillant Naturel. Mendocino growers create their own unique blends using a variety of grapes, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, French Colombard, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and others. Each producer utilizes their individual style and terroir to imbue their product with its own special character. It’s worth venturing out to try them all!
Whatever your preference, wineries in every region in Mendocino County offer first-rate sparkling. From the premier Roederer and Scharffenberger in Anderson Valley, to the certified organic, very dry Blanc de Blanc at Terra Sávia in Hopland, to the 100% estate-grown Brut natural style at Rivino, sparkling enthusiasts and novices will enjoy making their way through the wide selection offered by talented local producers. There are simply too many to mention here.
Ever wondered where all those bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass come from? To put it simply, once grapes have been fermented to create wine, a second fermentation takes place that creates the bubbles. The young wine is bottled, then a small amount of yeast and sugar are added to each bottle to create the second fermentation. (Less expensive sparkling styles, like Prosecco, use stainless steel tanks for the second fermentation.) As the yeast eats the sugar, the resulting carbon dioxide is contained within the bottle, creating the bubbles. The bottles are left alone for a period of time, anywhere from nine months to five years or even longer. Important steps include racking—storing the bottles upside down and turning them regularly—and opening each bottle to quickly remove the spent yeast which can cloud the final product. Labor intensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely!
An interesting trend in sparkling wine is called Pét-Nat. Short for the French Pétillant Naturel, Pét-Nat roughly translates to “naturally sparkling.” In short, Pét-Nat is created by trapping the carbon dioxide created during the first fermentation, when the grapes are being transformed into wine. These wines are slightly unpredictable. They are lower in alcohol and lighter in flavor. They may have remnants of the original yeasts, resulting in some cloudiness, and the bubbles may be softer and fewer. The word “funky” is often used to describe them. They are a popular and fun addition to the menu of sparkling wines. Mendocino County producers of Pét-Nat include Fathers + Daughters winery in Philo and Powicana Winery in Redwood Valley, among a few other local wineries.
Sparkling wine enthusiasts should mark their calendars for the Mendocino County Sparkling Wine Festival, which will take place in April 2023 at Terra Sávia winery. Last year’s event featured 10 producers, all from Mendocino County.
Those teeny, tiny bubbles tickle the nose and ignite the imagination. Pop open a bottle of sparkling wine and get the party started, even if it’s a party of two. Begin a meal out with a single glass and set the tone for a lovely meal. It’s a wonderful development in the world of wine that sparkling wines are no longer relegated to the special occasion. Life is short. Enjoy sparkling wine whenever you can.
Just a Few of Mendocino County’s Sparkling Wine Producers
(in no particular order)
Fathers + Daughters
FandDCellars.com
Terra Sávia
TerraSavia.com
McFadden Vineyards
BlueQuail.com
Nelson Family Vineyards
NelsonFamilyVineyards.com
Roederer Estate
RoedererEstate.com
Scharffenberger Cellars
ScharffenbergerCellars.com
Pennyroyal Farm
PennyroyalFarm.com
Navarro Vineyards
NavarroWine.com
Handley Cellars
HandleyCellars.com
Long Meadow Ranch
LongMeadowRanch.com
Saracina
Saracina.com
Top image courtesy of Pexels.
Mushroom Dyes
With a Side Garden Turned Shangri-La, This Quietly Elegant Bistro Serves Up Some of Mendocino’s Best Eating
by Holly Madrigal
Miriam C. Rice was a woman with hidden depths and many talents. A researcher, artist, and mother, she was also a boundary-pushing children’s art teacher in Mendocino and an original instructor at the Mendocino Art Center. Miriam’s artistic mediums ranged from sculpture to printmaking and batik. Her curiosity and artistic mind were instrumental in revealing the mysteries of mushroom dyes.
Miriam lived in Mendocino County in the 1960s with her husband, Ray, and their family. The family’s long, rain-soaked walks in the coastal forests revealed an abundance of mushrooms and fungi. The first mushroom she used for dyeing was the sulfur yellow Hypholoma fasciculare, a common woodland mushroom, which she placed in a bubbling pot with wool yarn. The yarn emerged a brilliant lemon yellow. Her curiosity was piqued! Friends in the woods, art studios, and laboratories helped her coax out the hues and shades of the mycorrhizal gifts they found in the forest.
