I’ve always been drawn by the lure of locavore cuisine, but my recent read of Farmer Jane got me thinking of the nation’s most delectable farm-to-table restaurants.  With summer travel just around the bend, it’s likely you’ll stumble across one or two.  And what better way to savor the regional flavor than by dining? Make a pit stop at any of the digs below, and you’ll be in for a treat, for sure.

• Athens, Georgia – Farm 255:  Think a brunch of “Harvest Omelet” and housemade granola.
• Baltimore, Maryland – Woodberry Kitchen:  Think “Simmer Rock Farm Radishes” against a rustic backdrop.
• Chicago, Illinois – North Pond:  Think morels and onions overlooking the city’s skyline.
• Kirkland, Washington – Trellis:  Think pan-seared chicken and “Shaker Lemon Pie” in a comfy hotel setting.
• Los Gatos, California – Manresa:  Think “Strawberry consommé, goat’s milk fromage blanc sorbet.”  Need I say more?
• Portland, Maine – Cinque Terre:  Think Winterpoint, Maine oysters
• Tarrytown, New York – Blue Hill at Stone Barns:  Think daily, multi-course tastings based on seasonal produce.

Bon appetit!

Is micro-living the next big thing?  Is a smaller footprint home the green building wave of the future?  Will people be able to handle living in a complete home that is smaller than most people’s family room?

The folks at Canada’s 12-cubed certainly think so.  They’ve envision these teensy dwellings to be used as a guest house, rental unit or studio.  Though these little houses can stand alone – they’re intended to be constructed adjacent to an existing home – so they can utilize the power, water and sewage systems of the larger structure.  They offer two models consisting of the 10×10 Pure (1,200 cubic feet) and the 12×12 Cappuccino (1,400 cubic feet) – both constructed of FSC Certified lumber and designed to be mounted on a block foundation.

The layouts feature a shower, toilet, bedroom, kitchen and living area – best thing, the little houses clock in at an average price of $24,500 CDN.

more info @ twelve3.ca

Handcrafted in Tucson, Arizona, Sweet P’s organic skincare products sounded quite intriguing, so when they offered complimentary samples of their Organic Brown Sugar Scrub and Nature’s Insect Repellent & Organic Sunblock for the purposes of this review, how could we refuse?  We put them to the test, and here’s what we think…

By the way, I’ve had the good fortune of staying in Sarasota, Florida for the past month — we’ve been hitting the beach after 5pm almost every day to walk along the shore and splash around in the surf.  So I’ve had plenty of opportunities to give Sweet P’s body-friendly products a try.

After using the organic body scrub daily for a just few consecutive days, the results were pretty impressive.  My feet look beautiful and they feel soft and smooth.  Lately, when I jump in the shower, it’s the first product I reach for.  You can feel the jojoba oil continue to penetrate even after rinsing off.  This Brown Sugar Scrub is chock full of goodness: organic honey, organic brown sugar, organic jojoba oil, organic Shea butter and potassium sorbate.

Sweet P’s Nature’s Insect Repellent & Organic Sunblock SPF 30 with Lemon and Eucalyptus is a powerful and safe, dual-action lotion.  Although I love sand and surf, with fair skin and blue eyes, I need to be extremely careful in the sun and take extra precautions.  This stuff is really good.  You can smell the wonderful essential oils as you slather it on and it works its magic without any nasties, like DEET or parabens.  Sweet P’s a signer of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.  They also recycle containers, and provide refills.

We give these products from Sweet P’s our green thumbs up.

We like them so much, we now offer them on our OpenSky shop.

Take some recycled sterling silver, a designer with an eye for the eclectic and people’s general fascination with the macabre – think old-school Vincent Price macabre, not Twilight trendy macabre – and we have the basic materials and motivation for the creation of the Little Skull Ring designed and made by Species by the Thousands.

• Deservedly so…BP Faces Tough Week Despite Gulf Progress – rueters
• (video) Hollywood’s James Cameron Tackles Crisis in Gulf – msnbc
• Humpback Whales Form Friendships That Last Years – bbc
• I’ll be checking beaches later today…seriously. More Leak Control Helps but Spill Now Menaces Florida – yahoo! news
• A metaphor for marriage? NY Couple Weds in Shark Tank, Wearing Wet Suits – myway
• Horny bug vasectomy…An Organic Approach to Pest Control: Releasing Super-sexed (but sterile) Male Insects – sciencedaily
• Laurie Anderesen goes to the dogs…(video) Dogs go Barking Mad for Canine Concert – orange.uk

This is for the tech savvy nerd in all of us.  How funky, yet practical, are these bags?

