[See more on biochar & local food production: curiouslylocal.com ] Peter Hirst (saltydog335@aol.com) brought his 70 gallon stainless steel biochar retort to Warner, NH and showed us how to burn 100 pounds of wood into 30 pounds of biochar. That's enough for a few beds in our garden after we grind it up and mix it with an equal amount of compost to innoculate the biochar with soil bacteria. But the biochar pioneers are scrambling to find economical and efficient furnaces that can produce tons of the material. Biochar was first discovered by Amazonian Indian societies a thousand years ago (terra preta), and rediscovered a decade or so ago by modern cultures desperate for ways to improve soil fertility. The new biochar retorts, such as this one that Peter demonstrates, burn biomass with high efficiency and also produce charcoal which can be added to soils, sequestering that carbon more or less permanently. The secret is wood gasification. For more curiously local perspectives, visit http

One of the things that our customers love about Whole Foods Market is that they can find products from all over the world. They also love the extensive selection of local products that each of our stores offers. Sometimes that global mindset even finds its way into local products, especially when the producers themselves are originally from other countries.

Here are a few examples of Local Producer Loan recipients who are bringing unique products from their homelands to our customers in the U.S.

Benoît de Korsak

Saint Benoît Yogurt
Davis, California
Native of: France

Benoît de Korsak founded Saint Benoît Yogurt with his brother David in 2004. They are dedicated to the concept of “terroir,” a French word describing food “of a place,” which reflects the character of the land from which it came.

Saint Benoît Yogurt is an interesting mixture of the local and the exotic. They use local ingredients, including Jersey milk, fruit, and honey, yet their yogurt is created from a culture that was brought with them from France, where it has been used for decades to produce sweet, mild, and smooth yogurts. The yogurt is packaged in a reusable, returnable ceramic container, something traditional that now seems very exotic to most of us! The product itself is named after Saint Benoît (French for Saint Benedict), a monk who founded several monastic communities across Europe.

Saint Benoît Yogurt used their Local Producer Loan to build a new production room, which allowed them to increase their distribution. They’ve been selling to Whole Foods Market since 2006, and their yogurt is currently available throughout Northern California.

Tracy Claros

The Sticky Toffee Pudding Company
Austin, Texas
Native of: England

Tracy Claros, a native of the Lake District in England, has been in Austin baking English-style puddings since 2003. Her first product – and the namesake for the company – was the traditional sticky toffee pudding. Never had a British hot pudding? It’s like cake, but really, really moist! Sticky toffee pudding has a toffee sauce that melts when the product is heated, which makes for a fabulously gooey dessert. Tracy bakes each pudding in mini-tins to give them an authentic English pudding shape.

With the success of the original product, Tracy has since been able to branch out into other artisanal hot puddings: English Lemon, Molten Chocolate (filled with chocolate sauce), and Sticky Ginger. The English Lemon was even the winner of the 2007 Fancy Food Show competition for Outstanding Baked Good!

Tracy planned to use the loan to purchase a tray sealing machine, which will allow her to reduce her labor costs and increase her volume. Her products are currently available in seven regions, so check them out if you have the chance.

Yahia Kamal

Yummy’s Choice
Kansas City, Missouri
Native of: Palestinian West Bank

Chef Yahia Kamal grew up in the Palestinian West Bank. He came to the U.S. to study and eventually settled in Kansas City where he ran a Mediterranean café and a market. Demand was so great for his hummus and other prepared food items that he decided to concentrate on selling in other retail outlets. He got his products into our Overland Park, Kansas, store in 2006, and the rest is history.

Yummy’s Choice (named after his old market, Yummy’s Market) sells a number of Chef Kamal’s recipes for Mediterranean foods, such as lebaneh, olive mazza, shatta, and pita chips. In addition to the products’ taste and high quality, much of Yummy’s Choice’s success rests with Chef Kamal’s dynamic demonstrations, during which he and his daughter spend three full days at each store introducing their foods to shoppers. Because of the Local Producer Loan, which helped the company significantly increase its production and distribution capacity, Yummy’s Choice is now available throughout the entire Rocky Mountain region!

Artificial Christmas trees are an ideal addition to the Christmas holiday. Today’s artificial Christmas tree is virtually indecipherable from a natural, living tree in appearance, color, and the ambience it lends to the home around the holidays. Convenient, affordable, and endlessly beautiful, artificial Christmas trees use modern innovation to deliver timeless charm.

Appearance is the most important aspect of a Christmas tree. Just like natural living trees, quality artificial trees com in a variety of shapes, sizes, and hues. Some have pine cones or winter berries, some are deep frosty green and others are bright vibrant green. Some are even pre-lit (which, although not natural, is undeniably convenient and attractive).

Beyond looking realistic, artificial Christmas trees have many advantages that natural trees do not. Artificial trees do not present the fire hazards that dried-out living trees do (and in fact, the vast majority of artificial trees are made of fire-retardant materials). They do not drop needles and make a mess of the floor. Investing in a quality artificial tree once saves you the expense of buying inconsistent live trees every year. And of course, there is no hassle in acquiring and disposing of your artificial tree each: artificial trees store easily, and are easily brought out when the holidays again come around. Plus, since you only buy this tree once,

But above all, artificial Christmas trees allow you to select your perfect, ideal tree, and then keep it for years. With live trees, some years are better than others; if you buy your tree too early, it will start to lose its luster before Christmas Day arrives, but if you wait too long, the best trees will be gone. An artificial Christmas tree is the perfect solution. Your home is never as cozy as with a sophisticated, glowing, artificial Christmas tree welcoming your family and friends in during the holidays.

Paul Myers provides articles on behalf of the Christmas Tree Company, the official website of the Christmas Tree Company Online Ltd, a provider of premium quality, Artificial Christmas trees and Christmas Decorations . The company is located in the North West of England and delivers nationwide.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/shopping-articles/modern-innovation-to-deliver-timeless-charm-1771099.html