Miriam began identifying different mushroom and fungi species in earnest with the late mycologist Dr. Harry Thiers. She amassed a large collection of dye samples by utilizing the bumper crop of mushrooms resulting from the exceptionally wet winters of the 1970s. These samples formed the foundation of her book, the first and foremost authority on mushroom pigment dyes, Let’s Try Mushrooms for Color, later updated to Mushrooms for Color. The book embodied Miriam’s goal to utilize materials from the natural world in order to move away from chemical dyes. She shared her new discoveries with friends in Sweden, Carla and Erik Sundström, who began their own book, Färga med Svampar, published in 1982.
The technique of mushroom dyeing is quite straightforward. Mashed or chopped, fresh mushrooms of different varieties are added with water in a 1:1 ratio along with the fiber to be dyed. Protein fibers such as wool or angora absorb the dye well, but cotton and linen also work. The mix is simmered for a specific time to imbue the desired color to the fiber. Miriam also did significant research on mordants, a pre-treatment solution to increase the dye’s color fastness. She explored potassium alum sulfate, potassium dichromate, copper sulfate, and more. She also developed a knotting method to signify the use of different mordants, a method that is still widely used today. No knot meant no mordant, one knot equaled alum, and on up to five knots which meant iron sulfate was used. Adhering to her desire to use fewer chemicals in her materials, she determined that alum and iron were the safest mordants.
Fiber artists continued to gather and share knowledge across the seas during mushroom dyeing symposia. Miriam founded the International Mushroom Dye Institute (IMDI) in 1985 to gather students and teachers from all over the world to continue this work. She was an active contributor to the analysis and development of different methods, including evaluating the safety of different mordants and branching out into mushroom paper and mushroom ink sticks.
Miriam passed away in 2010 in her home in Mendocino. I learned all of this as I sat in the light-filled Mendocino studio of Felicia Rice, Miriam and Ray’s daughter. An accomplished artist in her own right, Felicia runs Moving Parts Press, where she creates limited editions of letterpress artists’ books, broadsides, and works of art. She serves on the board of IMDI to ensure that her mother’s work continues.
Felicia has recently been through a literal trial by fire. In 2020, she lost her home of 40 years to a wildfire in the Santa Cruz mountains. The devastation took not only her house, but also her studio and the entire printed 5th edition of her mother’s book. The archive of her works and 200 cases of irreplaceable letterpress type were gone in an instant. Felicia displays a glass jar of feathery grey ash and charcoal—all that remains of her home.
After the fire, Felicia returned to Mendocino, the place where she spent her childhood with her parents. She filled the shed where her father once crafted stop-motion films with newly-acquired equipment. With help and support from friends, colleagues, and organizations, she built the studio that her parents had envisioned back in the 1980s.
Felicia is rebuilding her life, now completing a book called Heavy Lifting, a collection of poems and artwork described as “a fierce work that names the darkness in the belief that the first stage of recovery from grief is acknowledgment and that the precursor to action can be anger.” The book will be released in late 2022.
The recent Mushroom Dyeing workshop, funded by the California Arts Council and hosted by the Pacific Textile Arts at the Larry Spring Museum in Fort Bragg, sold out. It is clear to see that her mother’s passion continues to resonate. “Many don’t realize that my mom was as much of an alchemist as she was an artist,” said Felicia. Always interested in reducing waste, Miriam explored making paper from mushrooms. She found that the polypore shelf fungi made the best paper, because of their naturally occurring chitin and cellulose content. She even invented Myco-stix, which is similar to a pastel crayon of mushroom pigment. “It has been wonderful to reconnect people through my mother’s work,” added Felicia, noting that “IMDI provides a travel grant awarded to textile artists abroad to allow them to attend the mushroom dye symposiums across the world.”
