Little Eco Reading

O.K. this is not me in the film, but I so wanted to to be. I watched this over and over on Sesame Street in the early 70's and how I longed for a Mrs. Wilson to show me the ropes of "country living". This was certainly not in my sphere of experience in my vaguely urban town in New Jersey. So enjoy watching the seeds of going eco as I return to the mother land for the week.

The Secrets of Gardens

I have always been drawn towards senior citizens, even as a small child. I would visit my next door neighbors routinely as a preschooler and listen to their stories of 'ol. I loved imagining what life was back in the "olden days" and really enjoyed their mellowed energy. It was a counterpoint to my world of modern society where media is so prevalent and distractions seems to be around every corner.

Just as a side note I just read this new David Sedaris story and thought it was really funny...retro living gone wrong.

My grandparents were doers. My baba baked her own bread, went blueberry picking when the season was right and grew her own tomatoes. It was just something she did. It is not like she had more time than the rest of us, it just something she did instead of something else, like watching t.v..
It seems that we have lost something with the modern amenities that we have all come to enjoy and rely on possibly too much. We no longer "need" a garden like they did say during WWII, we have plenty of produce to choose from in the stores, but perhaps we do need them in an ecological, psychological, and even biological manner. According to many studies, having a relationship with our natural world is essential to our overall happiness and health. Without a connection to the outdoors people, particularity children, can suffer from what author of Last Child in the Woods , Richard Louv, coins "nature deficit disorder". This book is truly wonderful and has changed the way I go about parenting and looking at the outdoors. I am sure I will be talking about this gem again! Anyway.....back to the topic.....gardening is also a great form of exercise. It seems silly that we get on treadmills and elliptical trainers when we have a pre-made workout called gardening! (oh FYI I do have a treadmill....but also have a garden...see my future post on guilt).

What am I getting at???? Well, many older people already have an established relationship with the outdoors through gardening. It is just something that they do because they have always done. They are such an amazing resource, and one you just can't get from a book. So I have made a brand new friend of the senior citizen kind, an expert, the king-daddy gardener in all of Reading. I will call him Mr. A. I found him quite by accident one day when I was riding my bike around town looking at our collective home from a slower pace. I called out to him, "Is that your garden?" He kindly replied, "Yes, want to come take a look?" Of course the farmer wanna-be in me couldn't resist and that is how I found the most beautiful and enormous home garden that I have ever seen. This really can't really be called a garden, more like a small farm! Best part of all...Mr. A can tell sure tell great stories and loves to talk about gardening!

So I now visit him regularly on my bike rides about town. We chat about soil, compost, history, politics, manure, pig slaughtering and just about anything that pops into our heads. On one of my visits he tells me of how on Washington Street in Woburn before 128 was created, his world was a series of farms all up and down Washington St. What is now the Woburn Post office...farms. The car dealership....farms. On and on. This is where he honed his skills as a youngster farming with his family in Woburn! Can you imagine! He tells me during WWII you either had a garden and chicken or you did without. I am amazed and a bit saddened that it had changed so very much. He thinks that maintaining and preserving land for agricultural uses is very important and perhaps Reading has missed the boat in that regards. Looking around Reading and seeing no land in use for agriculture, I happen to think it is spot on. I recall a recent story about of the citizens of Westport, Ma collectively purchasing a farm for 1 million dollars to keep away from developers and now have sold it to a young farmer for $32,000. Ahhh....what could have been. Perhaps we could have been saved from the Kylie Lane project gone terribly wrong.

Mr. A. is 76 and maintains all of his gardens without a weed in sight using organic methods. Yes, he is an organic farmer. He really emphasises the importance of composted loam, and when you step on his soil it is soft as pillows beneath your feet. Yet, he still has time for fishing (he caught this trout this morning in Concord) and talking with friends overlooking the fruit of his labors. I can't even believe my ears when he tells me how he grew 7 tons of tomatoes on his back field? That's right, he grew one season 7 tons of tomatoes on his property. In Reading!

So today we chatted and he talks about the dangers of food from China! Hello....you are preaching to the choir, my friend. I guess this just adds to the ever increasing list of why you should garden, you will know where your food comes from when it is from your yard!

