Sonoma Country Life

Farm and Garden Phase Funded for Casa Grande High School's Innovative New Outdoor Learning Environment

One of the absolute best parts of working with Petaluma Educational Foundation at this time of year is to visit schools all around the city who have been awarded susbstantial Major Impact Grants. At a time when almost all news pertaining to school funding here in California is pretty much guaranteed to be dismal, there's nothing to beat the absolute and encouraging tools of hope for ongoing enhancement of excellence in education, delivered in these PEF Major Impact Grant presentations.

Casa Grande High School's innovative Outdoor Learning Environment - OLE! Farm and Garden Project is on the brink of its first bountiful Spring's planting season thanks to its substantial $5,000 Petaluma Educational Foundation 2012 Major Impact Grant, generously funded by Petaluma Garden Club and CGHS alumni, Sharon and Jim Kimball.

The Farm and Garden Phase of the school's visionary and extensive OLE! Project is designed to engage teenage students in learning healthy nutrition by growing, harvesting and cooking their own foods, as a means to raise academic test scores and lower obesity. Fresh produce grown in the organic farm and garden section of what is shaping up as a state-of-the-art, regional showcase outdoor learning environment, will be purchased by Petaluma City Schools' Food Services Program for use in the school's cafeteria.

One hundred percent of the school's 1,750 student population in grades nine through 12 will benefit from this grant, providing invaluable hand-on, interactive experience at a crucial time in their lives for learning how to make their own healthy lifestyle choices before leaving home.

"The goal of this project is to develop a quarter of an acre garden in the center of Casa Grande High School, bringing a healthy nutritional awareness for all students," said Megan Donner, the school's Culinary Arts Instructor and John Shribbs, Environmental Science Instructor, in the Major Impact Grant Application to PEF, that they co-authored last fall. "The OLE Farm/Garden Phase is part of a larger school wide permaculture renovation of the once fallow quad in the center of the school. This past summer, with community support we were able to break ground, completing the site grading and main pathways, creating the area for the garden, the outdoor kitchen, the amphitheater and two outdoor classrooms."

The program has been carefully designed over the past three years to give all students from all curricula areas the chance to connect with the outdoors, learning about healthy and sustainable environmental practices. When completed, it is expected to be a model for other school districts to learn from and incorporate into their high schools.

This Farm/Garden funded phase will teach sustainable living through soils, local organic farming/growing practices, harvesting and cooking vegetables as seasonal dishes, as well as supplying the school's cafeteria with fresh, organic vegetables.

Members of the Petaluma Garden Club and fellow grant donors, Sharon and Jim Kimball toured the OLE! Project with Donner and Shribbs, this February. The donors were able to see where irrigation for row crops will be installed, with the farm garden expected to be fully up and running and producing vegetables by this fall. "We are so delighted to be co-funding the organic farm/garden in this outstanding project," said Petaluma Garden Club President, Leslie Goodrich. "It is so completely relevant and we look forward to returning for another tour as soon as it is up and running."

Cafeteria staff has started saving compost materials and Green String Farm interns are poised to come on board as farm garden volunteer instructors to further inspire students that growing their own produce is the way forward!

OLE! is intended as a resource for the entire Petaluma community and the school continues to invite participation from all sectors. The grassy amphitheater, which will seat an estimated 150 people, will be available for public use. OLE organizers envision this venue for music, theater, dance, cooking demonstrations, and lectures. OLE will also be a place for outdoor classes for adults and children. For more information, see the Ole! Project Website.

Twenty two Major Impact Grant applications were submitted to PEF, last fall. Of the 22 applications amounting to $283,000 in funding requests, the foundation's highly trained Grant Selection Committee followed a rigorous program (including short list in-person presentations) to evaluate its top choices. In total, 14 Major Impact Grants, including this $5,000 grant for Casa Grande's farm/garden phase of the OLE! Project will have been funded this Spring  totaling $158,000.

Petaluma Educational Foundation continues to make great strides in our community to match corporate and individual partners to specific grant funding opportunities. To find out more about how to connect with PEF in making a major impact in a school in Petaluma, click here.