Ensuring her mother’s legacy is a natural extension of this fungal network of arts and history. Felicia is a groundbreaking artist in Mendocino, walking in her parents’ footsteps, supporting the continuation of her mother’s research. Miriam believed in the potential of fungi pigments and saw the establishment of mushroom dyes as a thriving, viable option to imbue color in the world. Through Felicia’s perseverance and the efforts of the IMDI, these vibrant hues will continue to paint the fibers of the textile community.
Learn more about mushroom dyeing on MushroomsForColor.com. Information about Moving Parts Press and the Heavy Lifting release and presentation tour can be found on MovingPartsPress.com.
Photo of Miriam with dye samples by Carla Sundstrom, 1985
All other photos by Holly Madrigal
Eat Mendocino Revisited
Ten Years Later, a New Take on an Old Challenge
by Gowan Batist
In Fall 2012, before Fortunate Farm was born, I was managing a farm-to-school program on the coast. (Noyo Food Forest is still going strong, bringing education and local food to teens and the wider community.)
I was preoccupied with the issues that I saw with the gentrification of local food, and its growing inaccessibility, versus the ethic that I had grown up being taught by my grandparents. Children of the Great Depression, they would literally buy bags of dented cans and roll the botulism dice, while growing, foraging, and fishing the most amazing local food. I was raised on a mix of the worst industrial discards and the best fresh homegrown produce. But back then, what both staples had in common was that they were affordable.
I was watching local food become fashionable, and therefore inaccessible. I knew that my vision of local food in Mendocino County was not a puff of microgreens on a salad served to a tourist. I loved the artistry and appreciated the financial importance of such products, but I wanted our local food to stick to our ribs, too.
I had always known that the homesteader ideal of self sufficiency was colonial propaganda, and that agricultural communities have always, when they have been anything, been deeply interdependent. I had been away from my home for years going to college, returning in 2011 to farm. I remembered the tight knit farming community of my youth, but I didn’t know the new faces and systems.
I was young and full of hubris and determination, and I decided that I would find where the safety net was by throwing myself into it. I wanted to understand with my body what we as an agricultural community could do, and what I could do with my relatively abundant free time and very low budget. I decided to spend a calendar year, January to January, eating and drinking only from the foodshed of Mendocino County. Oils, grains, spices, sweeteners—everything. This meant giving up coffee. The resultant coffee hangover was so bad that I have never gone back to it. My point was not to scold anyone about their own diets, or even to promote local food necessarily, but to offer myself as an experiment and a canary in our collective mine. I wanted to celebrate our strengths and truly feel our shortcomings, uninsulated by the anonymous food I would otherwise buy to fill the gap.
Eat Mendocino was given its name by my friend Sarah. I was picking up her lemon tree from her chilly Mendocino deck so it could spend the winter in my greenhouse. She asked if I was still going to do my local food project. I said yeah, I was. She casually decided to join me. That decision, made as we heaved her potted lemon tree into the back of my ’95 Dodge Dakota, has largely defined the last decade of my life.
In Fall 2012, I was stocking my pantry and freezer. I was picking the last clinging tomatoes on the brown vines and splitting them in half for my dehydrator, the old Excalibur that I’m still using now. I was canning in a water bath canner in the shade house at the farm, because it wouldn’t fit on my tiny home stove and took up too much kitchen territory in my shared rental.
I am doing all the things that I’ve been doing since 2012, now, in Fall 2022. Yesterday we packed a dozen quarts of tomatoes away, the days before two dozen of salsa, the weeks before pickles, and gallons of pressed cider and leaching acorns are sitting in my cooler. Sarah’s old lemon tree is alive and well, its lemon juice and zest are tucked on a shelf in my big freezer.
