Old-time Apples

Southern California transplant David Martinek came to Humboldt County in 1985 for a job in a law firm. He stayed for the apples.

”My first house in Humboldt County had many large, neglected, and unidentified apple trees and the process of rehabilitating and identifying them got me interested in apples,” he explained. “It's amazing to me that you just have to plant once, and the tree gives apples year after year for decades, even generations.”

Some years later, Martinek said he purchased his current home, and began what turned out to be the hobby of a lifetime.

”I acquired my current property in 1993 and started planting apples right away, just a few per year at first,” he said. “Pink Pearl was an early favorite, and still is. It's a Humboldt County 'native' developed by Albert Etter and released in the 1940s.”

Albert Etter is a local apple propagating hero who died in 1950. According to apple luscious, he created many red-fleshed varieties near his Southern Humboldt home, still referred to as Ettersberg, and Martinek has many of the varieties Etter developed.

Martinek said he took grafting lessons at Sandy Bar Nursery in Orleans in the early 1990s because many of the apples he's interested in are no longer available, and he must graft cuttings onto an existing tree to get a desired strain.

”Mr. Botner has many thousands of varieties, a large percentage of which aren't listed in any of my apple books,” he continued. “For example, in 2000, because of my interest in Pink Pearl, I ordered scionwood of apples that have red or pink flesh: Delight, Webster, Pink Pearmain, Airlie, Hidden Rose, Almata, Winter Red and Scarlet Surprise. At the time I ordered the scionwood, none of these were available commercially, except possibly Hidden Rose. His work in keeping these varieties alive and available to apple growers is invaluable. He certainly doesn't do it for the money.”

Martinek's orchard comprises just over a half-acre, with about 600 trees, and around 100 varieties, but he said he's not really sure just how many trees or varieties he has. ...

This excellent little article on local foods brought to you by Sharon Letts at the Times-Standard. Read the whole thing here.

A Taste of Apples

...I ate an insane number of apples - at least a dozen, with a wide and exotic range of flavors. The Hodges, who have three generations of family living on the farm, all said that they never get tired of eating apples. I can understand because I was delighted to come home with a big bag of many varieties and exerted a lot of will power to only eat three Honey Crisps today.

It was interesting to learn that the Red Delicious is the most popular apple in this country. It’s probably the only one that I didn’t like. I think that even the best Red Delicious tastes kind of like a potato, and it’s really sad that most children in the United States associate that flavor as “apple”. I see it as a metaphor for what has become misguidedly important - and what’s wrong- with so many other things in America - It’s valued for its beauty, rejected if it’s blemished, thick skinned and lacking flavor. Still, it’s the one that is held up as the favorite...

Read the full post here. And if you like, love, or admire horses, check out the rest of Victoria's blog while you're there.

Escape from Berkeley

It is a classic road rally, 600 miles from the liberal embrace of Berkeley to the anything-goes lights of Las Vegas. No speeding is allowed, or in some cases even possible. And if you stop to refuel, it had better be in someone’s trash.

On Saturday, five teams began the Escape From Berkeley, maybe the world’s most eco-friendly motor race, driving all manner of alternative-fuel-burning jalopies, roadsters, and even a frying oil-fueled Mercedes-Benz, with a single goal: to complete the race using no petroleum.

“Gentlemen, start your whatever they are,” the M.C. shouted to begin the race, which offers the winner $5,000.The final catch of the race is that participants — artists, environmentalists and even a cattle farmer from Alabama — have to find or scavenge their go-go juice, whether it is used vegetable oil from restaurants or twigs and sticks from the side of the road. All the vehicles, which had to be street legal, were allowed to start with a single gallon of whatever fuel they used.

“We’re just going to hang out in front of Ace Hardware and beg,” said Ben Wedlock, who was riding a two-man bicycle, augmented by a one-horsepower electric motor that runs on ethanol.

Read the full article by Jesse McKinley in today's New York Times. Or, follow the action on the Escape From Berkeley website.

Fresh food in the city? No problem!

Those of us who grew up in the middle of cities know how difficult it can be to find fresh, quality produce at the corner grocery—any inner-city grocery, really. So for me it's heart-warming to read about someone making a difference:

In spring, Simon Richard planted 700 seeds in his Bernal Heights garage. Within weeks, shoots and leaves of artisan edibles such as Romano beans, arugula and, of course, lots of heirloom tomatoes were hardy enough to be transplanted into a field.

But this was not just busywork of an overambitious backyard gardener. By midsummer, the fruits (and vegetables) of Richard's labor filled the bins at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco's Mission District, where Richard is the produce manager.

Bi-Rite has long been recognized for its commitment to local, seasonal produce, but it may be the first market to actually grow its own food. Though Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, Monterey Market in Berkeley, Draeger's on the Peninsula, Whole Foods and other Bay Area markets buy some produce directly from farms, Richard and Bi-Rite's owner Sam Mogannam are taking the farm-to-table philosophy a step further, growing their own produce on one-third of an acre in Sonoma.

Read the full article (with photos!) in today's San Francisco Chronicle by Jane Tunks.

A Small But Fruitful Plot

In 2006, Kraus persuaded the Public Utilities Commission to grant her access to the unused land for a one-year trial period. In exchange, her organization found applicants in search of fertile ground and committed to growing food sustainably and providing educational opportunities.

After the first year proved to be a success, Kraus secured a nine-year lease agreement with the SFPUC, which granted $65,000 to cover basic infrastructure costs. The utility has been consistently supportive, she said. The 18 acres, all recently certified organic, are now occupied by six farming projects of varying sizes, including a containerized fig-growing operation and a garden producing for a Pleasanton buying cooperative. All tenants pay a modest rent.

"I think the basic idea is we need to share resources," said Peter Rudnick, the project's farm manager, who helped start Green Gulch Farm in Marin County 30 years ago with his wife, author Wendy Johnson.

"It's no longer (true) that people can just go out and buy land," Rudnick said. "When public agencies have land, it's really a benefit for everyone's land-use needs, especially for people to come out and grow food."

From the San Francisco Chronicle. Follow the link to read the entire article.

How did these folks find this land? Through Farmlink! Check it out.

Organic eggs

My good friend Tom used to keep chickens. "C'mon, Suzanny! Try it. They're fun. They eat your bugs and they give you eggs!" His exhortions stuck around, even if his chickens didn't—strict city ordinances and a fearful neighbor sent Tom's chickens on a one-way trip to a Livermore relative's yard.

But my town loves backyard livestock, so this year I took the plunge and bought some laying hens and ducks from some local breeders. It's extra work for me, and extra expense for the household, buying their feed and grit and oyster shell supplement, though I hope to reduce some of that by selling half-dozens to my neighbors.

And even though Tom was right, and chickens are tons of fun, and eat my bugs, what I'm really glad about is I never have to buy a store-bought egg again.

And if you think you're doing your part by buying cage-free/organic/happy-chicken eggs from the grocery (like I used to think), read Sean Anderson's article in the Arcata Eye.

Want to raise your own eggs? You might like the eglu backyard chicken coop, cute though pricey. Or if you're handier than I, build your own with the plans at the Backyard Chickens site. And if the whole idea of raising chickens for eggs is just too much bother (or you can't keep chickens where you live), find a neighbor or local farmer who does.