New mugs! Book! + more ✨
Hello, friends!
This October is a news-filled month! So much so that I’m going to dive right in to all the many updates and hold off on seasonal reflections until right before signing off. In fact, there are so many updates (new mugs! an event! more!) that I’m having a hard time prioritizing the order of them — what do I want to make sure everyone learns about? Hard to say … I want you to see it all, so I hope you stick with me to the end for all the goodness …
Edible book event in McMinnville on October 25!
The new book I illustrated is coming out very soon! Edible is already out in the UK (woo hoo!), and its U.S. release date is October 24. To celebrate the U.S. release, please join me at the McMinnville Public Library 6 pm Wednesday October 25!
Fellow plant-enthusiast Neyssa Hays of Outdoor Education Adventures and I will be having a conversation about EDIBLE: 70 Sustainable Plants that are Changing How We Eat (written by co-authors Kevin Hobbs and Artur Cisar-Erlach).
Neyssa and I will talk about plants, resilience, diversity of food cultures, and my illustration work for EDIBLE (how did I get the job? how did I draw the plants? etc.). Third Street Books will be there selling books and I’ll sign copies too!
Also, all attendees will be entered in a raffle to win a super cute sticker sheet I designed with illustrations from the book!
Edible Plants with Katie Kulla
6 pm Wednesday October 25
McMinnville Public Library, 225 NE Adams St, McMinnville, OR 97128
(The Carnegie Room has its own entrance just off the covered entryway.)
Let me know if you have any questions! Hope to see you there!
Can’t make it to the event but want to hear more about the behind-the-scenes work on the book? Scroll down to my podcast updates to learn more about my recent interview with co-authors Kevin Hobbs and Artur Cisar-Erlach.
Can’t make it but want to buy the book? Edible is available to pre-order now wherever you buy books. Here are some suggestions:
For folks local to me, I encourage you to pre-order from Third Street Books in McMinnville, Oregon. (I will be signing all the copies they sell there!)
If you are not in my area, and you’d like to further support my work, you can pre-order using my affiliate link on BookShop.org. (I will get a bit of extra if you buy that way, and you will help support independent booksellers too! Thank you!)
And of course, I’m sure your local bookstore would love to order Edible for you too!
New mugs, shirts + more!
Just in time for fall (and early holiday shopping), I updated my website store with three brand-new mug designs: EGGPLANT! WINTER SQUASH! and SWEET PEPPERS!
I think the squashes are my favorite right now, in part just because it’s fall and they make me feel cozy. I also redesigned my tomato mug to include a few more types. And I still have last year’s designs available too: KALE! SUMMER SQUASH! BEETS! And my all-time best-seller: RADICCHIO! My new mugs expand on the colorful options — collect them all for a rainbow on your mug shelf! How can you go wrong with vegetables? (You can’t.)
Some suggestions for these colorful, joyful mugs:
🍅 End-of-season farm crew gifts (they’ll LOVE them)
🍅 Holiday gifts for your gardener friends/family
🍅 Gifts for chef clients
🍅 Gift for your farmers’ market manager(s)
🍅 Celebratory harvest feast drinkware
🍅 Thank you gifts for market or farm volunteers
🍅 Gifts for friends who eat food (and who doesn’t?)
🍅 A gift for YOURSELF because YOU deserve joy every morning!
I also added corresponding BIG sticker sheets, and — for the first time — t-shirts! The shirts are super soft with a flattering unisex cut. They’re a thin material, perfect for layering over a tank or even a long-sleeve shirt.
Fresh podcast interviews
Since my last newsletter, I’ve had two new Growing for Market podcast episodes drop:
Eli Wheat (SkyRoot Farm) and I talk about so many things, including his circuitous journey to farming via teaching. Eli is also a professor at the University of Washington, where he teaches students about environmental science, urban farming, and sustainability … all while running his own organic farm on nearby Whidbey Island.
Kevin Hobbs, Artur Cisar-Erlach and I talk about our new book Edible! We talk about the story of the book, plants we love, and the future of food systems in a changing climate and world.
You can listen (and subscribe!) on any podcast app or go to the GFM website to listen or get more info from the show notes for each episode. New episodes are released every Tuesday — my co-host Andrew’s interviews are also fascinating! There are so many diverse stories to be told about the world of market farming!
Bonus! Eli shared some great book titles with us … and, I felt inspired to make a little illustration (of course!). Listen to Eli talk about why he loves these books on the podcast interview, and then add them to your winter reading list! (Along with Edible too, I hope!)
New graphic essay!
Last piece of news for this month … I have a new graphic essay out in this year’s Farmer-ish Journal annual. In “am I a Farmer?,” I explore the concept of identity and how it relates to our work. What does it “mean” to “be” a “farmer”? I still don’t entirely know, but I came up with some ideas and share how that label’s meaning has changed for me over the course of my career. Read it for free here now! (And while you’re there, check out the rest of the great free online journal!)
2024 calendar coming soon too!
I’m still finishing up the artwork for next year’s calendar but will have it available on the website and in a few local stores by the end of October. Here is a sneak preview of some the new plant art …
October work and play …
Even as I’ve been busy with so many of these projects (I haven’t even mentioned the farming and parenting book!), our family has had time for good October work and play. We’ve been harvesting: pears, walnuts, winter squash, and field corn. We’re also thinking about what tasks we need to before winter arrives. Even though we don’t live in a snowy winter climate, there are still important pre-winter projects like cleaning our chimney and making sure everything is store properly (to protect it from the incessant cold season rains).
October is also a big mountain bike race month for our kids, which is a relatively new way for us to spend the season! But we love how it gets us outside off the farm with other people to play and cheer!
And, of course, we’re enjoying all the spooky elements of the season too. In fact, my daughter and I decorated our porch on September 30 so that we’d be ready before October even officially began! We have our ghost story books out and skull candle holders and are pondering Halloween costume options. The final three months of the calendar year always feel full but full of fun. I love the opportunity to join the kids in decorating, baking sweet things, and being goofy. Also, now that we’ve had several good soaking rains, we’re looking forward to getting into the forest to look for mushrooms!
I hope that you are enjoying the fun and cozy season too, soaking up the golden Autumn sunshine when it comes out and kicking through leaves on the sidewalks.
With gratitude,
Katie