I always knew that I wanted to repeat the project ten years later. The change in the county’s agricultural infrastructure in the last decade has been immense. We have had many new farms open and some close. We have lost beloved elders, and beginners have become mentors. We have tools and resources that I did not have when I prepared for this project ten years ago. We now have Sarah’s project, the non-profit Good Farm Fund, which she was inspired to co-create to build capacity for local farmers after her experience with Eat Mendocino. We have a greatly expanded Farmers Market Association, with EBT matching funds. We have the School of Adaptive Agriculture, our own local wool mill, and very significantly to me, we have the MendoLake Food Hub. The Hub is a non-profit that aggregates distribution for local food through a website, strategically placed coolers, and a truck route. They have been essential during the pandemic for getting food to people who need it and have expanded to home delivery and the general public rather than solely being available for sales to institutions like restaurants and grocery stores. We have sent probably tens of thousands of pounds of food and flowers all over the county and beyond, even as far as San Francisco, via the Hub network over the years.
Our farm on the coast hosts one of the distribution nodes for the Hub. This is just a big cooler, but what forms around it is the capacity-building that makes farming work for many of us. Twice per week, trucks pick up and drop off in the cooler. Farmer friends bring their products, restaurant owners pull up to pick up, and many, many vehicles are kept off the road by consolidating the transportation of the best of the coast farms to inland, and the best of the inland farms to the coast. Our farm stand serves as a coastal retail site for the collaborative nature of this project; we are proud to offer our partner farms’ peppers and melons alongside our cool climate crops. I love getting to say hi to farmer and restaurateur friends coming and going from our place to pick up and drop off.
What this has meant for me in the last season is seeing boxes, filled by my friends’ hands with the words “Eat Mendocino” written across them, showing up in the node. Ten years ago this time, I had to seek everything out, and we drove hundreds of miles in search of ways to fill the jars in the pantries beyond what I could set aside for myself on the small farm I was tending. Now it gets delivered to my farm, which is a good thing. I have more responsibilities than I did in my early twenties, less free time, and gas is much more expensive—but a bunch of kale is still $3. The fact that I consider the practical implications of my big philosophical leaps of faith now is also evidence that I’m ten years older.
As I prepare, I’m not replacing my non-local pantry items when they run out, I’ve weaned myself off of caffeinated tea, and I’m double-stocking my kitchen, body, and mind. The work that is solely subsisting off of local food that needs to be gathered, harvested, prepared, stored, fermented and dried, frozen and thawed, and plucked and cooked is immense. I have a community around me that helps lift the load and offers their expertise and loaned equipment, unpicked apple trees, and grandma recipes.
Doing a project like this now is fundamentally different than it was ten years ago in a social sense. Demographically, farmers in their twenties have been rising in recent years, but in their thirties they sharply fall off. There are many reasons for this. An abusive system of agriculture nationally that pits idealistic small farmers against the low commodity prices made possible by oppression of workers and corporate subsidies on industrial farms is one very good reason. Many of us start as interns who deeply believe and are willing to work for little or nothing and sleep anywhere, but who, after hopping from farm to farm as an intern without any possibilities for longer term better paying work, become disillusioned. Many of us get injured, or need dental work, or have one major disaster like a county fine for a hoop house, or a broken tractor, or a fire, or just fall in love and realize they would like to work less than 80 hours per week while caring for children.
I’m now in my thirties and I’m part of this trend, to an extent. The pandemic’s financial impact on our farm requires off-farm income; on-going complications from old injuries in my hands make repetitive tasks like planting, weeding, harvesting, and bunching impossible for long stretches of time; and elder care responsibilities mean that I am farming less now than I ever have before in my career. “Just” two acres of mixed pumpkins, squash, flowers, and my sheep flock. There are many other exciting things happening at Fortunate Farm, but not managed by me.
The first seeds I planted on this farm, which we purchased in 2013, during the year I first did Eat Mendocino, were a blue Hubbard type pumpkin called Sweet Homestead. They were recommended by the old farmer who had lived here before us. This year’s pumpkins are curing in the field now and were the first seeds I planted this season, too. That’s unusual. Typically there would be a whole round of cold season greens and roots. The first season I was still farming at Noyo Food Forest, and was just getting started in our farming at Fortunate and needed to plant something simple and sturdy that could stand having my attention split. This season I was caring for my mother and needed to plant something simple and sturdy, too. The crops we turn to when times are hard and when times are full and hectic are the ones that mean the most to me. They have our backs when we need it, in celebration and in grief.
