Spring 2022

Crystal Wahpepah Celebrates Spring and Native Foods in Her New Restaurant By Anna Mindess | Photos by Scott Peterson   Alongside a majestic orange oak tree, five figures offer sacred foods from their respective Indigenous cultures: Peruvian potatoes, Mayan corn, Ohlone acorns, and Lakota bison. In the center, a Kickapoo woman holds a basket of…

Story and photos by Natalya Suttmiller Part of the pleasure in discovering new tastes from small food crafters is learning what inspires their creations. Here’s an assortment of items I tasted from small local businesses with stories I found intriguing.       Noemi Hernandez created Mimi’s Sweet Life in San Pablo after years of…

Gardener’s Notebook By Joshua Burman Thayer | Illustration by Charmaine Koehler-lodge   As of January 1, 2022, Senate Bill 1383 requires that all California residents separate organic waste from other garbage. You may already have been doing the right thing by putting food scraps in your green barrel, but when you separate your used coffee…

By Barbara Kobsar | Illustration by Charmaine Koehler-Lodge   Favas offer it all! Revered by growers, fava is an important cover crop for many reasons: The bushy plants help prevent erosion and suppress weeds. They fix nitrogen in the soil and also improve its texture. They can withstand cold weather and, unlike most legumes, they…

It’s the year of the green water tiger, emblematic of fierce attention to nature! The upbeat Lunar New Year greeting above, received on February 1 from a member of our local fungi-enthusiast community, helped dispel a pervading gloom that had been darkening my world since COP26 (the 2021 United Nations global climate summit in Glasgow)…

From Mustard Madness     I first learned about mostarda in 2016 when poet Gabrielle Myers offered a recipe for an Italian prune plum and fennel pollen mostarda for this magazine. While setting the recipe on the page, I found myself thinking about how recipes, with their staggered lines, self-determined grammar, and palpable evocation of…

  All Around the Bay Venga Paella Catering around the Bay Area | 510.628.0018 | vengapaella.com Do something different! A delicious paella arriving at your doorstep is always a treat! Voted best paella catering company. Serving the entire Bay Area since 2003. For small fiestas to large corporate events.     Purpose & Hope Delivery around the…

By Mary Orlin   A selection of ciders and taps at San Jose’s The Cider Junction. Photo courtesy of Mary Orlin   In his book The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan tells us that hard cider was America’s first alcoholic beverage, enjoyed by the early colonists. In fact, demand for hard cider and perry (pear…

Find Local Wild Plants to Put on Your Plate By Eva Barrows | Photos by Philip Kent   Borage growing at Ardenwood Historic Farm, an East Bay Regional Park in Fremont It might be hanging on an ornamental landscaping tree, escaped from a garden, or wearing the guise of a roadside weed: Take a closer…

Employee-owned businesses weather the pandemic, with surprising advantages along the way By Rachel Trachten | Photos by Shannon Kelli Mandela Grocery Co-op worker-owners (from left) Bryan Daniels, Nikia Durgin, Adrionna Fike, U’ush Keehasini, and Andrea Talley take a break in front of the store. On March 16, 2020, Andrea Talley arrived for her shift at…