On the Table

  Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to start thinking about the next big holiday, Thanksgiving, aka “turkey day.” But first comes another turkey day, an Arcata tradition in the making known as The Awesome Autumn Feast. The idea is simple. “Eat from your watershed!” as it says on the event poster. The concept […]

Ah, autumn. So soft, so gray, so indistinguishable from what passes for summer here in Northern Humboldt. You southern Humboldters must feel so smug all wrapped in your golden layers of summer tan. Here in Arcata autumn is primarily evidenced not by weather changes but by fresh green produce and visitors. The highway exits are […]

We love our beer here in Humboldt — the thriving local microbrew industry shows it. And what better time to honor the magic potions made from hops and grain than the beginning of fall as local brewers, amateur and professional, celebrate the first ever Humboldt Beer Week. Saturday begins an eight-day beer-a-thon with more brew-related […]

  A change in the quality of the sunlight tells me it’s nearly September, back-to-school month for many students, and Local Food Month for all of us. Sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the North Coast Growers’ Association, the North Coast Co-op and KHSU-FM, this month-long string of delicious events celebrates local foods […]

  The expression “gone to seed” usually has a negative connotation, meaning disheveled, declining or otherwise post-prime. When vegetable or herbs go to seed, or “bolt,” they quit being what you planted and become gangly towers looming over the garden. In this respect they’re more like teenagers than elders, but anthropomorphisms aside, the plant’s formerly […]

  You knew this was beer country. But did you know that the newest brewery in Humboldt plans to grow all its own barley and hops? And that it will sell shares of its production just like some farms sign up subscribers for boxes of fruit and vegetables? And that it will be pouring at […]

  In Italy, spring sings a berry-flavored song, with strawberries breaking the monopoly of winter fruit. My mother often featured them at the end of a meal and I have memories of picking them in friends’ gardens and in woods. Blackberries are connected to summer afternoons spent reaching out for the branch with the biggest […]

You might have seen the line of townsfolk eagerly clustered around a new booth in the mushrooming food court at the center of the Saturday Farmers’ Market at Arcata Plaza. What is the hub-bub you may have wondered, craning your neck to see over the last person in line. A waffle iron? Ice cream cones? […]

You may recall Lewis Carroll’s poetic Through the Looking-Glass tale, “The Walrus and The Carpenter,” which finds the tricky pair leading a small flock of oysters on a long walk down the beach before a sad dinner of bread and, yes, oysters. “I weep for you,” the Walrus said: “I deeply sympathize.” With sobs and […]

You are at the grocery store and a bottle with a brightly colored label catches your attention: You read the word “kefir” on it and wonder what it is. Sensing your curiosity, the bottle answers: “My name is kefir: I am a type of fermented milk. I have a creamy consistency, a slightly sour taste […]