Only some of the folks who started farming in Mendocino around the same time I did are still farming now, and I see in them the combination of grit, luck, smarts, and resources that it takes to make that long haul. I feel every day of my ten years since Fall 2012, most of them spent doing hard labor. When we were young, we wrote some big checks with our hopes and dreams that we have cashed with our sore bodies and our lost sleep. I made some big, audacious statements about the world I wanted to see this time ten years ago, at 24. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was a kid with just enough information and skills to get into trouble with.
I am not the same person that I was then, but I made a big, ridiculous promise publicly to do this local food project, and I made that promise come true. I also said I would do it again in ten years, when I had my own farm. I am now going to make that come true, too. Preserving local food now, in the peak of the fall season, is a love letter to the future days that are short and cold. Fulfilling oaths made when I was younger is a love letter to the past and the days that were new and full.
If you’d like to follow along, Eat Mendocino will be active on social media, and I’ll be sharing exclusive writing on my Patreon: patreon.com/GowanBatist.
Gowan Batist of Fortunate Farm is a Post-Industrial Pastoralist working towards regeneration on landscapes her ancestors devastated. She is seldom seen, but sometimes glimpsed out in the fog or the oak savanna propagating native plants, spinning wool, hand shearing sheep, or sprawling on the ground with dogs.
The K-8 School Food Pantry
MUSD Addresses Food Insecurity
by Holly Madrigal
Cecilia Jimenez
The village of Mendocino might bring to mind million-dollar cottages where Murder She Wrote was filmed (rest in peace Angela Lansbury), but behind the quaint picturesque location is a living, breathing, deep-rooted community with enough property taxes and talented teachers to make a top-notch school district. In addition to achievements in academics, there is a much-needed focus on mental health. Mendocino Unified has a robust counseling staff that works closely with students to deal with challenges.
A little-recognized aspect of mental health is food insecurity. An alarmingly high percentage of students in Mendocino County qualify for free and reduced lunch. Sadly, school is often the one place where some kids can get a reliable meal. This was thrown into sharp relief during the pandemic, when school districts across the county became food delivery organizations. Ukiah Unified School District alone distributed thousands of meals to students and their families in need.
Cecilia Jimenez, LCSW, is part of the team at Mendocino Unified School District. In 2018, the K-8 school decided to establish a food pantry, using Cecilia’s office as a distribution point. “The idea came from a conversation with a parent,” says Cecilia. They used to hand out snack packs every week because some kids were experiencing homelessness. “After winter break, I checked in with a parent to see how things were going, and they let me know how expensive things get in the winter, not just from the holidays but with the increase of heating costs,“ she remembers. “The parent thanked me for the snack pack because it helped them get through the two weeks away from school. So for me, that really highlighted the need that a lot of our families had.”
Cecilia explains that, for some families, the cost of gas to come to town and access the food bank in Fort Bragg was unaffordable. “So that is when we began working with the Food Bank and the Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund. We’ve prepared as little as five boxes a week to 22 boxes a week during a Covid year,” Cecilia adds.
At the school, the staff let students know that they are always welcome to pick up a snack. During the holidays or over long breaks, counseling staff pack up boxes of canned goods, cereals, and other non-perishable items that students can take home. The school also installed a washer and dryer some years ago, so that students who may not have access at home have a way to get their clothes clean. At our school Diane and the kitchen staff went above and beyond to feed our students. I know the other schools did as well. Our school district and admin staff have been so supportive every step of the way.
During the season of giving, many worthy nonprofits may be seeking your donation dollars. The Fort Bragg Food Bank and all of the food-providing organizations in Mendocino County would be excellent places to contribute. These hard-working groups experienced an increased demand during the pandemic, and the current sharp increase in food costs has severely impacted their bottom lines. Please consider pitching in, so that no student in Mendocino County will go without.
