mipmup.

i grew this: cherry tomatoes + spicy peppers.

earlier this summer, i planted a potager, or kitchen garden in my backyard. since i tend to have a bit of a black thumb, i started small with a 4x4 space. i had a bunch of extra bricks laying around, so i used them to hold in about four large bags of soil. from there, i planted corn, cucumbers, three different types of tomatoes, squash, a variety of pepper plants, italian parsley, marjoram, sage, dill, basil and lots of flower seeds. since i worm compost, i use the "tea" for pest control and the compost to enrich the soil. i haven't manged to kill off much so far and today we harvested our first reward.

we're happily eating very, very local.

want to build your own? it's not too late. a potager garden is meant to change seasonally, so you can start one anytime. and if i can do it, you definitely. can. it took me 15 minutes at the garden store to find the plants and i built the potager and got them in the ground in about an hour.

further reading: i used bits and pieces from this hgtv article to create mine.

church street apothecary closing: take the store, or just 30% off.

i love doe and church street apothecary, two boutique stores in the san francisco bay area owned by kati kim. (you may remember kim from the tragedy her family experienced when they were stranded in the mountains in 2006.) her "modern mercantiles," as she describes them, are unique, sweet and offer an eclectic assortment of clothing, jewelry, papers and interesting finds.

unfortunately, one of them is closing. if you are in the bay area, stop by to take 30% off their inventory, or even make an offer to buy the whole darned thing. it's a shame that big business thrives, while the incredible efforts of small shops like these can come to an end over such trivial matters such as a name.

church street apothecary
1767 church street, between 30th and day
upper noe valley, san francisco
11-7 monday through saturday + 11-5 sunday

you can still shop for apothecary-goodness via doe online.

or you can show your support for the james kim technology foundation, a non-profit giving children access to emerging technologies.

read the email announcing the closure after the jump.

image credit: church street apothecary.

dear friends of doe and csa,

we are sad to report that our noe valley sister-store, church street apothecary, has come under attack by the california pharmacy board. according to an archaic state law, only licensed pharmacies may use the word "apothecary" in the name of their business.

despite numerous similar stores in california (and across the u.s.!) operating with the word "apothecary" in their name, they've chosen us as a target.

we are unequipped with the necessary resources to fight a state agency; and the costs associated with re-branding our store and website are forcing us to shut down.

if you are interested in keeping the church street apothecary tradition alive (using a different name, of course!), and would like to make an offer on the store, please e-mail us at: info@doe-sf.com.  it would be great to see a local, particularly someone from the neighborhood,  take over the shop.  if we can't find a buyer, we'll close our doors forever.

we've taken our e-commerce site offline in order to avoid further fines from the pharmacy board. however, our brick-and-mortar will remain open until we liquidate our inventory. if you're local, please stop by the shop and take 30% off the marked prices of all items (except for magazines and flowers).  there are still tons of great products - dr. hauschka, ren, t. leclerc, malin and goetz, duchess marden, propoline, organic products for babies and moms - and so much more!!!  please also note that we won't be placing any re-orders, so be sure to stock up now!

we're located at 1767 church street between 30th and day in upper noe. we're open from 11-7 monday through saturday and 11-5 on sundays.

thank you so much, san francisco, for 4 amazing years! 

sincerely,
kati kim
and employees of (the store formerly known as!) church street apothecary

sites that fuel design inspiration.

these sites are a great inspiration to me as i design. what secret sources inspire you?

• kuler. the "web-hosted application for generating color themes" from adobe. integrates with creative suite, a little "clunkier" than i'd like, but still.
• what color is your birthday? it's not astrology, it's "colorstrology" by michele bernhardt, sponsored by pantone. 
• colorblok illustrations. directed by juliana pedemonte, this site, filled with bright, fun illustrations, collaborative projects, motion graphics (and a new toy!), makes me think, "if only i could create art like that!"
• colourlovers. a community that simply loves ⎯ and lives ⎯ color (colour). find color palettes, patterns and news. i especially appreciate the search by hex color functionality. very handy.

image credit: colorblok inc.

amy butler design now offering green gift wrap + tableware.

amy butler, one of my favorite fabric designers, now offers 100% post-consumer waste gift wrap and paper tableware. both use soy-based inks. while i am a proponent of multi-use rather than single-use items, i'm happy to see that if you must picnic, you can feel at least partly green. and if your gift recipient has ocd like me, she can save the wrap and make it into something beautiful, or at least pin it up on her inspiration wall. the only downside is that the wrap comes in a set with wrap, bags and tissue paper. i would be more inclined to purchase just what i need.

• gift wrap set includes three paper rolls, four gift bags, two gift card cases and tissue, $34.25.
• tableware set includes eight dinner plates, eight salad plates, 20 lunch and 20 beverage napkins, $19.

image: amy butler design.