This is an inside spread of the Thai edition: what a gorgeous, curvy

script!

The kind of catalogue that really irriates me is the one that is full of solutions to invented problems. I picked up one called “Solutions, Products that make life easier” the other day, ready to slam it here on the blog for being totally unnecessary and lacking in environmental awareness.

And it’s true that most of the things in it are ridiculous. Caddies to hold silverware on the buffet. Special dishes and candles for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for New Year’s, for every event imaginable. Then I noticed the hand-cranked Ice-O-Mat Ice Crusher, a functional reproduction of a solid old-fashioned kitchen tool. This, if you actually need or have a burning desire to crush ice on a regular basis, is actually a great thing.

While electrical appliances aren’t a huge energy drain, compared to cars and houses, they are the epitome of modern excess. So if you can use something simple and durable to do the same job, that’s definitely a green choice. (Keep in mind, though, that ice can be wrapped in a clean linen teatowel and crushed with a hammer.)

There are two things to look for, environmentally speaking, as you flip through kitchen catalogues:

1. Items that keep things warm or cool without using electricity.
2. Items that can be reused indefinitely instead of disposal products.
3. Hand-operated equipment.

And, yes, I’ll tell you how to find the Ice-O-Mat: it’s at SolutionsCatalog.com.

So what am I looking for? I guess it’s really an innovative lifestyle concept that combines a fresh future-oriented design with beauty and practicality. Not just organic versions of the same old thing.

Here’s a new company worth taking a look at, By Nature, based in the UK: “By Nature is an informational and shopping portal that offers a wide selection of organic and ethical products and brings inspiration for a green lifestyle in the 21st Century.”

Here are some of my favorite seed companies:
Renee’s Seeds Started by the woman who founded Shepherd’s Seeds in nearby Connecticut, I’ve just started buying here because Renee’s has the best of the old Shepherd’s catalogue—a cook’s sensibility and enthusiasm and beautiful design, too.
Select Seeds This is a briliant source of heirloom flowers, both seeds and plants. I especially like the fact that so many of these flowers reseed themselves each year; a good thing, too, as I seem to have almost everything in the catalogue on my Try This list.
Nichol’s Garden Nursery Organic seeds, plants, and supplies of all kinds. They’ve been organic for 30 years, and have a great selection of mesclun blends and Asian greens.

For gardening information and recommendations, I’ve just come across Dave’s Garden and think it’s fantastic, though so far I haven’t had anywhere near enough time to explore its pathways.

Thinking locally, a couple of sources here in the Berkshires:
Eastern Native Seed Conservancy
Project Native Plants