Not to despair, I know you want to garden right this second. The good news is that you can still have a vegetable garden on a small scale even now. You could still plant green beans from seed and get instant gratification! In this warm season you will be amazed how quickly they will grow. Where to plant...try a large pot in a sunny place. Or go ahead grab a shovel and in a sunny place set up a tiny garden. Don't be afraid to use your front or side yards as I have seen so many really successful edible gardens in these locations. I have tomatoes growing this year in pots on our front yard step away from our front door. (FYI my husband had a bit of protest at first but is most happy with our results) You could also plant some cabbage seedlings and give it a go. I had cabbage in my garden last year until Thanksgiving when I picked them for our family feast. You could also plant an herb garden in a planter for wonderful pickings until a hard frost. Last year my parsley did will until Dec/Jan!

You can also just start your garden plans for next spring. Find yourself a neighbor or friend and talk with them about their edible garden. I also highly recommend the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It really gives a step by step plan to getting great results with small efforts and space. If you are an experienced gardener, don't be shy, talk about your successes with friends or neighbors that show an interest. Or even those who don't :)

I know that many of you have wonderful flower gardens and they are so very important as well. This is not an either or situation. You can have both and probably should have both. When you have a vegetable garden attracting insects for pollination is a great thing. Many flowers can also repel many unwanted insects away from the garden and away from all your hard work. Mr. A also has a wonderful portion of his garden devoted to flowers. While sitting and chatting I became awed at the shear number of insects and animals that were visible at any giving moment. He has the circle of life around him in a big way!

All for now. I must now manage all the additional zucchini, summer squash and green beans Mr. A. generously gave to me. I know you are a bit envious...but you will have to get your very own organic gardening mentor....Mr. A is taken :) To make it up to you come on over for some zucchini bread ;)

Happy gardening!

Farm Share Management 101

Course Syllabus:

• What on Earth is Kohlrabi?
• No, you really won't eat all of that.
• When to compost your good intentions.
• Eating, freezing, canning, oh my!
• Why it is worth all the trouble.

I won't lie to you all, my most loyal friends. I have just spent over 4 hours managing my farm share bounty. One thing lead to another, travelling, guests and general spacing out has lead to an overflow of produce.

I don't know if I told you we get our share from The Farm School which is an amazing place. They teach the next generation of farmers the ins and outs of organic farming. To say that I have been impressed with their products is an understatement. The first time I opened the box I almost cried at the beauty of it all. Each week is a culinary adventure that I must explore. It had made me a much better cook because it is sink or swim. Kohlrabi? Get cracking. Collards, channel your inner Southerner and y'all start eatin'. Most have been hits...some not so perfect. I know that broccoli rabe must be washed and washed or else you will have a grit pasta when added to a most perfect tagliatelle. Oops.

So it had been a totally new experience to eat totally upon the season. We had strawberries only one week, but cabbage has been a constant. Now is the season for summer squashes of all variety. So far this year I have had about 15! Farm share plus gardener friend! FYI: You can also get farm grown at 7 Acres Farm. Now I really needed to do something with this. I made the most delicious zucchini bread. My first!

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs (from 7 Acres Farm)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2-3 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 lemon zested
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Crunchy Crust (optional but really good)

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt, nuts and lemon zest. Stir into egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

If adding crunchy crust, mix ingredients together really well and crumble on top of the batter prior to baking. (It is very messy getting the loaves out of the pans with the topping. I just did it over the sink.)

Bake for 60-70 minutes or, until done.


I realized there would be not a chance to eat the remaining 11 so I blanched and froze them. Zucchini I shredded and blanched in pre-measured zucchini bread amounts, and the summer squash I chopped, blanched and froze first on a cookie sheet and then transferred to a zip lock.

I had to also tackle beets, turnips and peas. I pressure cooked the beets (20 minutes on high pressure) and made a beautiful beets salad with fresh peas. This is a favorite family staple and it really is quite delicious. I made for the very first time mashed turnips. Why I have never eaten this before is beyond me. I love it! I am eating these 2 dished for dinner tonight and freezing the rest.


So that wraps us today's catch up. Now I have salad greens, carrots, collards, kale and cabbage to contend with until our next share is picked up on Tuesday. I think I can do it. My fridge is looking tidier than it has in weeks and my kitchen no longer looks as if a raccoon ransacked a produce stand.

