Road to Half Moon Bay - Sanchez Farm (field trip)

Stock blooming at Sanchez Farm

Highway 92 cuts across one of the narrower sections of the Santa Cruz Mountains, past Skyline Boulevard and then on down to Half Moon Bay. Before reaching our destination we stopped off to buy peaches and admire the in-bloom stocks.

Peaches from California!/Melocotones de California!/Peches de la California!

 Melocotones de California!

Peches de la California!

Peaches! 

Recipe - My Favorite way to make Peach Cobbler http://postcardfromcalifornia.blogspot.com/2010/09/summers-end-peach-cobbler_19.html

Delta Farm Life - San Francisco Bay

Four Thousand Years Of

Food And Fiber Production

From Rich Delta Soil

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Discovering Delta History in  California's Discovery Bay http://postcardfromcalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/01/discovering-little-delta-history-in.html

A Sewing Field Trip to my buddy Susan's house , in the Delta's Discovery Bay

http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2015/01/ench-by-sew-028-very-fitting-sewing-day.html

Ench By Sew-028: A Very Fitting Sewing Day With Susan

This show is created, produced and brought to you by Laurel Shimer.

A Tule Fog in California's Sacramento/San Joquin Delta
Susan's Living in the Historic Land of Tules These Days!

Hey! 

The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Socializing over sewing never gets old. It's that’s the kind of thing that keeps me . . .  enchanted by sewing.

Listening Option I) You can listen to the show right on the web (while sewing perhaps?:-) by clicking on this link 

(http://ec.libsyn.com/p/6/c/d/6cdffa635909b965/CastFINAL14OfficeSusanFittingJan2015.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06ca8531d1c15cb903&c_id=8273252)

*****

~ OR ~

Listening Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

( https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enchanted-by-sewing/id566370325)

The Enchanted by Sewing Podcast is, an extension of my regular sewing blog - Me Encanta Coser,  (http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com) which,  roughly translated means, Enchanted By Sewing

My blog is written in English. The name celebrates the historical and modern use of the beautiful Spanish Language in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where I live.

Bruce - "Scored Mom's Boho Bed!"

This month’s show  is  *A Very Fitting Sewing Day with Susan*

Recently I went to visit with my buddy, Susan, and her household’s two dogs, Bruce and Bain. You’ll hear Bain’s comments at various times during the show, just the way you occasionally hear some of the audio from things in my house like the train that runs just behind our yard. I’m partial to including a little locally occurring audio ,because it adds another sense to the personal journal style of the show.

Don’t you feel like you know Susan by now?  I’m always mentioning her and the time we’ve spent together in this show. This month I got a chance to share a sewing day at Susan’s house with you. It started out as an interview, but it became a duologue – even when I cut out several of the places where I interrupted!

Bain - "Aren't I a Good Dog?"

Pensamientos Primeros/First Thoughts . . . we talked  about our sewing relationship and some of the non-sewing things that give you a sense of who Susan is and what drew us together.

Entonces/Then . . . we talked about some of the things that she learned about fitting patterns, that I’ve benefitted from over the past couple years.

This month's Pensamientos Finales/Final Thoughts . . .  are scattered throughout the show as we each share with you a little something about where Susan is living. The area she’s recently moved to has a very long-term historic role in agriculture and pre-agriculture, within California, that has provided people with both food, fabric,  and more, for over 4,000 years. 

I wrote a posting showing some of the gorgeous tapestry purses Susan made for holiday presents. As you can tell, not all the bags were completed when I took the photo. back in early December. http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/01/tapestry-pursestotesbags-sewing-day.html

Susan designed and sewed these San Francisco Giants take-it-to-the-game cold drinks bags for a number of lucky relatives for Christmas presents.

Blue Ice fits inside

After the interview Susan and I talked more about our sewing plans
We both liked Vogue V1412 for her
Recently she texted me to say that she has started working on it

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Web Resources

Remember when Susan Sang Backup for Neil Young?