Fort Bragg Food Bank — Mendocino Food & Nutrition Program
910 N Franklin St. Fort Bragg, CA
(707) 964-9404 | FortBraggFoodBank.org
Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund
PO Box 1616 Mendocino, CA 95460
(707) 937-6111 | MCCF.info
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders
Old World Brewing in a Historic Point Arena Building
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
We are fortunate to live in an area replete with great beer, wine, cannabis, and food, offering a plethora of good things to meet most folks’ needs. Yet even though we have so many good options, it’s always exciting when a new venture opens its doors. On April 7, 2022, Peter McDowell and Rose Walterbach finally realized their dream of opening The New Museum Brewers & Blenders in Point Arena. It was inspired by one of their very favorite cafes in Belgium, explained Peter, and hopes to be ”a true community brewery that makes its patrons feel at home.”
Peter and Rose have been living in Point Arena for the past two years, waiting out the pandemic and the county building department permitting process. During that time, they have completed much of the remodeling of The New Museum Brewers themselves. The building is the oldest on Main Street, constructed in 1893, and they maintained that feeling of age, grace, and beauty with their renovations. The interior is spacious, furnished with gorgeous black walnut tabletops perched on beer casks, chairs, and a beautiful redwood bar complete with barstools. There is substantial outdoor seating on the deck, and there is even a produce stand featuring local produce from various growers including Wavelength Farm in Manchester, Filigreen Farm in Boonville, and Martin Hayes on the ridge. Both kid- and dog-friendly, there’s an added bonus with the produce and flower stand—a nice diversion for kids who get bored while their parents taste beer.
Most recently hailing from Hood River, Oregon, Peter and Rose met in a skate park in Salem, Oregon when they were young, forming an instant connection. Both life- and work-partners, they have been together—and pursuing their dream of owning their own brewery—for nearly 15 years. They began home brewing in 2011 while living in Portland, with the assistance of friends who were brewers. “We just found so much love and passion for it,” Rose explained, adding “We’ve learned on the job and with a lot of reading.” They began taking turns volunteering at various breweries to gain experience, while the other worked in more mundane jobs to make ends meet and save for future plans.
In 2015, they decided to take the next step toward establishing their own brewery, sending out applications everywhere in the country they could think of to gain more brewery experience. Rose was hired by Anderson Valley Brewery in Boonville as a cellar worker, and while Peter initially landed a job at Bear Republic in Cloverdale, he was soon scooped up by AV Brewery as well. They worked together there from 2015 to 2018, running the brewery’s pilot system under Trey White. The pilot system was the brewery’s smaller, more types of beers for export to Russia, Croatia, and China, as well as a particular export of Summer Solstice to Thailand.
Rose and Peter initially considered this phase of their education to be a stepping stone, and had planned to go back home to Portland to put their experience into action. But when they returned there in 2018, though they were glad to be back among familiar faces and places, they realized how much they missed the camaraderie and the community in Mendocino County. They loved their experiences here, marvelling that “polar opposites can hang out and still have good conversations.” Peter noted that the “good people have each others’ backs,” which is not true everywhere. So they revised their dream and began to plan in earnest for a move back to Mendocino County.
Serendipity happened, in that small town way. Peter and Julian Lopez of Cafe Beaujolais were enjoying a Great Day in Elk, and they mentioned their dream of opening a farmhouse destination brewery to Michael, a friend of Rose and Peter. Rose explained, “Our friend Mike said, ‘I have some friends I know who you could talk to.’ But beer was involved, so they didn’t give our contact information.” Not long after, another friend mentioned to the couple that they knew “people” who wanted to reach out to them. Though they didn’t have the contact information either, they mentioned that the folks owned Cafe Beaujolais. So Rose went to their website and reached out via the contact page, told them their story, and proffered their business plan. Two days later the phone rang, an enthusiastic connection was made, and a partnership was born.
Rose left her job in Oregon to focus solely on this project, and in early 2020, two weeks prior to the pandemic shut-down, Rose moved back to Mendocino County to “do whatever”—a phrase common to many of us who have moved here and figured out how to make it work. She lived with a friend in Navarro and worked at The Company Kitchen and at Lemons’ Market, noting that “the Lemons family really supported me” during her move. Peter had planned to give his notice at the brewery in Hood River, but pandemic shutdowns had begun in earnest. He was lucky enough to keep his job after initial layoffs and thought it might be best to delay his departure for a couple of months.