It must be said that I do have some losses each week. It seems I cannot keep up with some of the salad greens. I do feel guilty about not eating them all, but at least I know that some good can come out of my bad. Compost! We bought our bin from the town, just go to town hall to the public works office, pay and pick up at the garage. We love ours and use it everyday. I am simply amazed that it is not required for all households. If I put all my vegetable/fruit scraps into plastic and put it into the land fill (which I have to admit,I did all my life until last year)...eeeks so much from just our family. Here are the remains just from today's catch-up:

So would I do a farm share again..you bet. Perhaps I may share our share with another family until my little guy gets older and can do his share of the eating. You all can try the seasonal eating without a farm share. Just pop by the Reading Farmers Market by the train station on Tuesdays in the afternoon until 7 p.m. Pick something you wouldn't normally try and go for it! Here's a look at tonight's dinner for inspiration, all local. Pan seared scallops (Twin Seafood) atop mashed turnips with beet and pea salad. I know you can't taste it, but if you were Willy Wonka's Mike TV you would be hooked! Yummmm!

Giving Credit When Credit is Due

Just wanted to give two thumbs up for the Town of Reading's new website and those who run it! There was an error with the recycling information when the site launched, and when I pointed it out, they responded with fixing the error on the QT! Bravo! It also seems they added a link on the "important links" portion that directs folks directly to "recycling and rubbish" information.

Oh...it also looks a million times better.

Excellent developments!

Birds and the Bees and the Flowers and the Trees

I'll sing a green song

How wild is your green song?

Wild as a world where little things creep

In their green grass forests deep

Deep in their long-stemmed world.

-Margaret Wise Brown

When we moved to Reading almost 3 years ago I insisted upon 1 thing when is came to the outdoors. No chemicals on the lawn or in the garden. I know sometimes I am a bit of a worrier, but I had a child under 1 and I really thought and still think that no exposure is better than some exposure. My husband and I argued several years before over the use of chemicals when we lived in a neighboring town and he was using a chemical weed killer on our patio. I was not happy about it, but he was of the opinion "it has been around for a long time and companies wouldn't knowingly put the public in danger." Then I told him how EPA partially funded by the American Chemical Association planned a study to study the effect of pesticides in low income children. The study would essentially knowingly expose children under 3 to pesticides and pay the parents for participation. Pesticide exposure has been linked to neurological problems, lung damage and birth defects. If the government agency in charge of protecting us from the dangers of chemical are in cahoots with the chemical companies...well...can you trust anything?

My husband started to see things my way...did he have any choice:) ! So we set off on the path to organic lawn care and gardening. I don't think we started out with the intention of being "organic" it just developed out of necessity because we really didn't know what we were doing! The mess that was our lawn was proof of our novice first attempts. Now we know that when you go from a chemically treated lawn to an organic lawn, the first 2 seasons are challenging. You literally are starting over. We bought most of our supplies at Eric's Greenhouse 1090 Main St. (781)944-0547.


So here is what we learned:

1. Get your soil healthy....we used Cock-a-Doodle-Doo as a fertilizer.
2. Cut your lawn to a minimum of 3 inches and mulch the clippings right on the lawn.
3. Thatch and plant seeds early spring and as needed.
4. After new grass is established you can put down corn gluten to protect from weeds.
5. Weeds for the first 2 seasons when withdrawing from chemicals are pretty bad.
6. Get exercise and fresh air by pulling weeds by hand. Or make a spray weed killer with vinegar salt and dish soap...it works!
7. Grow many different ground covers for your lawn not just 1 type of grass.
   

Now we have a healthy lawn that really resists burning and wilting when it doesn't rain. We love that we have clover now. In fact clover is totally retro. Grass seed once upon a time in the fifties included 10% or so of clover right in the mix. It adds nitrogen naturally and is hardier than grass. Is our lawn perfect? No way. We really should have our soil tested and add amendments to it using the results as our guide. Our backyard needs some serious weeding and we will always battle our ground ivy and violets. They are pretty and smell really great, but perhaps if we did this testing it would be a bit easier to keep these weeds at bay.....we are still learning!

Even though it is still a process, we do think far less about our lawn these days...it is doing it's thing. We now have a circle of life right in our yard. I am not being dramatic. A benefit to all of this chemical free living is that life returns. All of it.


We have worms now. If you are using any pesticide treatment...you have no worms in your lawn. I totally did not know this until last year. Also...chemical fertilizer or inorganic fertilizer is partly made from natural gas!!! Are you kidding you say. I am not. The inorganic fertilizer may not only reduce the minerals from your soil, but actually deplete them from the soil after long term use. I am sure you can guess where much of this fertilizer is made....yes, from China.


