I love my neighborhood, Longfellow, here in Minneapolis. It’s a stark contrast to the suburban setting I grew up in which featured a large house with a big lawn and river in the back, with the neighbors an acre away, no sidewalks, and any sort of entertainment or shopping requiring a drive. Though I loved the nearby woods and river, I dreamt of the kind of neighborhood Beverly Cleary wrote about in her Ramona Quimby books.

Dreams do come true. Since 2001, I’ve enjoyed a nearby river (the Mississippi) and abundant woods, but my 900-square foot bungalow is close enough to my neighbors to pass veggies over the fence. The cream on top is the vintage movie theater just a couple blocks away, the Riverview. A salute to the folks who keep this gem vibrant and life in Longfellow sweet.

Filed by Sarah at 10:02 am under local
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One of the joys of summer for me is fresh berries. I grew up picking every kind of berry imaginable–blackberries, huckleberries, marionberries, and, of course, raspberries. My family picked tons of berries every year to make jam. To this day, there is no store-bought variety I can consume with as much pleasure as homemade jam, which is easier to make than you might think. Here’s my simple, tried-and-true recipe, good for any kind of fruit or berry.

Start with clean, dry berries (if you do u-pick and need to rinse off dirt, lay the berries out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and let them dry before making your jam or it will be watery). Farmer’s market berries are always the best and freshest next to ones you buy at the farm.

Only process 4 cups of berries at a time. You’ll need 1 cup or a little less of sugar per cup of berries to make a nice consistency jam.

1. Put 4 cups berries-whole, or quartered if they are strawberries–into a heavy-bottomed pot along with half your sugar (2 cups if you use a 1:1 ratio). I usually measure the strawberries whole and then slice them up willy-nilly once they are in the pot.

2. Stir the sugar and berries together over medium heat until they start to soften and juice up. Then use a potato masher and mash them up to your desired chunkiness.

3. Bring to a rolling boil (see photo above) and allow to boil hard for 2 minutes, without stirring. Then stir in the rest of your sugar.

4. Bring to a rolling boil again and boil for 2 more minutes, stirring the whole time.

5. Turn off the stove and let the jam sit (no lid) to thicken overnight. Pack into jars and freeze.

Filed by Sarah at 11:01 am under local
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I was dropping off Johanna at daycare this morning, and as I was leaving I saw an enormous bird sitting atop a garbage can in the back alley. He/she just sat there a minute or two before swooping down the alley. I found this photo pool on flickr this morning that helped me identify it as a Cooper’s Hawk.

Since the 2004 sighting that spurred the search for the believed-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker, birding has gotten more play in the headlines than ever before. Birders, like all nature enthusiasts, play an important role in conservation by supporting eco-tourism and raising awareness of issues. More data on the subject than you can imagine is sliced and diced in this report from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. As the report states, “Although there is a certain irony in people becoming enthusiastic about birds as they disappear, it also presents an opportunity: birders may be the economic and political force that can help save the birds.”

Filed by Sarah at 9:43 am under local, ecological
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This November, Minnesota voters will (hopefully) pass a landmark amendment to protect both the environment and the arts in Minnesota for future generations. The envrionment + art? My favorite combination.

You can find out the basics on the bill here so you can spread the word to your friends and family about this important initiative. Want to get involved? Contact or donate to http://www.yesformn.org.

Filed by Sarah at 9:31 am under local, ecological
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With each new report of widespread panic over mass produced items–from food to toys–I feel like I’m headed in the right direction with my anachronistic cottage industry business. Thankfully, there are a lot of others who feel the same way: that supporting small businesses–from local farms to local designers–is a great way to avoid low quality products that burned up a lot of fossil fuel on their way to you, too. I’m sending a thank you note to all the boutiques I work with to say thanks for your part in supporting independent designers!

If you are out shopping over the holiday, check out what designers in your area are cooking up. I was just in Design Collective to drop off a bunch of new shirts and dresses, and I was blown away by the cute jewelry selection especially.

Happy Fourth!

Filed by Sarah at 1:21 pm under local
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I’ve been a fan of Barry Lopez since I was introduced, starry eyed, to his writing at fourteen by a glamorous senior staff member at Outdoor School. I bumped into this excellent article Lopez wrote about the idea of the modern naturalist (click here for article). Is the modern age creating a different kind of naturalist–one that is more familiar with computer models than living close to the land? How does the naturalist’s point of view influence the way we care for nature?