Neil Young Interactive Greendale http://www.nygreendale.com

Neil Young - Greendale Album http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greendale_(album)

Tutorial - Full Bust Adjustment and Small Bust Adjustment http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/07/how-to-make-a-full-bust-adjustment/

A Threads Article about the book Susan talked about in this interview, Fitting and Pattern Alteration by Elizabeth Leichty, Judith Rasband and Della Pottberg-Steineckert

Discovery Bay: Geography and Agriculture Interest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Bay,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento–San_Joaquin_River_Delta

http://www.seecalifornia.com/california-cities/discovery-bay.html

Tule Fog

What is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog

Impact of decreasing Tule fog on crops http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/As-Central-Valley-fog-disappears-fruit-nut-5496710.php

Invasive water hyacinth threatens the Delta http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_27358407/delta-water-weed-problems-called-worst-years 
I was reading up on Discovery Bay, which is in the Sacramento/San Joquin delta, cause my buddy  lives there. You read a lot of CA history about the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate in relation to first nations people, European explorers and Gold Rush, but less about the agricultural and natural harvesting food value of the Delta region to people over the last 4,000 plus years - which continues today. Looks like these creepy little weeds have a big impact on the value of this region. Unclear how they arrived, but invasive plants have a way of doing that and the drought has made the situation worse...

Discovering a Little Delta History in Discovery Bay (San Francisco Bay)

The most recent Enchanted by Sewing Audio/Podcast is a sewing duologue between me and Susan in this glorious California Delta setting. You can download it to a mobile device, or simply listen on the web while you're doing something else.

Tule Fog has been both helping and hindering locals in the Delta
for over four thousand years

We often zip through the delta area of the San Francisco Bay, on our way to or from the mountains. This month I took my time with the rural, delta scenery on a day field trip to hangout at
 my buddy Susan's house for a chummy lunch and sewing afternoon. Susan lives in Discovery Bay, a rural-edge  community near Livermore, along the banks of the historic California Delta water system - where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into the San Francisco Bay.

When I lit on the windmill above, I knew I'd found a time travel portal back to an era of freshly plowed fields, misty skies and well-loved farm houses. It spoke of California in another age, a time before silicon when fruits and nuts reigned supreme.

Discovery Bay emerged from barley and potato fields in 1964, but it still looks very agricultural 'round about. The area is still rich agricultural land, second only to California’s Great Central Valley, which still feeds many parts of the world. You can imagine that wonderful soil being washed down the great rivers and depositing itself in the valleys here. Nowadays with a lot of land zoned agricultural, I wonder if you’d be able to convert agriculturally zoned land to housing?

Humans have inhabited the Delta for at least 4,300 years. Before European contact, the Maidu and Miwok people benefited from the rich soil, just like the later farmers. These early inhabitants harvested foods and wildlife that grew and fed here. They also gathered the native tule reeds that grew in the marshy areas hereabout. They used the tules for boats, houses, and fabric for clothing.

Next time I go for a sewing day with Susan, maybe we'll keep out eyes open for tules. I wonder if there are any Vogue patterns we could alter to sew up from tules?

When I drove to Susan’s I witnessed a mild tule fog. If you don’t live in California, you’ve probably never seen anything like this soupy fog. It’s unique to the area. Tule fog happens between November and March, after we've had a good soaking rain. The moisture then rises up and hangs in the air, where it becomes the leading cause of weather-related accidents in California. It turns out that over the past three decades, tule fogs are decreasing.

Wouldn't you think that would be a good thing?

It turns out that local fruit and nut crops, an important part of the economy, have been impacted by this lack of moisture.

Bring back the tules!

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Web Resources

Listen in on my sewing day with Susan in the Enchanted by Sewing Audio/Podcast 

Discovery Bay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Bay,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento–San_Joaquin_River_Delta

http://www.seecalifornia.com/california-cities/discovery-bay.html

Tule Fog What is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog
Impact of decreasing Tule fog on crops http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/As-Central-Valley-fog-disappears-fruit-nut-5496710.php

California Berry Time

Ollalieberries were pretty much picked out by now,
Blackberries and bayberries were still hanging out on the vines

Sure, I can buy my berries at the grocery store.

I can even trot on down the street to tomorrows' Farmers Market, a lovely place to hang out.

But nothing beats taking a day off and driving on over to the San Mateo County coast, to take in the sights and pick my own at Coastwaise Ranch/ Swanton Farm.

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Web Resources

http://www.swantonberryfarm.com/upick.html

Western Style Horses Define America (Field Trips)

I still remember moving west as a young girl. We had been living in an extremely urban part of Ohio. The midwest that I remember  was towns, trucks, crowded streets, smoke stacks, row after row of towering buildings, and cramped houses. 

And then we came to the farm and ranch lands of the west and I saw herd after herd of horses.  I knew I had arrived. 

This is my kind of America.

Highway Five (haiku)

Central Valley Way

Fruit, Nuts, Cotton, and Chavez.

Vital world food source.

