Ant in a Clown Mask

I have really tried to keep these post upbeat and jovial, but underneath my clown makeup lies the the serious face of an ant with a mission. Each day brings a new piece of unfortunate evidence that perhaps I am on to something with sustainability. Perhaps what I try to do with Eco Reading is important.

Such evidence could be that the EPA has approved a new horrid pesticide that Nobel scientists and some 50 others are begging to be banned because of the"potential danger to pregnant women and children, the elderly and farmworkers."

Or evidence could be that really...corporations will kill or maim you for a buck as demonstrated so terribly by Home Depot and the product Stand ’n Seal. Basically this sealer used on tiles will melt your lungs but hey.....this was just a simple mistake, right!?

Or perhaps I can point to the evidence right here in my very own cul-de-sac. Another neighbor has cancer. This makes it 2 on our street this year (that I know of) the first being a teen. I guess I have just had enough of enough.

So you see my Reading friends, things can and do get to me, and I try to combat it by being a good ant and sharing with you the knowledge that had been hard won. There are such happy finds in the sea of bad news and there are folks about us who also want to take a step off this corporate nonsense of profit at all costs.

I have been busy getting prepared for the winter as a good ant should. I am finally going to use all of my freezer space this year thanks to all the food I have collected locally this season. In the past few weeks I have done the following:

• picked and dehydrated apples (Red Apple Farm)
  
• stored my winter squash in the garage (Farm School share, home grown, and Mr. A.)
  
• bought 12 pounds of potatoes from Red Apple Farm


• bought dried beans from the Marblehead Farmers Market


• bought and froze sausages from Drumlin Farm, Lincoln


• froze strawberries, corn, beets (Marblehead, Farm School, Drumlin)


• bought and froze varied pork cuts from Stillman's Farm via Marblehead


• chopped and froze basil in ice trays (Farm School and homegrown)

• bought and froze goat cheese from Crystal Brook Farm (via Marblehead Market)

I have been so very busy! I still need to find some beef so my work is not ending anytime soon! I know that some of you may say...hey you have been spending not only time but a whole lot of green to be "green". Yes, it is an investment upfront but I fully expect that my food bill will go down this winter or at least I hope it to :)

So it is not too late to take stock of your stock and get yourself into an ant state of mind. I have just returned from 7 acres farm in North Reading and he has tons of winter squash and the end of season tomatoes. The farmers market in Marblehead will be going on for a few more weeks, and today there is a farmers market in Lexington until 6:30 p.m. . I am ever so grateful for the friends who tip me off to many offerings in the area and help me along on my quest. I hope that I can do the same for you.