From the Editor: Spring, 2019
When it comes to creating these magazines, nothing is more exciting than deciding on the image for the cover. By exciting, I mean it is fun but also a little stressful. All I knew going into this spring issue was that after the darkness of winter we’d need an uplifting change—something green and growing with perhaps a glimpse of blue, blue sky.
We found our picture, in spades. The image comes from a photo shoot in an Old Mission Peninsula vineyard the year we started Edible Grande Traverse. Upon later inspection this one leaf showed a fair resemblance to the freshwater shoreline of northwestern Lower Michigan, complete with an indent for Grand Traverse Bay and OMP. How perfect for an issue covering two stories on the acclimatization of the local wine scene, from Leelanau up to the tip of the Mitt!
Along with the wine stories come others that speak to our homegrown flavors. One Michigan native who found his passion in his night job and now runs his own indoor mushroom business. Another who followed hers through the restaurant world to land in a bakery with her own start-up café.
We look into a truly northern way you can help monarch butterflies while feeding off the bounty of the land, offer up a new cookbook to help you get creative with our northern vegetables, and deliver a quick entreaty to add some zest to your life by growing your own zippy and colorful nasturtiums.
On a more somber note, Charlie and I would like to mark the March passing of two of our most stalwart admirers. Phil Thiel was long-time owner of Cedar City Market, and from the moment we walked into his store 11 years ago he was a supporter of the EGT cause. In recent years Phil helped distribute first runs of each issue in Leelanau, Benzie and Manistee counties. He expressed a quick wit, unrepentant boosterism on behalf of the little guy and strong sense of community—he was, in all, a good egg.
Our other loss was that of my father. Even though he was neither a foodie nor a Michigander, he liked to see good being done in the world and appreciated his children following their own paths in that regard. We gained his enthusiasm from the start and for many years I enjoyed phone calls from him with each new issue he received, talking about his favorite stories, the writers and what he had learned. While we will miss Phil and my dad, such loss is softened in the arrival of spring, when flowers embody the beauty and fertility of the world and everything is new again.
As for the stress of making these cover decisions, we will soon see how this one goes over. Bacon, ice cream and farm puppies would have all been sure bets. But a leafy representation of the green and growing local food and drink economy? Well, you’ll just have to let us know what you think.
Here’s to spring,