Filed by Sarah at 9:08 pm under ecological
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Come celebrate all things local & fair trade at our trunk show this Friday. Stop by after work and enjoy a glass of wine and light refreshments from Common Roots Cafe while you shop.

Rectangle is pleased to share the evening with Marguerite von Duerckheim of The Amias Project, promoter of fair trade accessories, and eco-jewelry designer Felicia Parsons of Green Fuse. We’ll be bringing a generous selection of minidresses, deep v-neck tops, tees and bags bearing a wide variety of our colorful botanical motifs.

Details (click here for a map):
Friday, June 6, 2008, 5 pm - 8 pm At Birch Clothing
2309 West 50th St. (at Penn Ave.)
Minneapolis, MN 55410
612.436.0776

Hope to see you there!

Filed by Sarah at 8:02 am under rectangle events, local
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I was printing like mad today while listening to a program on the radio about the intersection of art and science with author Jonah Leher. I think this is a rich topic–how does art inform science and vice versa? What are some great examples of art and science coming together? I’m opening up this post to comments, so write in and post your favorite art/science mashup. It can be a link to something on the Internet, an idea you’ve been thinking about, or a photo.

Here’s mine:

An amazing art/science project that recently made a big impression on me during my recent Seattle trip is Mark Dion’s Neukom Vivarium. It’s an actual nurse log (Western hemlock) brought in from the forest to a specially built greenhouse at the new-ish Olympic Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle. If you didn’t grow up in the Pacific Nortwest, you might not be so familiar with this forest phenomenon, but read here for a good primer on it.

I have my doubts about how long this nurse log will survive in the city, but I think that is part of the intrigue. The nurse log is an important icon to me: the ultimate expression of the power of nature to regenerate itself from its own remains. It doesn’t need us, but we need it.

Filed by Sarah at 4:00 pm under connections, design, art & craft
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Better than I could possibly imagine, my Mother’s Day weekend away at the North Cascades Institute brought back fond memories of my days as a junior counselor at Multnomah County Outdoor School (communal dining hall and campfire) but offered grown up amenities (wine reception and yoga classes). Best of all, I spent it with two dear friends.

I’ve always taken environmental education somewhat for granted because I’m always on the lookout for interesting information about the natural world. But a conversation with the Institute program coordinator reminded me of the challenges of reaching (and funding) environmental education for the coming generations. Plus, he noted we are in a new era where the new goal is not just basic environmental awareness but inspiring people to truly adopt a more environmentally responsible cultural baseline.

Now that it’s hit the mainstream, “green” thinking is top of mind for more people than ever. But all the green claims out there in advertising right now can muddle the important difference making fundamental changes about how we behave rather than believing that buying the bottled water with 20% less plastic is an environmental act of mercy.

How we view ourselves in relationship to nature directly impacts our care of it. Just read Michael Pollan’s treatise on the changing meaning of trees from century to century and you’ll get a quick overview of the tree’s fate under various thought regimes from Colonialists to Native Americans: guess who kept the trees and who chopped them down.

I tend to think of myself as a guest on this planet, grateful for the chance to walk its many landscapes and partake of its delicious produce. My appreciation stems directly from being familiarized at an early age with nature and its workings. But I’m also a participant in modern western culture, which has separated and insulated us from nature in many ways. The longer I live in the city, the harder I have to work at keeping up my relationship with nature.

I think the environmental learning center (Google that and you’ll get a bunch of ideas!) is a real hidden vacation gem. I don’t think these places advertise a ton, but they offer such a great chance to reconnect with nature (and friends!) that I’m going to look for ELC’s for all kinds of future vacations.

Filed by Sarah at 4:08 pm under ecological, connections
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I’m packing today for my long-awaited trip to the North Cascades and Seattle. I’m so excited to get back to this beautiful stretch of steep mountains and stay at the new-ish (built 2005), very cool place called the North Cascades Institute. It’s an environmental learning center way up in the mountains north of Seattle situated on the deep turquoise Diablo Lake. I can’t wait to feast my eyes on some statuesque Douglas firs and demure trilliums, also known as the Western Wake Robin, come to find out when I wikied it. Who knew. I’m really looking forward to some serious hiking and maybe canoeing with a couple of close friends from high school.

Filed by Sarah at 1:33 pm under general
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