new friends, old friends and KCRW's Good Food??

(not edible, but really pretty!)

(Joel explaining the wonderful world of wild plants to Eddie and Harriet)

About a month ago, we had an amazing class at the store called Foraged Foods: identification and preparation. Naturalist and friend Joel Robinson foraged foods from our local wild places and i taught a cooking class with these tasty ingredients....i have to admit, this was an awesome class for not only Joel and i, but it has also caught the attention of some other big foodies in Southern California.
Just this past Thursday, Joel was interviewed by beloved KCRW foodie show Good Food for our class and he gave an in-depth tour and tasting of wild Santa Ana to new friends Eddie Lin and Harriet Ells...i got to cameo a little demo on making a wild salad too!!

(wild radish-SUPER beautiful and very fragrant)

Throughout Joel's tour of our parking lot, Park Santiago and the Santiago neighborhood, i not only got a much needed break from the day-to-day "store-life" that i am usually consumed in but i was able to appreciate the beauty and wonder that is literally within block of my home....it is so easy to forget the wonder of nature around you when you are constantly working.
But even more, i really cherished that i could take a few moments from my day and have an adventure with friends: 1 whom i have been trying to do a walk/spend time with (Joel) and two new friends whom i shared a child-like experience of wonder and amazement in finding new treasures to eat! as i sit here and write, i am thankful that my little store has allowed me the opportunity to know such amazing people...i love how the world works!

here are some images from our adventure:

(we demoed this wild green in a salad)

(Black Sage right outside the entrance to Park Santiago)

(loquats! right outside a church in the Santiago neighborhood)

(recording in the church yard-lots quieter!)

our next Foraged Foods class will be on April 25, we also do a Wild Weeds Walk around Santa Ana with Caroline Colesworthy every 3rd Saturday of the month

a play on CSA-Community Supported Fishery?

(David La Spina, NY Times)

i just read this amazing article in the NY Times Magazine article about Abundant Seafood, a Southern US fishing company that is creating a business based on localizing seafood and providing sustainable, abundant alternatives to conventional seafood products.
In addition to pollutants there is a silent, yet, serious threat to food from the oceans. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California- a leader in promoting healthy and sustainable eating from the oceans (please check out their info on what to eat and what NOT to eat seafood list) the fishing industry has taken a toll on what was once abundant:

"Humans have been fishing the oceans for thousands of years. But over the past five decades technology has allowed us to fish farther, deeper and more efficiently than ever before. Scientists estimate that we have removed as much as 90 percent of the large predatory fish such as shark, swordfish and cod from the world's oceans. In 2003, the Pew Oceans Commission warned that the world's oceans are in a state of "silent collapse," threatening our food supply, marine economies, recreation and the natural legacy we leave our children." (Monterey bay Aquarium)

scary right? Abundant Seafood seems to have found a market however on providing food while respecting where it came from. In addition to selling ocean-to-table seafood (with minimal miles), Abundant Seafood also created a brilliant program, taken from the good-ol' CSA:

"Closing the loop tighter, last month Abundant Seafood started a community-sponsored fishery. Home cooks pay a share to receive 2 to 10 pounds of fish a month, and the company receives full retail price. Marhefka [owner of Abundant Seafood] said he would use the direct relationship to teach the 60-plus members about the future of fish and its true value. 'It’s their resource, not mine,' he said. " (NY Times Magazine)

Can we PLEASE have something like that here, i do love fish and only eat it every once in a while (and when i would fish with Grandpa Stu in Oregon after 8 hours on a little boat). this is a great program to connect people who connect you to the food you are eating and respect that we live in a world with limited resources....any takers??

a cover in the District Weekly...mucho props for Patchwork Long Beach

(photo by Jennie Warren for the District Weekly)

our little dream-Patchwork has been growing and we recently got the cover of Long Beach fave District Weekly for our upcoming event this Sunday at Marine Park Stadium.

and here are the outtakes:

(nicole working on her knitting prop)

("can someone just tell me what to do")

see you in Long Beach!

For those who are not sure of where to go:

the event will be held at Marine Park Stadium parking lot. The lot is facing the water and next to the Appian Way Bridge. you should see our trademark bright green signs with PATCHWORK logos as you approach the event. For more information see our website or visit our awesome event co-sponsor WE LOVE LONG BEACH.

