Such A Gift

Seems a lot of you, like me, love sharing a slice of our beautiful Central Coast with friends and fam. That's what inspires me to create my handmade peanut butter Joycups: local coastal fruits, local raw honey, locally purchased sea salts and organic peanuts, for starters.

I then follow the all-natural, environmentally friendly philosophy of our lovely place by packaging in recycled boxes or biodegradable bags. No chemicals were used to create the kraft boxes' natural appearance. And their fiber comes from lumber that was collected and reforested following eco-friendly practices. Top with the oh-so-pretty cocoa butter designs (coastal themes in-stock year-round), and you've got your perfect little gift of local flavor.

I create different sizes and four flavors, so figured the decision might be a little tough for some. Enter the new Joycups gift certificate.

I asked Lynn Bates at www.lynnbatesdesigns.etsy.com to custom create a gift certificate to match The Joycup Co.'s look and appeal. She came up with this gorgeously primitive French-inspired motif that says "Enjoy". Perfect. It was also Lynn's idea to make the Joycup gift certificates hang tags, just like the handmade gift tags available for each box from select etsy artisans who favor vintage and recycled materials. Double perf.

Lynn's gift certificate tags are now available at www.thejoycupco.com. I'm so grateful for them and my Joycups' customers, I'll add a free JoyBox 2 with any gift certificate ordered, along with your message handprinted on the tag.

Thank you Lynn. And thank you again Joyfuls for sharing the Joy. Enjoy!

Be Lovin' that Good Green Grub

With its heaping offerings of tasty raw pies, handmade soups, fresh salads and fabulous vegan dishes, Be Love Cafe serves to showcase the best of the local farmers' bounty.

Lovelies Brandie Michelle and Rachel Axtell opened their busy Baywood Park biz this May at the 3rd Street corner where Farmer's Market runs Mondays.

Be Love grew from a farmers' market booth serving popular fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. The red and green Liquid Love is still a Be Love staple, along with after-hour deliveries to about 75 daily customers. Everything about Be Love is about giving back--to the community, to farmers, to the environment--so no surprise the juices are either filled in recycled mason jars or poured into the jars customers then recycle for their favorite fuel.

No surprise, either, that this green business's goal of zero waste ties in to the love of feeding others.

Be Love's organic waste feeds the Red Wigglers out back, too.

Calling the Worm Whisperer.

Brandie chatted up Mark Sowell while booth buddies at the Morro Bay Farmer's Market. His calling card: GrumProductions. In webspeak,that's http://www.quickcompost.org/. Worms, castings, bins, natural pesticides. They spoke the same love language. "They call him the worm whisperer," explains Brandie. "He has a way with them."

She brought in Sowell for his vermicomposting expertise right after opening her cafe. Vermicomposting is the consumption of organic material by earthworms. Yum. Thriving worms in cool wood bins of soil eat the scraps, poop and die to form a highly nutrient fertilized soil. The compost soil is mixed with top soil to grow herbs and garden delectables, which the Be Love partners are growing now for flavoring future dishes.

Sowell's company installed and closely monitors the system to prevent odor and collect the castings. Brandie says the new worm farm behind the cafe was a community project.

Labor of Love. The weeds were cleared and the Be Love family helped Sowell's company build the big heart-shaped mounds of composted soil for future herb gardens. Brandie's son Taylor is among those who water and tend to the waste kept in covered Miner's Hardware buckets.

"It's important to do this," Brandie says. "We fill so many buckets of pure organic waste. It needs to go back to the earth, to show respect to the farmers, to show respect to the earth."

I jumped when Brandie called to say she wanted the organic peanut butter Joycups in her cafe. No surprise there, either.