Artisan Cheese Festival Returns for 6th Annual Sonoma County Spectacular, March 23rd to 25th, 2012

Cheese lovers of the Western world, experts, gourmands and aficionados from farther afield are counting down the days on their calendars until they reconvene for the 6th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival, centered right here in our Southern Sonoma County cheese heartlands of Petaluma from March 23rd through March 25th, 2012. 

If you are planning to attended tours, seminars or the festival's grand marketplace during the three day extravaganza, you'd best get on with booking tickets today.

These are some of the artisan food scene's most sought after tickets, with places on tours and seats in cutting-edge seminars extremely limited. Yes, it does sell out. Every year.

I love that the Artisan Cheese Festival draws lots of the country's most respected food writers, too. No wonder our little corner of wine & cheese country is getting so much national press these days. The secret's out.

In case you can't make it to the festival yourself, I am pleased to say that I will be reporting here from select tours and seminars, this Spring. 

Two Thousand People Expected to Link Hands Around Shollenberger Park this Sunday

This Sunday afternoon, Petalumans plan to celebrate Shollenberger Park with a "community constitutional" and aerial photography session with as many as 2,000 people participating in "Hands Around Shollenberger: A Valentine for Our Park".

Visitors will be greeted at all three of the entrances to the park by volunteers and docents from the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance, volunteer caretakers of the park year-round.

Participants are encouraged to wear red, in order to be visible from the air when a spectacular aerial photograph is taken at 3 pm.

With enough people, organizers hope to ring Shollenberger Marsh, the most sensitive portion of the park, where the harvest mouse lives!

A berm has been specially mowed for this purpose. Designated bicyclists will be on hand as 'border collies' to keep people on paths. Volunteers will be wearing safety vests in order to be easily identified.

Depending on ambulatory speed, it is suggested that participants begin around 1:30 pm. A bike brigade will leave Aqus Café at Foundry Wharf at 12:30, where a free regular cup of coffee, post-event, will be offered to anyone who has attended this special event.

Final staging will occur at the park at 2:45, and the photo will be taken at 3:00 pm.

Save Jack London State Park

Historic homes of famous authors are my thing. I've never visited one I haven't been completely enraptured with, one way or another, including the time in the Lake District where half of my entire extended family back in the UK had ferried across Windermere with me, on a rainy July afternoon, only to find ourselves about five minutes on the wrong side of the cut off time for last entry of the day into Beatrix Potter's 17th Century farmhouse, Hill Top.

To say this was disappointing was an understatement, though we made the best of it by soaking up the spirit of Potter's immortal Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddleduck and friends with a leisurely wander around the cottage garden and literature's most famous vegetable patch, peeking through tiny, old windows for a glimpse into the cozy lakeland home, maintained by the National Trust precisely as Potter had kept it.

There have been other, more well-timed museum home tours on both sides of the Atlantic, quite a few in fact, yet Jack London State Park, right here in Sonoma County, has been one of my most favorites. In part, due to its proximity to home, a scenic and peaceful half hour drive from Petaluma past the vine-studded outskirts of Sonoma, north to lovely, little, tucked-away and timeless Glen Ellen.

When it comes to an accurate and evocative recreation effort in preserving one of the world's best known writer's domestic history, the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association has not one historic home on its hands in Jack London's extraordinary stomping grounds, but three. And that's a large part of the appeal of Jack London State Park.

Depending upon my particular mood and length of time to visit, I've opted for one or two of a trio of choices and occasionally, time and weather permitting, all three :

The Jack London Cottage: his principal home on Beauty Ranch - a wood-framed cottage purchased by London in 1911 along with the Kohler and Frohling winery buildings. Here he wrote most of his later stories and novels.

Restoration of the cottage was completed in 2006 and opened to visitors. For a slide show of the cottage interior, click here.

The House of Happy Walls: Built by London's wife, Charmian in 1919-26, this house is now a museum. Built with Spanish-style roof tiles and walls of field stone, the House of Happy Walls was lived in by Charmian whenever she was not traveling overseas with London or staying with relatives. After her death in 1955 at the age of 84, her will directed that the house be used as a memorial to Jack London and as a museum to house the London collection of photographs and exhibits on his life and adventures.

Most of the furniture in the house was designed by the Londons and custom-built.

