ON THE FARM

Wintery weather offers a great opportunity to take stock of the herbal apothecary and plan for the upcoming season. While working, I like to mix and match to make teas that suit my mood and support my health goals. It’s flu season, so here’s what I’m sipping on this week:

Sencha Sprucemint Tea
1 tsp sencha or other green tea (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory)
1 tsp crushed apple mint (antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal)
1 tbsp blue spruce needles (antimicrobial, antiseptic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, vitamins C & A, magnesium & potassium)
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Rod’s House

Dried shishitos from the garden take red pepper flakes to the next level.

This week our tomatoes, dried shishito peppers and eggs went into a menu of chili, cornbread and cowboy cookies.

LOCAL

REMINDER: Y.I.R.N. Whistle Packet Party – Saturday, January 31st (10:00 am to Noon) 
“Yakima Indivisible is collaborating with YIRN to produce hundreds, if not thousands, more whistle packets for use in ICE encounters or potential raids. 
The work party will be held at Glenwood Square, Room 310, from 10:00 am to noon on Saturday, January 31st.  There will be room for about 75 people to assemble packets, so please use this link to sign up and let us know you will be coming.  Signing up will facilitate the planning.”
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Community Highlight – Yakima Community Aid win!
“The community came together around three clear demands:
Immediately retract the letter sent to federal enforcement
Publicly affirm that the Health Board will not cooperate with immigration enforcement
Commit to building culturally competent, educational, and supportive food safety programs in collaboration with workers, vendors, and community organizations”
(Source: Columbia Legal Services, Sept 28, 2025)
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And speaking of Yakima Community Aid, last week I payed a visit to Bayt Jenin Coffeehouse & Community Space (919 Summitview, tucked between the mini mart and the barber shop; 8-2 except Sundays). It’s a cozy and beautiful spot offering intriguing coffee drinks, games, gifts, flavorful snacks, an active community board and a box where you can drop off coats, toiletries other useful items for Yakima Community Aid to distribute.
On February 13, Bayt Jenin will host a Galentine’s Day celebration of friendship.
If any of that sounds up your alley, check them out,
ask some questions and give them some love!

Bayt Jenin Coffeehouse & Community Space (919 Summitview, between the mini mart and the barber shop; 8-2 except Sundays).

WA STATE

Army Corps to look at $1.5B underwater Columbia River power line project
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced last week it will hold two online public meetings later this month to get feedback on a $1.5 billion project to run a 100-mile-long high-voltage power line under the Columbia River. […] The Corps’ two virtual meetings are 1-3 p.m. Jan 28 and 6-8 p.m. Jan. 29. The agency asks people to email [email protected] by Jan. 23 to preregister.”
(Source: Washington State Standard, Jan 19)
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LISTEN: You now have the “Right to Repair” in Washington state
“A new law in Washington gives people the ‘Right to Repair’ cellphones, computers, and appliances. Manufacturers must provide repair shops with the parts, tools, and instructions to fix digital electronics. One of the goals of the law is to prevent waste. To learn more, we spoke with Adrian Tan, who’s policy and market development manager with King County’s Recycling and Environmental Services”
(Source: Seattle Now, Jan 20)

NATIONAL & BEYOND

LISTEN: NEW YEAR, NEW SYSTEMS THINKING: SUBURBITAT, with JIM TOLSTRUP
“We’re in conversation with Jim Tolstrup, Executive Director of the High Plains Environmental Center in Loveland, Colorado, where, by development design, they caringly cultivate Suburbitat. Suburbitat is a land ethic, a mind-set, and a book that all hold a vision of a built environment where suburbia and native ecosystems exist side by side and intertwined.”
(Source: Cultivating Place, Jan 8)
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LISTEN: Education for One Planet Living. Sensing #3 with Morag Gamble
“In this third episode of my January solo series, I follow the permaculture thread into education. Not education as information, credentials, or performance, but education as a living practice that changes how we belong to place, how we listen, how we notice, and how we make decisions.
I explore how permaculture education invites our attention back into relationship with soil, water, seasons, other species, and the limits and gifts of where we live.
This episode is also about cultural repair, and the kinds of education that uplift humility, reciprocity, responsibility, and being in relationship with life.”
(Source: Sense Making in a Changing World, Jan 22)
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International Human Rights Clinic: Developing the next generation of human rights leaders
“The International Human Rights Clinic is a core component of the Human Rights Program at Duke Law. Through an extensive curriculum, Duke Law’s international and comparative law faculty equips students to deepen their knowledge and critical assessment of human rights laws, institutions, advocacy, and scholarship. In addition to the clinic, the Human Rights in Practice event series, a post-graduate fellowship in international law and human rights, Duke Law’s externship program, and dedicated career counseling provide additional opportunities to further build the theoretical foundations and skills necessary for domestic and international human rights lawyering, as well as to prepare students for the increasingly global nature of legal practice more generally.”
(Source: Duke Law)
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LISTEN: Susan Poizner of Orchard People
“Vanessa Harmony discusses fruit tree pruning principles and community orchards with Susan Poizner, an urban orchardist and arborist from Toronto, Ontario. Susan is the host of Orchard People, a podcast and website dedicated to fruit tree care, and she is the author of, Fruit Tree Pruning: the Science and Art of Cultivating Healthy Fruit Trees.”
(Source: Living Permaculture Podcast, Jan 19)
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Business and Human Rights Intern, Bangkok, Thailand
“Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:
currently in the final year of a Bachelor’s degree; or
currently enrolled in a Master’s degree; or
have graduated no longer than 1 year from a bachelor’s or master’s degree or equivalent studies.
Field of study: International law, Political Science, International Relations, Global Governance, Business Administration, Business and Human Rights, Responsible Business. Sustainability or equivalent.”
(Source: United Nations Development Programme, Jan 19)
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Build the Village, Starve the Empire
“Build the Village, Starve the Empire is a practical framework and a guerilla-culture toolkit that equips incremental developers and civic weavers to transform existing neighborhoods into regenerative micro-villages.
Through pattern language, it trains a new generation of community builders to restore belonging, shared care systems, and ecological reciprocity at the local scale.”
(Source: Terrenity, Dec 21, 2025)
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Peace to you all, and
don’t forget to swing by Yakima Advocacy Day event this Saturday at
Englewood Christian Church 511 North 44th Ave, 9am-3pm. Connecting with like minded community is a great way to keep the spirits up.

That’s it for this week, friends.
Maria