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...Dr. Slotte, a 29-year-old physician, is one of a growing number of people in Finland and some neighboring countries who, as global temperatures climb, are turning to winemaking. The grapes he plants are hardy, weather-resistant varieties, including a cross between a Latvian and a Siberian strain.

...To protect his vines from the cold, Dr. Slotte employs other tricks besides spraying them with water, as orange growers do in Florida to beat the occasional freeze. He lays insulation boards over the plants in winter and prunes the vines so that in summer the grapes lie close to the ground, where they can absorb warmth from the soil. One of his varieties, a Latvian vine, can survive temperatures as low as 22 below.

Labels: Climate Change, Finland, Grapes, Wine

Labels: California, Jams, Jellies, Orcutt, Recipes, Santa Barbara Wine Festival, White Zinfandel

whales and bunnies (week thirty two)
Originally uploaded by rutabegabunny

Labels: Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Wine Festival, Wine

California officials closed a stretch of the state's scenic coastal highway around historic Big Sur on thursday as a wildfire threatened 500 homes in the remote area known for its contemplative retreats.

Firefighters have been battling hundreds of blazes across California sparked by lightning strikes over the past weekend, including two that merged into the single fire around Big Sur, an artists' haven that was once home to writer Henry Miller.

The Big Sur fire has burned more than 23,500 acres (9,510 hectares) and destroyed 16 homes and two other buildings.

Big Sur, on California's central coast, is heavily wooded, with steep slopes running down to the Pacific Ocean. The terrain creates one of California's most dramatic landscapes -- and slow going for almost 700 firefighters on the scene. - Reuters

Labels: Big Sur, California, Esalen, Fires, Movie, Wildfires, YouTube

Labels: Fun, Seafood

We're on fire again...alot.

Labels: Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Wine Festival, Vineyards, Wine, Winery

Farmers in Iowa and other midwestern states have been devastated by recent flooding. The following is a dispatch from Wendy Wasserman, publisher of Edible Iowa River Valley.

EIRV is proud to be part of an emerging coalition specifically dedicated to the plight of the smaller farmers/producers in Iowa who have been hit hard by our severe weather disasters this spring.We are hearing horrible stories from some of the farmers/producers we work with who have suffered catastrophic losses. Some have endured significant property, equipment, and crop losses. Some are weeks, if not months, behind in planting because the ground is too wet. Some are totally underwater. We’ve heard from CSA farmers who have had to suspend their operations, produce farmers who have lost 2-3 plantings of heritage crops, other farmers who can only get in/out of their property by boat, and yet others who have lost barns, greenhouses and crucial equipment to winds, rains and floods. For those who have survived unscathed, we know of several farmers markets that have been washed away or otherwise impacted, thereby preventing producers from getting their goods to market.

In light of this vast disaster, an emerging Iowa based coalition has partnered with Farm Aid to develop an emergency fund specifically for small and independent farmers. Willie Nelson is coming to Iowa this weekend to formally get things going, and Farm Aid has also launched an online campaign (click here to donate).

If there is one thing I’ve been reminded of this season, it is that a natural disaster can come anytime and anywhere and wipe out entire networks in a blink. It could happen in any of our communities without rhyme, reason or warning. The producers that we all know and love - the same ones that are the anchors of the local food system - are the most vulnerable to such a catastrophe. Supporting these producers in their most critical time of need is a way we can make our local and regional food systems stronger for the long term.

Subscribe to Edible San Francisco today and we'll donate 100% of your subscription to the Iowa Farm Aid fund (valid 6/19/08 - 07/01/08).

Labels: Blog Challenge, disaster, Edible Communities, Edible Nation, magazines, San Francisco

cookie baker in training! look at that smile! ;-)

Labels: Cookies, Flickr Friday

Labels: Oceans, Oil Spill, Santa Barbara, Whales, YouTube

We've already had one disasterous environmental catastrophe...we don't need another.

Let's try conserving our resources first.

Cyd Charisse.

Labels: Hollywood, Passings

A few months ago, John McCain’s second and current wife, Cindy, was caught stealing recipes from the Food Network and publishing them as her own material, a
simple lapse of ethics that you’re supposed to learn, and master, at age four. To atone for this, Cindy fired a hapless intern. But the problem was systemic! Cindy has contributed another recipe, to Parents magazine. This recipe for Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies was, of course, directly cribbed from Hershey’s website.

Labels: Cookies, Muffins, politics, President, Recipes, Thomas Jefferson

Jam at our local Farmer's Market

Labels: cartoons, Tomatoes, YouTube

And this salmonella scare isn't California's fault.

Labels: FDA, Recalls, Tomatoes

Celebrated the first Friday in June, National Donut Day honors that sweet, deep-fried ball of joy known as the doughnut. (Probably) invented and brought to the Unites States of American by European immigrants in the late 1700s or early 1800s, doughnuts have achieved widespread appeal as a snack food for their unique marriage of starch, sugar and fat. Whether it's plain-raised, buttermilk, old fashioned, a maple bar, and apple fritter, ajelly donut, a French cruller, or Homer Simpson's iconic pink-iced, rainbow-sprinkled version, it's all good on National Donut Day - Latte Times

Labels: donuts, food holidays

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