The Wolf House Ruins:  London's dream house burned to bare walls on a steamy August night in 1913, just weeks before the couple were due to move in. Haunting though quitely monumental, moss covered ruins stand testament today, to what a truly magnificent home Wolf House would have been.

I took a fern-lined, woodsy, easy to walk solo hike to Wolf House under a mixed forest canopy of  oaks, Madrones, California buckeye, Douglas fir, Coastal Redwoods, Manzanita during a spontaneous Saturday afternoon foray in late January sunshine.

Huge stone walls with window openings and fireplaces stand sentinel to the forest in what would have been the most spectacular private home had it not burned, possibly by a pile of linseed oil rags having spontaneously ignited in the unusual heat of that fateful night.  

Several trail options weave through this stunningly beautiful park, which is now under threat of closure due to crushing State budget cuts. It seems unthinkable that London's most treasured, personal corner of his well traveled world will be gated and sealed off to literary and nature lovers who seek out this tranquil, remarkable place from all over the globe.

My latest visit cooincided with a group of French teenagers who were taking the same trail in ballet pumps and the latest high fashions from over the pond. I loved hearing their enthusiasm and the clicking of cameras as they stood in awe at the feet of the Wolf House ruins.

Jack London's allure lives on for eternity in such a place as this. I half expected him to ride around a bend on the trail on horseback, as I walked back by neighboring vineyards, the only other sight of another single soul, a lone vineyard worker, diligently pruning ancient vines.

The Vally of the Moon Natural History Assocation is an Internal Revenue Service registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving Jack London, Annadel and Sugarloaf State Parks. All are under threat of closure. There is hope that with public support, at least one will remain open.

Friends of Shollenberger Wetlands Rally Draws Hundreds

For more information on the Friends of Shollenberger Stand Up for Your Wetlands campaign, click here

Pedal Dry Creek or Bust - A Holiday Ride on the Wilder Side of Sedate Wine Country

As a teenager growing up sturdy in the Fens of England, bike riding a mere 10 miles and back into town was a necessity of which to relieve the occasional bouts of boredom with slow-paced life in a small village.

I thought nothing of a 20 mile round trip in a pair of coveted, grey suede 'tucker' boots, flowing blouse and leggings (Remember the new romantic, 80's era?).

It strikes me as such an oddity nowadays when out of city limits on two wheels that I might as well be an alien landed on the narrow lanes of Sonoma County, such are the stares of complete bewilderment and dismay by passing road cyclists, speeding along like a flash of neon light, encompassed head to toe in extreme road biking accoutrements.

And yet, even I had to admit that a 16 mile round-trip pedalathon around super-stunning, scenic Dry Creek Valley this week might have looked a little bit silly considering the rigorous challenges of undulating backroads in winter on a borrowed roadster, while sporting a sequin sweater and not all that sensible a pair of shoes.

Needless to say, the last leg of this pastoral adventure was made considerably merrier with a restorative, heavily caffeineted pit-stop at the Dry Creek General Store (though a bit too early for the bar!).

The Italian Husband had somewhat tricked me into this extended route, having pre-sold me on the merits of an early'ish morning four mile ride around the flatter vineyard loops of Dry Creek. Even he hadn't quite bargained for the road less traveled and several episodes of roadside greasy chain repairs. 

As a three-day's early wedding anniversary get-away trip, we'd treated ourselves to a one night winter package at the super cool, sustainably green H2 Hotel just a stone's throw down from the square in Healdsburg and a delicious dinner at cozy and convivial Bistro Ralph.

The hotel's white washed, spartan, yet comfortably stylish room was just the ticket after the heavily decorated festive surrounds of family Christmas at home and I found the minimalist, yet luxe approach to room basics to be in keeping with the hotel's appeal to connect with its creek side, natural environment preservation campaign. 

Pottering around bookstores, boutiques and copious tasting rooms on the square wasn't too much on my personal agenda, this time, following the Christmas rush, but the general buzz of commerce, tourism and community that encapsulates downtown Healdsburg as a premium wine country hub clearly benefits from the boost of a steady flow of visitors staying at H2 and its big sister up the block, Hotel Healdsburg. 

Dry Creek and its unbeatable wines keeps me coming back as my most favored wine country region, our own wild and as yet largely untamed Petaluma Gap, aside. This week's unplanned 16 miler on wheels proved the most intimate, private tour of Dry Creek's less ridden backroads, proof in the pudding that you don't have to go full throttle with limos or $3,000 road bikes to get the best out of a wine country foray. 

