Mouth Public Relations

A new member of the 'superfood' family has hit the Arizona marketplace and its promotors hope to take our tastebuds by storm. The Pichuberry is a fruit that at first looks like a ground cherry or what some may call a gooseberry, but do not be mistaken, for this berry is being billed as a superfood and its boosters claim it's drastically different from its other physalis cousins (like the tomatillo, too). Phoenix-based Pichuberry Company is teaming with Mojo Tree Farms to grow and popularize this little golden fruit and teach North Americans what the Andean people have known for so long.

See also:
Is Camel's Milk the Next Superfood?
Is Organic Food Better For You Than Non-Organic Food?

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Photo courtesy of Mealmatch

Mealmatch can make your next beer at Spokes on Southern count for more than just calories.

Though no one can know the exact number of people who go hungry every day, one statistic estimates that 925 million people were hungry throughout the world in 2010, according to the the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

See also:
- Kickstarter Campaign Asks for Money to Start "Freegan" Cafe -- Serving Food from Dumpsters
- Good Food Finder: Good Food Allies Create a Database of Local Producers

Local entrepreneurs Dustin Tessendorf and Joseph Tuson wanted to do something to help and came up with the idea of Mealmatch, a social media-based organization that helps world hunger by donating a meal to someone in need every time a diner uses their app at a local restaurant.

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From AZQueenBee.com and Emily Brown

Meet Emily Brown, Arizona's Queen Bee!

Come over here, honey, and let's get to know each other.

Whether you like the sticky stuff in your tea, yogurt, or on a peanut butter sandwich, you should appreciate where it comes from. For some insight, we turned to Emily Brown, a.k.a. "AZ Queen Bee."

She makes honey and honey products, and she also provides bee-removal services. Brown has kept bees for more than 20 years in various parts of the county -- and she really knows her stuff.

Brown's a member of the American Beekeeping Federation and the resident bee keeper at the Boulders Resort, and she often makes presentations about beekeeping to school groups.

So, is there going to be a sudden surge in beekeeping, akin to the backyard chicken craze? That's a definite maybe.

See also:
- Downtown Phoenix's GROWop Boutique and Phoenix Style Collective Host Honey Harvest
- Bees Eat M&Ms, Make Multi-Colored Honey

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All photos courtesy of Lindsay Hansen

The Edible Exchange Market in Scottsdale

We're big fans of the farmers market scene, really. But sometimes, Saturday mornings just have to be spent sleeping in, and it's not like we can go two weeks without getting our local food fix.

Enter, Edible Exchange Market.

See also:
- The Edible Exchange Lets Small Businesses Barter for Their Dinner
- Good Food Finder: Good Food Allies Create a Database of Local Producers

The local and artisan food market in Scottsdale offers a variety of goods that normally would be available only at weekly farmers markets. They accept cash, but small-business owners can sign up to get in on their community-driven barter system.

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All photos courtesy of Natalie Morris

Heirloom tomatoes at Native Seeds/SEARCH farm

Even the most encyclopedic members of the local-food movement are likely to have some holes in their knowledge of all things food and Arizona.

Enter, the Good Food Finder.

Created by Natalie Morris and Jennifer Woods, the co-founders of Good Food Allies, the online directory identifies and locates local food producers around the state.

Morris says she created the website "almost in an effort to prove that we have a lot more [locally produced food] than people think we do."

See also:
- Welcome to Minervaland
- Chow Bella's Market archives

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New Times archives

Mayas Farm CSA

Growing your own vegetables and housing a coop of chickens in the backyard might qualify you as a bonafied urban farmer, but there's some knowledge you can only get from the ladies and lads that till soil for a living. It's their trade secrets, those down and dirty techniques that make all the difference between growing food for fun and being able to do it for a living.

And while you may not want to hang up that coat and tie in favor of a straw hat and overalls, chances are we could all learn a lot from some well-known local farmers -- think Dave "the Egg Man" Jordan and Phoenix's tomato and premium veggie guru, Carl Seacat. Well, good news: that opportunity has come.

See also:
- Gilbert Farmer's Market: What We Bought, What We Skipped and What We're Still Lusting Over
- Coffee Academy in Tempe Offers Courses for the Aspiring Barista
- Phoenix Cold Snap Is Over, But What Are the Repercussions for Local Farmers and the Restaurants Who Buy From Them?

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Courtesy of Chef Eldridge

This chef makes harvesting carrots in the desert look easy!

Gertrude's is the new restaurant (opened in January) at the Desert Botanical Garden and in addition to offering an expansive array of carefully chosen local ingredients, killer ambiance and a distinctive wine and spirits list, the restaurant also keeps it's own garden to complete the farm-to-table experience. It's safe to say a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden will get your inner gardening mind churning with both indigenous plant varieties and now vegetable garden envy as well.

The restaurant's namesake, Mrs. Gertrude Divine Webster, founded the Desert Botanical Garden in 1939. Since she is no longer with us to share gardening tips, Chow Bella spoke with Chef Stephen Eldridge on what it's been like growing a garden (gardens in his case) at a restaurant and tips for your garden this spring.

See also:
- Desert Botanical Garden to Open AZ-inspired Gertrude's Restaurant in January
- Boho Farm and Home's Caroline Van Slyke Offers Tips on Gardening in Phoenix

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Photo from FarmYard

You can grow lettuce in December. The joys of living in Arizona!

It's that time of year -- vegetables are being harvested in local gardens and it serves as an inspiration to many. Thinking about the joy of growing dinner in your own garden? Think it's too late? Have a fear of failure? Don't worry, your November veggie garden guide is here.

See also:
- Growhouse Harvest Honey From Its Own Hive
- Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market Is Back

Already have a garden or space for a garden, and want to plant now? Perfect.

"Now's the time for varieties of broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Swiss chard, Brussel sprouts, spinach, fennel, lettuces and root crops such as carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, and a variety of radishes," says Rebecca Kidwell co-owner of FarmYard a company that amongst other things, installs organic gardens. Jay Harper, co-owner of Harper's Nurseries notes "we're smack dab in the middle" of winter gardening and planting season-- it's not to late to get growing.

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Shelby Moore

Loaves just-baked for a farmers market.

Last August, a large wooden crate arrived at the sandwich shop Pane Bianco. In the crate -- bearing an Austrian return address -- was a 1600 pound stone mill and sifter: the sole piece of machinery that would revive Tempe's century and a half-old Hayden Flour Mills brand for which Mill Avenue was named.

Transparency is key for the owner of Hayden Flour Mills, Jeff Zimmerman, who is seeing the operation through from farm to flour by teaming up with local producers like Ramona Farms in the Gila River Community, planting heritage grain in existing farms, and milling the wheat pre-industrial era style alongside his daughter, Emma. Some flours they package themselves to sell at markets, but much is now the base for Chris Bianco's award-winning pizza doughs, breads and, most recently, the polenta and meatballs dish (for example) served at his new Italian Restaurant in Central Phoenix. The stone mill allows Zimmerman to grind their flour as fine as they please, and to fill specific orders for the chefs at Bianco who like the polenta so coarse it takes a couple extra hours to cook.

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Shelby Moore

The classic Maine whoopie pie: two chocolate cakes held together with marshmallow fluff, made right here in Arizona.

​No fair! Here we've spent weeks discussing options for an Arizona state food, and here comes the state of Maine with the coolest state food ever: the whoopie pie. Who knew?

These treats are kind of (at least in appearance) like oversized French macarons; two rounded chocolate cakes resembling buns, stuck together with a generous amount of marshmallow fluff filling.

"They're sort of a man's pastry," says Sharon Flaherty. "You eat them like a hamburger."

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