Spring is adorning our fair valley with abundant wild flowers we haven’t seen in years, a happy, busy puppy named GiGi weighing in at 90 lbs. at 8 months and…lots of olive blossom! Hopefully all these flowers will translate into a heavy crop. We are due and so are you!

Anita and I had a terrific time in Bali foraging our way through fresh markets, extraordinary, eclectic restaurants and our favorite—cooking classes. Response to the email I sent from our the lovely rice field home of friend Evelyn Roberts was overwhelming regarding silk scarves and one-of-a-kind items we hand carried back to our destination store. (Travel tip: please let me know if you want to stay in a fabulous home or two in Bali; I’ll share Evelyn’s contact info with you for the most amazing home stay ever!) I am embarrassed that some of you may not have heard from me yet! Truly, these items are a fantastic value because we bought directly from fair-trade artisans, going into their homes and gardens on many occasions to experience loving artisanship first-hand. The resulting goodness is that we are making the silk scarves an ongoing store item; no two are alike nor are the colors or weaves exact from one to another—therein lies their real art and beauty. Deliciously priced at $44. or 3/$100 these heirloom quality beauties can be used as sashes, belts, hair bands, window treatments and, of course, neck scarves. Balinese wood and seagrass woven bowls (sold out in 2 days!) will dominate our holiday 2010 gift basket selection. Look for Indonesian inspired food items late this year too. We learned so much about aromatic flavors and brought home the most unique peppercorns, spices and…did someone say the sweetest cashews you’ve ever tasted? Gee…I wonder what our holiday 2010 snack item will be?

Mark your calendars now to join Anita, Sunita and me as we sail on the Wind Spirit from Athens to Rome with stops in Milos, Monemvasia, Sicily and Amalfi (to name a few) on June 11, 2011. We’ll have special pricing for Club members for this intimate sailing excursion of only 148 people. More info will be coming your way soon.

Thank you, thank you for understanding new pricing on our growing Olive Revolution Club. We haven’t raised prices since our Club was conceived over eight years ago. Finally, with this season’s shipment, we had to raise it to $44. You have my word that we won’t make a habit of raising Club pricing. Olive oil demand has gone up dramatically and bottle prices have skyrocketed along with many other ingredients. We promise to keep innovating, harvesting and creating the highest quality products with the most worldly flavors you might ever imagine to most pleasurably please your palate.

Lastly, most of you know of my dream to grow Global Gardens into a sustainable small farm Experience Center where we can have on site permaculture and sustainability classes along with experiential gardens, educational forums for people of all ages and, as always, superior “taste education”. I am putting a lot of energy and time into developing this concept. There are several fantastic properties for sale here in our region and I am looking for investors. Club customers understand the integrity of our products; and those of you who have known me since founding the Club in 2000 know that I mean business, having the energy, tenacity and knowledge to put this together. If you know someone who might want to get involved in an exciting real estate purchase and educational entity with a non-profit component, please tell all!

With love for solar power, worldly flavors and spring pollination,