 

 

 

Wheyward Bound - Quite Possibly the Only Cheese Club in California

Proof that we're crazy for cheese, cheese and more cheese here in Sonoma County comes in the form of an end-of-year report from the wonderful folk up at The Beverage People in Santa Rosa, that their new cheese making club, formed at the start of the year, is officially fully-fledged with over 100 wannabe cheesemaker guests having shown up to a dedicated Meetup site.

Thirty five paid members have signed up their $20 annual dues for early access to popular cheesemaking events at what is quite possibly the only Cheesemaking Club in California!

The club, aptly named Wheyward Bound, was formed in January with a first meeting in the Beverage People store classroom, on Piner Road. A year of monthly cheese events involved the touring of cow and coat dairies, with various cheese style tastings, and cheesemaking lessons that evolved as far as homemade cream cheese as well as the inimitable, blue Stilton-style.

An upcoming Beginning Cheesemaking Class is also on offer at The Beverage People on Saturday afternoons, you pick either January 21st, February 18th, March 17th or April 21st, 2012 from 1 pm to 4 pm.

The class, taught by instructors Bob Peak and Nancy Vineyard will detail the procedures for making four kinds of cheese which may include Panir, Fresh Chevre, Brie and Queijo de Vinho.

Expect to help in the processes of cutting curd, draining whey and operating the cheese press. Cheese will be tasted during the demonstration and wine served to the over 21s. Recipes and handouts are included and class fee is $50. Sign up at the Beverage People website or call 707 544 2520.

 

 

Sheepskin Adds Three Luxurious Boltholes To Its Unique Collection Of British Holiday Homes

Regular readers know of my penchant for a week's break in a British holiday cottage whenever I make it back across the pond for the grand tour of family and friends. There's simply nothing to compare with unpacking the bags for a stay in a gorgeous, old property in a specially selected, scenic region and it makes so much more sense than paying steep prices for a chic hotel, especially when traveling as a family.

Thinking of a trip to the UK next summer? Maybe, if you really are the spontaneous type, you might be inspired for a last-minute booking to spend Christmas in England or Wales?

My favorite, the most stylish self-catering company I've come across, is Sheepskin of Britain. This friendly, boutique-type company has just expanded its collection into the Cotswolds with the luxurious Chescombe lodge and has recently added two more delightful properties in Wales; Gelli Graean a 17^th century farmhouse with a modern makeover and Nantwen a cosy bolthole for two in Pembrokeshire.

Chescombe Lodge, an indulgent space for four in a quiet Cotswolds Valley

Hidden away in a quiet corner of the Great Tew estate Chescombe Lodge is a truly magnificent and indulgent place for two couples or a family to spend time.  This is the first time that this prestigious estate has made available one of its historic properties for holiday rental within this peaceful pocket of the beautiful Cotwolds countryside. 

Originally an 18^th century agricultural barn the building has been sympathetically refurbished to keep the historic and rustic pedigree of the property but with the focus on luxurious space both inside and out.  Two spacious double bedrooms both enjoy uninterrupted views across the quiet valley from their king size beds and both with large en-suite bathrooms, claw foot tubs and a sink per person.

The enormous windows in the large open plan living space, with its reclaimed limestone floor, look out across the private garden to a peaceful green valley.  From the door the estate has defined paths for guests to walk across the fields to either of two local, award winning pubs; the Mason’s Arms in Swerford and Falkland Arms in the villages of Great Tew.  Within the living area the fully equipped kitchen has all you need to cook a feast to enjoy around the dining table in front of the picture window.  The open fire in the stone fireplace begs for shared time until the wee hours.

Located a little over an hour from London, the Great Tew Estate encapsulates much of what might be considered the archetypal English Country Estate.  Rolling grassland, oak woods and a carpet of bluebells, chocolate box thatch cottages... the Great Tew Estate is all this and much more and offers a range of country pursuits from clay pigeon shooting to horse-riding and 4x4 or rallying. 