Sunset Magazine mention

we are very lucky to be mentioned in this month's Sunset Magazine as an editor's pick...i have been reading the magazine since i was in high school (yes i was a nerd) and to even have a a few words is a dream (next in the dream would be ReadyMade).
(they gave us a sticker for our window to show it off)

if you haven't seen it yet, check out the latest issue, not just because we are in it, but they have some great recipes, seasonal projects and really great tips if you are planning to travel around the West.

fixing and making a place to fix stuff

my friend Julie sent me this interesting article from the NY Times about a group of people creating "fix-it" events where you can bring items in to get worked on.
the result of an art project, this now once a week event devoted to fixing things is now The Fixers Collective, where people can mend, alter, repair or repurpose things that we would normally end up in our trash.you know what i am talking about. we all have at least 1 box of items that "we are going to fix/mend/repair", but we haven't had the time b/c we are so busy working and then when we get to the box of stuff, we don't know how to fix it and just save it for another day called never and we end up throwing it away or donating it.
i love this idea of teaching people to fix things, really empowering people to get things repaired themselves is the core of the DIY movement that has really been taking off since the whole economic turn-down.
i haven't really seen anything like this been held locally-there is The Machine Project, an awesome LA space that is devoted to alternative and unique learning/education, that might hold classes on fixing certain things, but nothing like the Fixers Collective.
i am thinking about doing something like this at the store...would anyone be interested in a program like this?

word for the day: Industrial Organic

Last week i mentioned something about the Opportunity Green Conference and one of the readers commented how some of the natural products companies are being bought by major/big-time corporations. This automatically triggered a diagram i saw while reading Cool Cuisine: Taking a Bite Out of Global Warming last year (PS if you want a copy, we should be getting them in next month) of SOME of the "who owns who" in the organic food industry. A quick search lead me to Phil Howard of Michigan State University's work..get ready!

Now note: this was created in Jan 2008, well over a year ago AND we both know this does not include every "organic/green" product out there, JUST FOOD (and probably not all of that either).
This is another big debate in the green industry-some say that having small, start-ups bought by big business is a good thing: more marketing dollars. Others however, say that the integrity of the original mission-statement, ingredients, operation, sourcing of raw goods, and manufacturing might be compromised with a buy-out.
my opinion: if you wanted "green", why not do it yourself, or better yet, change what you are doing now.
i would love to hear more comments on this chart or the debate!

ending the debate of SIGG vs. Klean Kanteen

Over the past month we have an above average request for Klean Kanteens and i recently found out why.

Going back over the past few years of this store, there has been a debate over the 2 popular drinking container companies SIGG and Klean Kanteen. Klean Kanteen, what our store has been carrying, is a stainless steel canteen while SIGG is an aluminum one with an interior "epoxy". The core of the debate has concerned on what exactly is in SIGG's epoxy and is it safe.
For as long as i have been following, SIGG has defended their bottles saying that they are safe and nontoxic.
Personally, we as a business have always sold and supported Klean Kanteen. I have never rationalized having a coating to cover aluminum when there was no need to have aluminum (which is toxic) and an additional coating when stainless steel was safe to use for drinks. also, I was against SIGG's narrow mouth which made it difficult to clean (leading you to buy an additional special cleaning brush) only adding to more purchases and work when it wasn't necessary.
So going back to the original debate and the recent rush in demand of Klean Kanteens: it was stated recently that:

Swiss sports and children's bottle maker SIGG has admitted what many consumer advocates have suspected for years, but never proven: That the epoxy lining used for years in SIGG bottles - which they secretly swapped out for a new liner last summer - contained the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A.

In the past year, SIGG has created a new "eco-liner". Why do that when they were safe to begin with?
Steve Waskik, CEO of SIGG made a public apology for the recent findings. Some people accept it, while a number of consumers are enraged. As far as we are concerned:

OUR NEW SHIPMENT OF KLEAN KANTEEN BOTTLES WILL ARRIVE ON SEPTEMBER 14TH.

call me a Pessimist: Opportunity Green

i just received an email today about the upcoming conference for Opportunity Green which is 2 day event that, "emerged to confront this ('business as usual') challenge and bring together the brightest innovators leading the growth of the new green economy."


Guess who are some of the headlining speakers: Clorox, Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson executives.
Am i totally crazy for thinking that the people organizing the event could have chosen different speakers? Yes you may say that Clorox now has their new Green Works cleaning line, but THEY STILL MAKE BLEACH as well as a large number of toxic cleaners that they market right next to the "healthy" products. And don't forget about Johnson and Johnson whose kids products have been cited to contain various carcinogens. Talk about green washing at its finest!

How about supporting and giving a forum to the hundreds of businesses that have paved the way for these conglomerates to start thinking about their customer's health and the environment? The only reason many large businesses/corporations/manufactures even started responding to green consumerism was a result of recalls, health issues and unflattering reports/press from environmental watchdogs/health/parent groups....now we are calling them "innovators".
And the topper is that you can go to this event for the small fee of $995.

we are in the LA times!!! OMG!!!

please, please see the write up of us in today's LA Times in their business section. please feel free to make multiple copies and distribute them far and wide over this land!
la times article!!!

Backyard Beekeepers-in OC weekly!

the awesome ladies that are the Backyard Beekeepers got the cover of the OC Weekly this week-congrats ladies!!!
the BB ladies are a group of local women who rescue bees and transplant them into local backyard gardens. we actually sell their yummy honey and honey products in the store...they're super-popular.

(i love this pix of the body bar)(this is a fence hive, looks cool!)