Wild Goose Farm: Gourmet Sustainability

Eating at the table set in the barn, where all the cooking was also done

Yesterday was one of the more special dining experiences I've had in a long time, in Portland or elsewhere. (I apologize in advance that I didn't take better photos...too busy having fun!) To celebrate the upcoming wedding of our dear friends Annie & Eric, we all splurged on a dinner party at Wild Goose Farm out on Sauvie Island. Run by the lovely and talented interior designer Jessica Helgerson, and her equally talented husband, the architect Yianni Doulis, the farm sits on 5 acres and is just a 30-minute drive from the city. All the food served is grown on-site or sourced nearby—including meat and cheese. It's rustic and delicious, but of course the real star is the setting. How many times in your life will you have a gourmet meal on a farm? With baby turkeys? I can't recommend it highly enough. And I cannot wait to have my husband build a wood-burning oven in the backyard!

The scene of our pre-cheese course stroll

Yianni shows the kids the wood-burning oven. (Yes, Emm is wearing a tie!)

Don't You Want to Sleep Here?

Plover's Vine print on crib and Twin bed. So pretty!

Heather at Brookline Street Design is a great customer of ours, and when she started snatching up a bunch of stuff more than a year ago, we had no idea what she was up to. But this week we found out: designing an amazing, gorgeous, serene space for her two girls. The results are incredible.

My favorite Plover touch in the room: she turned our Aqua Dots Fabric By the Yard into room-darkening curtains. Wish I had thought of that! Enjoy the pics. Thanks, Heather!

Heather's answer for finishing touches? "Lots of Etsy purchases," she says.

DIY Recycling

The Skittles Eco Kite is available on TerraCycle's web store

Like many of you (I hope!), we subscribe to the EcoFabulous weekly newsletter. Founder Zem Joaquin puts together a list of green products and initiatives that are always worth knowing about. This week she made a video suggesting a recycling bin in the bathroom. Seems obvious, but I'd never thought of it, and it would certainly make my life easier.

Even better, she introduced us to a program called TerraCycle, which allows you to set up a recycling program for the previously "un-recyclable" in your own neighborhood. You simply sign up on their website, pick the waste you want to collect (plastic bottle caps, perhaps?) and put out a collection box in your area. When your bin is full, you can download a FREE shipping label on their website, and ship the waste off to be recycled. This is an amazing program for areas that don't have exhaustive recycling programs curbside. I encourage everyone to at least check out TerraCycle's website—you can also buy recycled products on their site—and pass it on to all your friends.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day Sale!!

To celebrate Earth Day tomorrow, Plover Organic is offering 35% off all items online! Enter the code EARTH11 at checkout to receive the discount. Sale ends Monday, May 2, so shop soon!

Plover time on Today

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thanks to Sheila's mom for letting us know that the Plover Organic charm pack sachets were on the Today show this Tuesday. Wow! Martha Stewart featured them as a craft idea using herbs. (You can watch the condensed clip above; the full clip is below.) And actually, the charm packs have been so popular for us, we're considering manufacturing the sachets ourself in the near future. Keep you posted!!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Spectral Fields @ The Pony Club

One of the collaborations by Jennifer Parks and Marty Crandall, up now at the Ponyclub

If you're in Portland, go see the "Spectral Fields" art show at the Ponyclub while you can...only one more week left! It's an eerie, evocative collaboration between artist Jennifer Parks and Marty Crandall. He took some amazing photos with his iPhone (!), she did some amazing illustrations, and then they combined efforts by illustrating select photos. Snatch them up while they're still available!

P.S. Check out this footage of Marty's new band Sad Baby Wolf, playing at the art show's opening in March. I was there and can confirm it was very, very pretty stuff. Can't wait to hear more...!

Plover Flagship Store!

Our shelves are made of wood we "reclaimed" from our backyard

Big, big news from the land of Plover Organic: we've opened our very first retail store, in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle!

Exact address: 5306 Ballard Ave. NW, Seattle WA 98107. (We share a space with the fabulous Cugini Cafe, so don't be confused!)

If you're in Seattle, come by and see us. We've got loads of sample sale goodies, misprints and other deals that aren't available on the website. Fun!

Our "soft opening" was last week, but we'll have an official grand opening party later this summer when we bring in a slew of brand-new merchandise. (Can't say just yet what it will be, but suffice it to say there will be something for everyone.)

It was truly a family affair in getting the story ready and open, and it's hard to believe we did it. Special thanks to Alison, the new addition to our team, for her merchandising expertise and these awesome pics she snapped of the store.