Pictured above: johnnyseeds.com (Johnny’s Selected Seeds), territorialseed.com (Territorial Seed Company), highcountrygardens.com (High Country Gardens), kitazawaseed.com (Kitazawa Seed Company), Edible magazine (Shasta-Butte & East Bay), rareseeds.com (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)
From Esther:
I sowed my first seeds of the season a few weeks ago – mainly arugula, radish and carrots. The weather here in Northern California has been hot and dry and not the norm, so I did have to resort to using my drip system. But I just could no longer hold myself back. My small greenhouse is at the ready if I was too hasty in planting seeds outside.
The influx of all the luscious seed catalogues made me throw caution to the wind. I prefer to buy organic non-GMO varieties, and the catalogues shown are all organic. I recommend all of the growers shown, my particular favourite is Kitazawa. They are located in Oakland, California, and have been operating since 1917. *They had to abandon the business from 1942 to 1945 due to WWII and internment with all other Japanese-Americans. Their catalogue is not flashy, or filled with colour. It is plain, well written and contains an extraordinary amount of unique seeds. They even include recipes on the back.
I rarely buy new pots, in fact I usually return the plastic ones to the growers if I am purchasing from them. I tend to buy from Sawmill Creek Farm here in Paradise. I also make newspaper pots and reuse egg-cartons for planting – this has worked rather well for me. And of course, it’s good to re-use instead of adding to the landfill.
I recommend keeping these little gems by your special chair and on those horrid cold and damp days when you’re house bound, dream and plan about the arrival of spring.
About Edible:
Edible Communities Publications is a company that creates editorially rich, community-based, local-foods publications in distinct culinary regions throughout the United States and Canada. The regional and city publications, supporting websites, and events, that connect consumers with family farmers, growers, chefs, and food artisans of all kinds. These regional magazines can be found at local businesses in your area, and nearly always are lurking at your local Farmer’s Market (well, they are in Paradise, CA, at least). The regional magazines can also be found online if you are not fortunate enough to be near a Farmer’s Market. http://www.ediblecommunities.com
Kinfolk, Haru_mi, The Simple Things, Gather, Sunset, The Gentle Woman, Cereal, Sweet Paul
From Natalie:
I have always loved magazines. I remember when my mum signed me up for a subscription to W Magazine when I was in high school (it was in a large, newspaper format back then). I would cover the walls in my room with beautiful images every month. I still tear pages and post them to the wall if they are inspiring. I have a small library of my favorite-can’t-live-without magazines that I’ve lugged around for a couple of years now. And yes, I still have every print publication of Domino in my line-up.
I also read a fair share of standard publications like: Vanity Fair, Fortune, House Beautiful, The New Yorker (my husband’s subscription – otherwise I’d feel terrible for never finishing a copy), Red (UK), Wallpaper, and design related; Communication Arts, How, I.D, and Print.
What I’ve noticed recently is that there are more ‘thoughtful’ publications like Kinfolk, Gather, and The Simple Things. These magazines aren’t cluttered with crazy ads on every other page along with product placements – instead they feature stories about slowing down and being ‘present’ in life. I love that they are embracing the everydayness of life. My mum sent me a subscription to “The Simple Things” after their third publication, and I am like a kid when the package arrives in the mail every month. These publications helped inspire me (us) to finally get JUST A TITCH up and running. I hope that you find inspiration in them too. If you have any other magazines that we should know about, please feel free to add them to the comments section below. We’d love to know what else is out there!
From Natalie:
I’m a lucky girl! These were delivered via bike messenger to my house!
I should add that I live at the top of a very steep hill. I felt a little bad for the delivery person (Ian), but he said it was all in a day’s work (as he wiped some sweat from his brow). And just like that, he was off to deliver the rest of the flowers that were in his basket.
I love everything about Farmgirl.
Farmgirl is kicking imported flower companies to the curb. In addition to buying locally grown flowers, they are partnering with Cupid Couriers, a San Francisco worker-owned bike courier company. They deliver flowers via pedal power whenever possible in San Francisco. And if they can make it up my hill, they can pretty much deliver anywhere. It gets even better – they also use reused or re-purposed vases and make a donation to Playworks for every arrangement ordered without a vase. If you are going to have flowers delivered in San Francisco, the choice is pretty clear – Farmgirl flowers! You can also follow them on Facebook here.
A little desktop wallpaper for this fine Wednesday! Feel free to download – just click on the image and drag to your desktop.
I love this Scottish saying! To give something laldy, whether it’s singing a song, running a race, or simply living life, means to put in 110% effort, give it your all, pull out all the stops, …and do so with great enthusiasm or gusto.
Just a little something I designed this afternoon. I was thinking about all of the awesome people I know and this is what came to me. Feel free to share with an awesome person!
