Williams-Sonoma Launches Agrarian Line With 275 High-End DIY Products

Good news for green thumbs everywhere: On Thursday Williams-Sonoma launches an agrarian line on its website and in six stores nationwide on April 9th.

Among the 257 offerings, intended to help customers coax food from seed to table, there are a few that read like parody or a sketch from "Portlandia." There's organic soil and fertilizer, cedar garden beds and window boxes, heirloom seeds, copper gardening tools, a shittake mushroom log, kits for making cheese and kombucha, and even a beehive and portable chicken coop for the backyard.

Edible Brooklyn caught up with Shannon Gomes, public relations manager for Williams-Sonoma, who stressed the line isn't just for organic and local die hards.

“There’s a wide range of people who live in the suburbs or in the city who maybe aren’t growing their own herbs or food and here’s a way for them to get started,” she said. “We’ve got a DIY cheese kit that only takes a gallon of milk and one hour and you’ll have your own mozzarella and ricotta cheese.”

While fascination with home growing has in recent years spiked -- especially in urban areas -- not everyone is 100 percent on board with its Williams-Sonoma-ification, a company known for its high price point.

Like, for example, Grist's Sarah Laskow, who this week took a few shots at the line:

I’m all for backyard agriculture. But if you’re spending hundreds of dollars (I’m guessing at the price point here) on a chicken coop that’s then shipped across the country, you should probably assume you’re doing more to shore up the powerful forces of consumerism than to help the local food movement or the planet.

A Dow Jones Newswire report seemed to echo the sentiment that the line is not for casual farmers, but rather for rich hobbyists. "I think you'd be surprised how many of those with second homes would be open to bee-keeping," Canaccord Genuity Securities analyst Laura Champine told the wire.

Come April 9, Williams-Sonoma stores in Palo Alto, Calif.; Bellvue, Wash.; Austin, Tex.; Birkdale Village, N.C.; Chicago, Ill.; and Short Hills, N.J. will offer the line.

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Comments

[gigabiting]

03:31 PM on 04/09/2012

This comes painfully close to Portlandia-style parody.
http://gigabiting.com/is-williams-sonomas-agrarian-brand-the-real-portlandia/

[jennylens]

02:58 AM on 04/06/2012

Most grocery or hardware stores sell dozen qt Mason jars about $12. $2/bottle. Or buy from WS, 4 at $24. I use qt, pint and half gallon jars for food and beverage storage. Make raw sauerkraut and pickles. Buy wide mouth replacement lids and rings quite easily.

The first complete Kombucha kit ever offered? I could list several online sources offering complete kits with far more supplies and larger containers for $70.

Ah truth in advertising. If you have more money than common sense or someone to search te web for you, and you love the idea of being so hip and buying from WS, more power to you. Just hope WS doesn't go after ppl offering similar products for far less money. Plus others offer tons of vids, text and email support.

We raw foodies are cost conscious, plus focus on LOCAL supplies, whenever possible.

Time to drink my homemade Kombucha. $35 for 2.5 gallon porcelain container, stand, plus $2.50 scoby (bottle of refrigerated organic, plain Kombucha fromhealth store), $5 each, two boxes of organic tea (50 each green and black), $4 for 1 lb organic sugar.

~$50 to make many gallons of Kombucha. Vs $70 for 3 gallons re WS supplies. NEVER have to rinse out my continuous brewer, or deal with rubber bands. Turn the spigot.

Tons of vids online re Kombucha brewing. No one I know uses vinegar for mother or scoby. Try to buy commercially bottled Kombucha. Organic ingredients only! Drink up!

[Brian Flescher]

02:45 PM on 04/05/2012

kombucha kit= black tea, cider vinegar, sugar, stock pot, anda glass jar to ferment in with a paper towel sealed over the top with a rubber band....$70?

[plantbasedpunk]

01:33 PM on 04/09/2012

You're forgetting the most important part: the SCOBY! Pretty much free if you know someone who makes kombucha.

[playflute2]

01:30 PM on 04/05/2012

Will be interested to see what will be offered. Growing my own shitake mushrooms sounds like fun!

[plantbasedpunk]

01:30 PM on 04/05/2012

Wow. I'm actually really digging the Agrarian stuff. Especially the shiitake log ($30) and the kombucha kit ($70). Although, I could put together a kombucha kit for half the price, it's kinda nice to get it all in one package. And with free shipping until May 3rd, none the less.