Whilst Great Tew village itself is often described as one of the prettiest villages in England, Great Tew remains cloaked in its long history, from its Roman origins, through the romance of the Civil War to its ownership by one of the pre-eminent industrial revolution families. In 2008 The Great Tew estate was awarded the Bledisloe Gold Medal by the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 2008.  This is a truly prestigious award which, since it was inaugurated in 1958, has been awarded to only 35 estates each of which have shown the highest standards in modern, integrated and imaginative estate management.

Chescombe Lodge sleeps 4 and is £1600 (approx $2,600) for 7 nights throughout 2012.

Gelli Graean is a stunning bolthole in Southern Snowdonia. The Grade 2 listed 17th Century farmhouse, which sleeps six to eight, oozes character and is nestled in 15 acres of private woodland and grounds just six miles from the sea.

Located in the foothills of the Cadair Idris mountain range, Gelli Graean features four double bedrooms, three with en-suite bathrooms.  There is also an additional, small, twin room that is perfect for kids. Facilities include: a modern, open plan kitchen and informal dining area, snug and a lounge with big comfy sofas arranged around a cosy inglenook fireplace.

Amazing valley views can be seen from the front door, and from two of the double bedrooms and from the private garden, which has a decked seating area that is perfect for star gazing in this peaceful location. Guests can also walk from the door into the woodlands within the grounds.

Nearby attractions include the quintessential Welsh market town of Machynlleth just five miles away and the seaside village and sandy beach at Aberdovery only six miles away.  Foodies will enjoy eating at the Glan Yr Afon (Riverside) restaurant in Pennal just 1.5 miles from the property.

Gelli Graean sleeps 6-8 and is £1653 (approx $2,500) for 7 nights throughout 2012.

Nantwen is a beautifully restored and converted barn in Pembrokeshire which sleeps two in absolute luxury.  Restored using natural materials and local craftsmen the cottage has a contemporary style with finishing touches and wonderful attention to detail that make the cosy cottage quickly feel like a home from home.  Attention to the environment too with power from renewable energy. 

Luxuriously spacious accommodation offers an open plan living, a well equipped kitchen, dining area and cosy sofa arranged in front of the log burning stove.  Around the corner is an additional living room with TV with a view of the garden from the window and a contemporary styled bathroom with large shower area.

Located in private grounds just inland from the Pembrokeshire coast, there is a beach within a 5 minute drive and the coast path or the open country side of the National park to explore.  When you have worked up an appetite with outdoor activities, treat yourself to dinner at Llys Meddyg or Cnapan restaurants in the village of Newport just 3 miles from Nantwen.

Nantwen sleeps 2 and £710 (approx $1,100) for 7 nights throughout 2012.

Since Sheepskin launched they have continued to add properties to their exclusive collection of unusual, carefully selected holiday properties.  Sheepskin’s collection of 19 holiday homes now includes 14 properties in Wales, three in the West Country, one in the Peak District and one in the Cotswolds.

When you arrive at all Sheepskin holiday cottages you'll find beds made with soft cotton sheets and marshmallow duvets and hotel style comforts such as sumptuous Sheepskin bathrobes, fluffy cotton towels and iPod docking stations.

You'll be  welcomed with a gift box full of treats from their deli service and self catering essentials such as salt, pepper, olive oil, tea and coffee.

To book your vacation with Sheepskin call 01865 764087, email inspired@sheepskinlife.com or visit www.sheepskinlife.com. Be sure to mention that you discovered Sheepskin Life here at Southern Sonoma Country Life!

A Light Olive Harvest for 2011

Everything was right with the world on Sunday, at least in one incredibly beautiful corner of Southern Sonoma County where it meets the rolling hills of bucolic West Marin.

The only thing missing from a picture perfect community milling day at McEvoy Ranch was a larger haul of olives. Regional, backyard olive growers and Northern California's premium producer itself estimated a sustantially small haul of around 30% of the 2010 crop.

Thanks to Mother Nature's wiles, both grape and olive harvests were impacted by adverse weather this year, though a day-long collective haul of mixed green and black Tuscan vareital olives that churned through the mill on Sunday were as spectacular as ever, grassy green oil ready for bottling as end result.

 

Fine Day for A Southern Sonoma County 2011 Olive Harvest

"They can do without architecture who have no olives nor wines in the cellar."

Henry David Thoreau