Trader Joe’s had so many brimming large baskets of strawberries for sale that I figured something must be up this season and the not martha post on an abundant harvest triggered me to do a bit of research.  An April A.P. news story from Florida called out weather related factors.  California and Florida growers try to stagger their harvest by planting different varieties at different times.  Florida is usually the largest producer in January and February. California kicks in at springtime.  This year Florida had record cold temperatures early in the year and California had heavy rains.  Florida’s berries peaked late and California had more berries than usual as plants had gone dormant during the rain and then overproduced. The result is a glut of strawberries. A pound of strawberries last year cost $3.49, this year it’s been closer to $1.25.  Closer to home for me and notmartha.com’s Megan, the Whatcom County berry farmers are keeping a close eye on the pollination activity around their strawberry flowers.  They’re expecting a slightly early harvest the first week of June, so keep an eye out at those farmer’s markets.

In an interesting turn of events, Tesla and Toyota have formed a partnership of sorts around the recently closed Nummi plant in Fremont, California. Nummi, the auto plant that just won’t die, started as a GM venture, closed, then was reopened as a joint GM and Toyota venture. Toyota will invest $50 million in Tesla Motors who will turn that money around into reviving Nummi as the factory for its new Model S electric sedan. Akio Toyoda’s ride in Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster must have given the Toyota president hope for moving beyond his company’s recent recall troubles. It’s that Silicon Valley startup energy sparking in the sound of a silent car.

On the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis’ death, KEXP DJ John Richards played a chronological history of the Joy Division music scene starting in 1976.  I’ve captured the playlist.  Book-ended with “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, the set featured multiple songs from David Bowie, Iggy Pop, the Ramones, Blondie, The Clash, The Cure, The Jam, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, singles from several other groups, and 15 from Joy Division including the last song of Curtis’ final gig in 1980.  Curtis had listened to Iggy Pop’s “The Idiot” right before his suicide, so Richards added a song from that album as the penultimate and only non-chronological entry in the tribute (other than the opener).  (previously: KEXP Tribute to John Hughes)

Seattle restaurant Brasa has closed its doors after eleven years of accolades and stellar reviews.  Chef/owner Tamara Murphy was Executive Chef at Campagne prior to opening Brasa and was named the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef of the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii in 1995. She has other ventures in the works but Brasa will be missed from the cheese table to the Spanish donuts and everything piggy in-between.

Seattle’s School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts’ Annual Spring Showcase is this weekend. SANCA began six years ago with five students and now they offer everything from “Baby & Me” classes to all ages family classes to advanced skills and master classes.  We attended the afternoon Spring Showcase last year with Seth and watched an extra treat afterwards: how circus artists rescue an Aerobie from a tree.

Community gardens here in the Seattle area are referred to as “p-patches” which I thought came simply from “pea patch” but they are actually named after the original local community garden, Picardo Farm. Now, there may be other community gardens in other places that are also called “pea patches” but a search turns up primarily greater Seattle area “pea” and “p” patches, so it’s likely the term did originate from this area, and perhaps with Picardo, not peas. We referred to our community garden in Connecticut by its location (Allen’s Meadows), so I can understand the “P-patch” derivation.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of United Airline’s introduction of the flight attendant to the U.S. airline industry, these flight attendants wore vintage uniforms on Saturday on their flight between SFO and ORD (photo from BusinessWire).  I looked on uniformfreak.com and the dress on the left is circa 1968-1970 and the shirt, vest, and pants are 1976-1979.  Ellen Church, the first stewardess in 1930, was a certified pilot (yes!) and a registered nurse who approached Boeing Air Transport looking for a pilot’s job.  Not surprising for the times she was turned down but pitched the idea of having a nurse on board which led to the creation of the flight attendant.   She wore an elegant double-breasted skirt suit with a cape and hat.

Despite being a financial disaster at the time, the romance of the Pony Express lives on in American history, thanks in part to Buffalo Bill and Mark Twain who placed it firmly into popular culture.  For the 150th anniversary this year of the founding of the short-lived mail route, the annual re-enactment of the 1,966 mile relay ride will be extended to San Francisco (via rivercraft) and kept to daylight hours to accomodate accompanying celebrations.  Details and GPS tracking of the June event are on the official site.  You can have your own letter carried and postmarked by the Pony Express (this year’s application deadline is over).

Disneyland is a busy place after hours. 600 late night maintenance workers clean up after park visitors, scrape gum off of sidewalks and benches, touch up wear and tear, repair mechanical attractions, and weed the gardens.  Security workers check the usual hiding spots for guests who’ve decided to spend the night.  An estimated 200 cats who have moved in over the years come out of hiding and help manage the rodent population (presumably overlooking any presence of Mickey and Minnie). Disney workers have set up feeding stations for the cats and take steps to keep the population under control. After the streets are clean and the sun rises, the rope drops and the crowds enter to start the cycle again.

Take a look inside San Francisco’s Old Mint which long ago housed 1/3 of the U.S. gold reserves.  There are photos of the “gas-powered lighting system, which called for one person to turn the wheel and another person to walk around the entire building, lighting each lamp”, the vaults, and details of the ornate doorknobs and railings.