Lillian Black

Summer Blackberries During late summer in Sonoma County, wild blackberries are nearly inescapable. Fresh and much better than anything you can buy from the store. Chances are, you’ll find blackberries pretty close to your house no matter where in the county you live. They are perfect for a Lifestyle of Simplicity in…

The Lifestyle Of Simplicity In Food And Human Nature – Spring Chickens It is mid-late spring in Sonoma County, which makes for a perfect time to welcome to your  backyard some new feathered friends. Chickens are delightful and entertaining animals. Not only do they produce eggs, but are also good…

The Lifestyle of Simplicity in Food and Human Nature – Looking back at an El Niño Winter The give and take of El Niño for Sonoma County Farms Rain has come in torrents, transforming fields into small lakes. The cars that drive down the mirrored streets leave fountains in their…

The Lifestyle of Simplicity in Food and Human Nature – Autumn As autumn rolls around, and the summer leaves flutter to the ground, stores stock up on Halloween decorations, and ice cream shops start making pumpkin flavored ice cream, the weather in Sonoma County and the rest of the Russian…

This is an introduction to a series of bog posts I have been planning. I’m calling it: What We Have Forgotten: The Lifestyle of Simplicity in Food and Human Nature In today’s world, with our thirst for entertainment, and a desire to while away the time, we depend on popular culture…

Santo Isadoro is a small, coastal Portuguese village rising above the ocean mists of the Atlantic. On sunny days, tourists flock to the neighboring city of Ericera, where they can enjoy the waves, go to surf school, and read billboards in English. While two miles away, the residents of sleepy…

One hot day, in June of last year, my mom and sister and I drove to Sebastopol for, what my mom told me, was a Gravenstein Apple video shooting for Slow Food.  It was so hot that it felt like our truck was melting. I hadn’t been to Sebastopol much,…