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Resources

Cesar Chavez Short Bio of an Important Labor Leader http://www.biography.com/people/cesar-chavez-9245781

History of CA Agriculture : http://harvest.mannlib.cornell.edu/node/11

Why is the Central Valley in California so Important?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_(California)#National_Farmworkers_Association_.28NFWA.29

Major Languages Spoken: English, Spanish, Hmong, and 27 other languages as well

English-Spanish Dictionary Links for Agriculture: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/eesc/how-to/english-spanish-agricultural-dictionaries

National Hmong American Farmers http://www.nhaf.org

About Rich Language Mix in Central Valley http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=bjalp

SLO Travel Tips, San Luis Obispo

If you'll be visiting California this year, I highly recommend stopping off in San Luis Obispo (SLO) for a hike, meal and a nights rest. It's a great halfway spot if you're driving between Los Angeles and San Francisco and want to take some slow time to enjoy coastal and agricultural views. In addition to the lovely beaches just south of SLO, you can hike some of the different volcanic peaks right on the edge of town. The entrance is just off the 101 freeway. Ancient volcanic cones, like Mount Madonna and Bishop's Peak, are highly hikable destinations.

When I visited one spring weekend, the wildflowers were in full bloom and the weather was quite warm but not overly hot. Coastal breezes and fog keep the area pretty darn nice.

After our hike we went to taste wines and picnic at nearby Kelsey See Canyon Winery. It's a gorgeous setting, nestled in a lovely green valley. There are peacocks and tons of friendly dogs (local dogs and dogs who travel with their people)

There are lots of good restaurants in downtown SLO,just walk down Monterey or Higuera and take your pick (Natural Cafe is an easy good salad kind of place, Firestone has good pizza, and Big Sky Cafe is renowned for excellent food - salads, local meats, vegan and vegetarian ) also small local wine tasting shops and artisinal beer.

The local Farmer's Market is much more than a row of casual produce stalls. Folks drive from two or three hours distance to take in this happening weekly event.

Avoid just stopping off in SLO during high college times. Local state university Cal Poly Graduation is late June, and other significant college sporting and college spirit events can affect availability. The rest of the times you'll generally find lots of motels and hotels. Petit Soleil is a nice small B&B, within walking distance of downtown. It's just next door to fun little Splash Cafe, with easy meals and very tasty breads (you can buy those to go too). There are also more budget oriented motels in the same stretch. My husband is partial to "La Cuesta" which includes breakfast. Across the street, a little more expensive but fun, is Apple Farm Inn. It's a kitschy 70's kind of place. I'm partial to the very chintzy furniture, big soft beds and switch on fireplaces there, but if you don't like Disneyland it might not be your thing!

The stretch of Monterey where you find the motels, as you're walking downtown, and before you cross under the railroad trestle also has lots of fun little antique stores.

Many people stay in SLO before or after a trip to Hearst Castle. I've been to the castle, enjoyed it once, but I wouldn't probably go again. I like historic buildings but this one is a little overwhelming. Still, if you have time you might enjoy it a lot.

SLO Down for Farmers (Slow Travel - San Luis Obispo)

Thursdays from 4:00 in the afternoon, through 'till about 9:00 p.m is the time to pull over and head for downtown San Luis Obispo (SLO)  for the Farmer's Market, known locally as Farmers. 

Barbecued locally raised meats galore, a huge variety of ethnic, artisinal and other local eats, live entertainment, alternative and mainstream vendors of every imaginable (and some I never thought of) products, oh and did I forget to mention agricultural produce , mostly local fruits and vegetables along with honey, dairy and meat? Part county fair, part traditional farmer's market this California agricultural tradition is a huge draw for folks all over southern and central CA, not to mention a few like me who live in the Bay Area with our own local markets.

What better excuse for SLOing down the next time you're tooling by on Highway 101?

California on a Plate (What's for Supper?)

We're California Dreaming
When it Comes to Supper

Our favorite no-decision supper is salad with everything handy. Tonight that included typical local produce....
* Strawberries from Hollister
* Lettuce also likely from Gilroy/Hollister
* Avocados - Some of them show up in our local farmer's market, but I'd guess this Hass was from farther away Southern California
*Walnuts grown and harvested, within a hundred miles of here
* Turkey, which thrives in Petaluma as well as our Central Valley. According to California Fast Facts and Trivia, "More turkeys are produced in California than in any of the other states in the U.S."
*Even the Ak-Mak crackers I crumbled on my salad just after I snapped this photo with my cell phone, have been produced in California for four generations

There were a few exotics...It's a bit early for tomatoes around here, and I'm pretty sure that the dried cranberries don't grow in any of our bogs.

Stop by, and bring your fork.