Here (above) we have the Voltaic Solar Backpack; it has 4.5 watts of solar power, a battery pack to store power until you need it, 10 different adapters to charge nearly all your electronic gadgets, and wire channels throughout the backpack for headphones, plugs and cords.  The solar panels are made of a high efficiency monocrystalline cell that is waterproof, UV resistant, and scratch resistant.  It is able to charge cell phones, PDAs, GPSs, iPods, cameras and other hand-held devices in about 4-6 hours of direct sunlight.  This backpack will run you $249 at Voltaic Systems or Amazon.com.
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Or you can check out the Solar Messenger Bag (above), which is also designed to charge cell phones, iPods cameras, GPSs and other hand-held devices in 4-6 hours of direct sunlight.  Available for about $199 at amazon

The Eclipse Fusion Solar Messenger Bag (above) has nice look and plenty of good storage.  Great for charging your cellphone or PDA while you wait for the bus or reading the newspaper.  We found it for 49.95

Say you want to charge something larger like your laptop?  Bring out the big boy.  Voltaic Generator (above) is the first solar bag powerful enough to charge a standard-sized laptop in a comfy and securely padded laptop bag.  Its solar panels generate up to 15 watts in about 5 hours.  This one will run you about $489.

Not only do these packs charge your electronics with the sun, the bags themselves are made out of 600D fabric which is recycled PET (soda bottles).  They’re water resistant, light weight and durable.  Grab one, and never run out of batteries on your travels.

Related:  previously on altCon, (1.20/10)
Voltaic Solar Backpack – a Tried and True Green Product Review

I might have been a stylist in one of my previous lives – I really enjoy finding just the right accessory…  This week’s small, edited collection of planet-friendly wear is focused on just that — eco conscious accessories.  June seems to be a popular time for gift-giving, so you might want to keep these little ditties in mind.

Nothing’s better than the good old days.  Let the sunshine in. Just in time for outdoor concerts and music festivals — a tidy way to tuck all those valuable away, yet keep them handy. Happy Cow has a slew of hip beltbags and whatnot at the ready for all you closet hippies, (like me).

The cows are happy because the leather used is all recycled scrap material, no animals were harmed in the making of these goods.

(just above) Jessica Reiss of Vancouver, hand crafts lightweight jewelry from sterling silver and recycled materials, mostly beads from pre-loved jewelry. If you’re in possession of some baubles that you’d like to recycle, rather than toss into a landfill you can contact Jessica, and she’ll like take them off your hands.  (note to self:  dig-up that huge box of single earrings)…recyclers receive a $15 gift certificate to put toward any of her designs.  Find these sweet earrings and lots more @ ecocessories.ca

Right here in historic downtown Sarasota is a jewel of a place, Juno and Jove, with eco chic fashion and accessories for both men and women. I must confess, I love these mod shades, vegan shoes and hot hot hot clutch.  With my birthday around the corner, I know just where I’ll be heading in the morning… with my fabulous hub.

That’s a wrap for now – have a fine relaxing weekend, and remember to keep that carbon footprint small. We’ve only got one Earth, as far as I know.

UPDATE:  It’s official!  Congratulations to our 2 lucky winners — Katherine K. and Nancy B.  Enjoy your new tee shirts.  And thanks to everyone for participating.  Be sure to enter our latest Great Green Giveaway for fresh and free green goods.

For guys or gals – win a free organic cotton tee shirt!  Generously sponsored by our friends at fibers.com – this is a very cool giveaway, whereby you may either pick an existing design, or design your own organic cotton t-shirt via their Web site.

Two lucky winners will each receive a $30 voucher at check-out – enough to cover the cost of both the tee + free shipping to anywhere in the USA or Canada.

Choose from one of their existing designs (40 options) or have some fun making your own original artwork.  You can select from over 7500 images and 400 fonts or upload your own art.  You can even make a shirt look vintage by using their distressed tool.  If you run into a snag, during certain hours of the day, they have an actual human being available via Live Chat to help.

To enter, simply:

• Visit any of these links to check it all out:  Eco-Friendly T-shirts or Organic T-shirts or Custom T-shirts.
• Then tell us – if you were to win: Which already existing, eco-minded design might you order? Or, what would you print on your personally customized tee?  BTW – if you’re wondering, Fibers.com will NOT be reusing or selling your design to anyone else…that’s not what they’re about.
• Add the following address to your email address book: m (at) alternativeConsumer.com.

Two winners will be selected in our Random Drawing, and notified by email. Contest ends Friday, June 11 at 11:59p (EST). Winners have 24 hours to claim their prize, or offer is null and void. Winners’ names will be included on this post.

*One entry per person, but here’s how to get some extra credit:

• Have your own blog? Post about the giveaway with a link back to this giveaway post. To make sure we know, you can come back and leave a comment with a link to your blog post.
• follow us on Twitter and let us know by leaving a complete sentence on this post.  Please note : if you don’t leave a complete sentence our spam filter will think you’re just being a nuisance.
• Tweet about the giveaway (once per day), and be sure to refer to @altCon. Leave us a comment on this post, please write a full sentence with a link to the Tweet.
• friend us on FaceBook (same as just above)
• subscribe to our RSS feed; (if you’re already a subscriber, leave a comment, per above).

BTW – We do not share your email info with anyone. Time’s ticking, so get clicking – good luck!

Designer Mauricio Affonso created his eye-catching POP Pendant light from hundreds of recycled aluminum pull-tabs.  Hopefully, Mauricio didn’t consume the cans’ contents – though an abundance of caffeine may have been required to complete this extremely detailed and precise piece of eco-art.

This was a finalist in Inhabitat’s Spring Greening Contest.

via: recyclart