By Rich Osborne, Owner, ALL THINGS RICH at the Waterfront Market @ Ruston Fifteen years ago, I started taking credit cards. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I engaged a local processor. I bought a card reader to plug into my cell phone, and away I went. Within weeks I started having…
August 2026, Island Resilience
Death by Flower on Vashon
By Andy Valencia As our summer begins its slow descent into fall, take a moment to relax and enjoy the flowers which nature has provided. Just kidding! This is Vashon, where Himalayan blackberry will cross your back patio and force its way into your house. You’ll have plenty of time to rest when it’s winter,…
August 2026, Island Resilience
Financial Independence
By Stephen Buller For better or worse, money plays a big role in our lives – I would argue for better, as the concept of money was a brilliant invention that allowed individuals to store the value of their efforts and exchange the fruits of their labor to better their standard of living. The term…
August 2026, Island Interviews, Island Resilience, Recipes
Generational Sourdough – Beyond Loaves
By Jane Valencia Whether purchased, gifted, or “caught” with flour and water, a well-tended sourdough starter burgeons with life. A keeper of sourdough often gets into a creative rhythm with using it, making breads for family and friends, and even distributing the starter itself. In times past, this culture of sharing sourdough had stronger significance…
Health Matters, Island Resilience, July 2026, Nature
Spagyrics: Renaissance Medicine for Modern Imbalances
By Anthony Latora Spagyrics aspire to redefine what herbal medicine can be. Rooted in the Renaissance era, yet increasingly affirmed by modern analysis, they offer a way of preparing plants that seeks not merely to extract their chemistry, but to preserve their wholeness. Rather than viewing a plant as a collection of isolated compounds, the…
Island Resilience, June 2026
Cash or Credit?
By Stephen Buller Here on Vashon, as the weather changes faster than Superman in a phone booth, swinging wildly from blue skies to downpours multiple times a week, I try to keep my focus on the silver lining: Summer is right around the corner. Maybe sunshine brings out the optimist in me. Summer means many…
Island Resilience, June 2026, Technology
Software: Free as in Beer
By Andy Valencia This article was going to be about saving money when you need to buy a PC. I’ll write about that next month, because it’s hard to save money when your operating system is waging war on your pocket book. We need to talk about Microsoft Windows. Most people do need a connection…
Island Resilience, June 2026, Recipes
A Bread for Resilience
By Andy Valencia Westphalia has an important place in the history of Western Civilization. Currently a part of Germany, it was the site of the accords which ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Setting aside politics, it is also the home of Westphalian pumpernickel. Germany is well-known for its dark breads, but this one…
Health Matters, Island Resilience, June 2026
What’s Your Flavor?
By Anthony Latora One of the first doorways we walk through when getting to know an herb medicinally, alongside sight, smell, and even touch, is taste. What if I told you that through taste alone we can gather much about how an herb may act within the body? This is very much true. Not only…
Editorial Page, Island Resilience, Island Vehicles, May 2026
When Your EV Dies on Vashon
By Andy Valencia EV’s are in most ways simpler than their internal combustion engine cousins. There really just need to be batteries, a controller to send power to the wheels, and a charger. But these parts work hard, since we want fast recharges and even faster acceleration. Stressing electronics means failures will show up eventually….