About half of their beers are a Belgian-type ale—a low alcohol, dry, refreshing farm-style beer—and the remainder are more hop-forward IPAs. “We just brew the beers we like to drink,” Peter said. They recently brewed their first pilsner and tried out a dark lager as well. They handle most brewing tasks together, with Rose brewing one batch and Peter the other, then blending the double batches together. Between the two of them, they handle the brewing, packaging, distributing, selling, and bartending. Peter explained, “We will always be doing everything. Especially in Europe and Belgium, in particular, you go into a brewery and get a beer, and it’s the brewer who’s serving the beer, or the family.”
“We’ve kind of designed, in our eyes, the perfect flow,” Peter said. Rose added, “We’ve designed it so it’s not a job. It’s fun. We built to our capacity . . . the biggest we want to be, which is 1,000 barrels per year. We don’t want to get bigger than that.” They have two cooks now, which has freed them from the kitchen, giving them more time for promotion and distribution to their Sonoma and San Francisco accounts, where their beers have been very well received.
New Museum’s food offerings include several types of tacos, ceviche, salads, and chips, salsa, and guacamole. We tried the cauliflower and potato tacos—both beautiful and stupendously good, perhaps the best vegetarian taco ever; the chips and guac—delicious and not too spicy; and a flight of their beers—a good variety to meet most people’s tastes. Their beers are uniquely named and range from light, refreshing farmhouse style ales such as Among the Ferns and Mild Child, to mid-range hoppier offerings like Another Tale and Fresh Cut Flower, to a dark farmhouse ale. My favorite was Band of Horribles, an unfiltered West Coast IPA, and my dining partner preferred Petal Drop, their darker farmhouse offering. All were easy to drink and paired well with the food.
When asked about their experience moving from Portland to a town as remote as Point Arena, Peter and Rose shared that so many young people who live here are from Oregon or have spent time up there. There are certainly things to miss about city life, but “here there’s such a community, and a lot of young movement and people doing really neat things.” Point Arena has created a foodie enclave, with old favorites such as Franny’s Cup and Saucer, the Little Green Bean Coffee, The Bird Cafe & Supper Club, and Point Arena Pizza, along with the more recent additions such as Izakaya Gama, Pelican Bread, and the soon-to-be-launched Good Food Club. One of their friends recently exclaimed, “Wow! You guys have this little hidden food mecca that two months ago was not there.” Rose and Peter are enjoying and definitely benefitting from the growth and the renaissance of Point Arena.
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders beer can be found locally at The Company Kitchen in Philo, and at Luna Trattoria and The Waiting Room at Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino. New Museum sells growlers for home consumption, or they can refill your unbranded growlers. Come on out to the new food mecca in Point Arena and have a taste, straight from the makers’ hands.
The New Museum Brewers & Blenders
265 Main Street Point Arena
(707) 356-8232 | TheNewMuseumBeer.com
Open Sundays 12pm - 6pm, Saturday 12pm - 9pm
Thursday & Friday 4pm - 9pm
Too Good To Go
An App to Find Food Bargains Near You
by Torrey Douglass
$15 of pastries for $5 from Le Pain Quotidien
Comedian Paula Poundstone once quipped that the organic melon she purchased in order to feed her kids healthy food had a window of ripeness so unpredictable and brief that she had to wake them at 3am to eat it. I get it. After spending a pretty penny on avocados, I find myself monitoring their progress daily like a worrying mother hen over her eggs, hoping I won’t miss that divine moment that occurs between the phases Rock and Mush. We’re taught that eating fresh foods is essential to good health, but if those foods are untouched by preservatives and processing, they will logically decay more quickly. As a result, if you lose track of the state of your produce drawer (or cheese drawer or breadbox), you’re going to be faced with some expensive additions to your compost pile.