Pesticide free means we have worms and various insects. This attracts not only robins and other birds but chipmunks as well, whose diet consists of grain, nuts, birds' eggs, fungi, worms, and insects. Our clover attracts bees which are totally necessary if I expect to get any cucumbers or squash from my garden this year. I am thrilled to see honey bees in our clover this year. Last year we made a tough choice about spraying our mighty oak tree with pesticide (I believe synthetic pyrethroids) due to the siege of winter and gypsy moth caterpillars. I tried to cover the spirea flowers I knew the bumble bees loved, however I do believe that the pesticides took killed the bees despite my meager attempts to save them. If I had to make the decision again I think I would let the oak tree fight the attack on its own.

I have also been concerned about the honey bees due to colony collapse disorder. The bees from a colony just fly off never to return. Experts have no idea why this is happening but several theories such as genetically modified crops, viruses , mites and pesticides are all on the table.


Getting back to our wild habitat. Our clover also attracts rabbits who munch on it with gusto! Of course we also spy our neighborhood squirrels both gray and black. I have encouraged the wild black raspberries and blackberry brambles to grow on the perimeter of our lawn and gardens. They too feed many an animal including us!


Now for the big game that takes advantage of our mini ecosystem. I have watched a hawk this winter hunt for birds in our front bushes. I watch with awe and a bit of horror as this amazing bird dove into the bushes, popped his head out the top with a total conviction of purpose. I cheered for it, but silently hoped he would not be successful. Now we currently have foxes. Cute, yes. A bit intimidating, yes. I know by my research...and now personal eyewitness experience, that foxes eat small game like birds, chipmunks and squirrels. However, it is a bit disquieting to walk out to our play area and see a fox mid-day scampering away. I am also a bit taken about at the amount of remains I have found around our house from small animals that did not run away fast enough from this clever fox. All I can say is fascinating but shoooooooooo fox !!!!!!!!!! Big time.


So I never expected to initiate and encourage all of this life from not using chemicals. I do feel good that I can provide a space for the creatures big and small who just require some healthy food and space just like the rest of us.

A Year Without 'Made In China'

Thoughts on A Year Without 'Made In China'

O.K. there are no original thoughts and I am quite frankly relieved that someone else has been thinking of this too! This author looked around and was a bit appalled by being surrounded by Chinese goods. She decided to live without purchasing "Made in China" goods for one year and write about it. This book has been recently released and absolutely timely in the wake of recent news.

I too have been boycotting Chinese made products for several months now. It started out slowly and really only included children's clothing. That was after I read that a manufacturer in China put benzene dye in towels that were sold in China. I late 2005 a benzene spill in the Songhua River put a city of 4 million people at risk from poisoning and the government tried to keep it a secret! So I thought...no more clothing from China.

Things have gone from bad to worse and you know things have gotten pretty awful when CNN has a whole segment devoted to Chinese goods being tainted and recalled. I am sure you have read several articles not only on this blog, but now in the Globe, devoted to disclosing how Chinese imports can possibly harm us or our children. First toothpaste that contains anti-freeze is found right here in Massachusetts. The brands of Cooldent, Dr. Cool, Everfresh Toothpaste, Superdent, and Oral Bright should not be used and thrown out ASAP. Also if it is Colgate and it has made in South Africa it too should be tossed. In China, children's snack food has been recalled by Chinese officials. Gee I must be pretty bad for China to recall their own products.

The FDA recently "detained" Chinese imports of fish tainted with all kinds of nasty things including banned antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet, and fluoroquinolone. Nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet have been shown to be carcinogenic with long-term exposure in lab animals. Why the FDA did not recall these items is beyond me. Me thinks this had been going on for a long,long time so whats a bit more, right?

So about toys? Try and find a toy that is NOT made in China. Almost impossible. Why try and find them? Well to start take a look at the recalled list of toys from the consumer product safety commission. Most if not all of the toys are made in China. If you are the mom or dad of a preschool boy, Thomas trains are a fixture in your house. Some also contain lead paint!

So how is this related to sustainable living in Reading. What is the local impact? Well, these products can be found right here in Reading and surrounding areas. They have to ship them all the way around the world to land here. How is this ecological? At what cost to the planet are these goods costing? The obvious poisoning hazard is real not to mention the cost of an environmental catastrophe two heartbeat away to our fellow human beings in China. At what cost are these low cost items?

I have no quick answers here, but as a start I am going to read A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni. I have ordered it from out local bookstore, the second oldest bookstore in America, the Andover Bookstore. I was told that Reading also had a location right on Main Street but it had to close due to lack of business!!!!!!! Come on Reading! We can do better. I think we really need to support local businesses. Look what happens when we hand over local control over to multinationals. We get the China Syndrome!!!!!

Oh...just an update. The Globe has a great compilation of all of the many issues we just discussed in slideshow put online today!