Butters slips into CdA market

Organic food maven MaryJane Butters is opening her first store in Coeur d’Alene.

The Moscow farmer and farmgirl lifestyle guru will celebrate the new retail store in the Plaza Shops next to the Coeur d’Alene Resort with a grand opening Friday from 4 to 6 p.m.

Butters will be there to sign her recently released book, “MaryJane’s Outpost: Unleashing Your Inner Wild.”

The MaryJanesFarm store, 210 Sherman Ave., will sell organic bedding, towels and table linens. A Vintage Farm Kitchen section will include aprons, kitchenware, candles and soaps, cookbooks and MaryJanesFarm magazines, according to a news release.

Cooking and sewing classes are planned. However, Butters’ organic convenience and backpacking foods will not be offered at the store, a spokeswoman says. The food is sold at Huckleberry’s Natural Foods in Spokane or online at www.maryjanesfarm.org.

MaryJanesFarm is eight miles southeast of Moscow, Idaho.

Taste local food and wine

Futurewise will host a food and wine tasting on Sept. 4 to celebrate the local harvest.

Farmers, ranchers, chefs and winemakers from the region are combining efforts for the meal, which will be held at Arbor Crest Wine Cellars from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Futurewise is a Washington public interest group that advocates protection of forests, farms, wildlife habitat and open space.

Expect to see culinary creations from Luna, Mizuna, Isabella’s, Scratch, Catacombs, Natural Start Bakery and Great Harvest Bread Co. Participating wineries include: Arbor Crest, Townshend Cellar, China Bend Winery, Whitestone Winery and Kestrel Vintners.

Produce and meats will come from local farms, including: Tolstoy Farm, Olsen’s Farm, Dan Jackson Farm, Elithorp Farm, Small Planet Tofu, Lazy R Ranch, Eaton Natural Beef, Quillisascut Farm, Stevens County Co-op and Cliffside Orchard

Tickets start at $50 per person. Event sponsorships are also available. Call Kitty Klitzke for more information (509) 838-1965. Or go to www.futurewise.org/spokane for tickets.