An instinctive abhorrence of food waste is rooted in most cultural traditions. Expressions of gratitude before a meal can be found around the world and throughout time, sometimes as part of a spiritual tradition and sometimes simply as recognition that a person is fortunate, in that moment, to have what they need. It’s baked into our bones that we should not take our dinner for granted—we need food to survive, after all—and we definitely should not waste it.
Yet in 2010, the USDA estimated that over 30% of food in the United States is wasted at the retail and consumer levels. This refers only to food that has been selected and prepared for sale, as opposed to, for example, food that doesn’t meet consumer expectations and so is left behind in the field. The USDA estimated that waste was equal to 133 billion pounds and valued at $161B. Considering the effort, energy, and resources that go into growing food, getting it to the store, and then getting it home, it’s a Grade A bummer with sides of guilt and frustration when it goes bad.
Restaurants have a front row seat to the problem of food waste in America, and some concerned tech wizards decided to use their skills to help them do something about it. Enter Too Good To Go, a food app that connects hungry customers with restaurants looking to unload excess food. On the app, a food business posts the availability of “surprise bags”—bags of unsold (and undisclosed) food priced at one-third of its retail value—typically for $4 to $10.
Too Good To Go was started in Copenhagen in 2016 and landed in the U.S. in September 2020 in Boston and New York. A press release in April 2022 claimed that the company has “saved 100M[illion] meals across 17 countries” since it launched. Bakeries, restaurants, schools, and other organizations sign up, pay $1.79 to the app for each bag sold (in addition to the $89 annual fee), and generate additional revenue for their business by selling food they would otherwise throw away.
The app and others like it are recognized as an important piece of the solution to food waste. Food banks prefer non-perishable items, and organizations that prepare free meals require ingredients in bulk. They are not the right partner for a pizzeria that has some spare slices at the end of the day, but for folks who care about minimizing food waste, or are just looking for good food at a discount, Too Good To Go is the answer.
The app arrived on the West Coast in September of 2021, launching in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Since then, it has become available in other areas, including Los Angeles. Not long ago, Sherri Smith, a writer in Sherman Oaks, took advantage by picking up a bag of mixed pastries from her local bakery, Le Pain Quotidien, for only $4.99. Sherri shared, “I got an array of pastries for a great price. It’s a neat idea, and still novel enough that several restaurant staff came out to see me pick up my order. I think we were all delighted to see the app in action.”
The app is in common use in the Bay Area as well, with participating restaurants in the North, South, and East Bays, in addition to an impressive 582 businesses just in the city of San Francisco—a yummy mix of bakeries, cafes, markets, taquerias, and more. Joe, from Cindy’s Market on Hayes Street, said they’ve used the app for almost a year and they’ve had a good experience with it. “It’s a good way to get rid of old, and beats throwing it out.” He noted that the checkout process can be a little awkward during the pick up, since the order must be confirmed on the customer’s phone, but otherwise they have been pleased with the system, using it to unload pre-made sandwiches at the end of the day.
Pam works at Peet’s Coffee in Santa Rosa and uses Too Good To Go to pass along unsold pastries—croissants, cookies, scones, and cinnamon rolls—and 1-pound bags of coffee beans. She’s been selling on the app for a few months and said that customers are enthusiastic about her bags. “It’s great for folks who just need a quick bite, or have some hungry kids at home, and it saves waste,” Pam enthused. She particularly appreciates how the app tracks the carbon saved by redirecting the food away from landfills, commenting that, “It’s nice to see the impact.”
Our country has an alarming volume of food waste, and it’s essential we all take steps to address it. There are all sorts of ways we can contribute, from meal planning so that we purchase only the food we’ll use, to composting our food waste in order to keep it out of landfills. Picking up a surprise bag is an easy way to be part of the solution. It provides yummy food at a fraction of the price while helping restaurants reduce their waste costs. Altogether it’s a pretty sweet feeling—almost as sweet as that organic melon at 3am.
Find out more at TooGoodToGo.com.
Top photo courtesy of Too Good To Go. Photo p48 courtesy of Sherri Smith.