Never Too Late for Maple Syrup-1

Never Too Late for Maple Syrup-2

Ahhh...maple syrup what could be more New England, huh? During the Civil War maple syrup was used as an alternative to sugar since sugar was produced in the Southern States. Now it would be a challenge to do that on a regular basis since the costs for maple syrup are currently much higher than that of sugar, (Chris in the about video clearly demonstrates why) but perhaps we should use it more often. It really is our local specialty and perhaps if becomes more and more popular, business opportunities will be taken by more and more folks and we get the benefit of having more full growth maple trees in our environment. Oh...I digress a bit.

I didn't get a tour of a maple sugaring operation this year...O.K., I have never been on a tour...but I so wanted to and we even made a tour reservation. However, a certain small child decided to come down with a 104 degree fever on our tour day:( Poor guy...much recovered now.
Our loss will be your gain, since I needed to find out where I could by local fresh maple syrup. We are very lucky that a family got a maple bug right next door in North Andover. Turtle Lane Maple Farm collects maple sap from trees in the town forest and built a boiling "shack" right behind their house. They are selling their syrup at Ryer's Country Store in North Reading and the Country Store on 114 in North Andover on the Middleton line. Also you can contact them and buy direct from the source. They use beautiful glass bottles shaped in a maple leaf so the questions of plastic safety is not even an issue. Best of all it really is the best I have ever had!

Also Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary has an ample supply (in glass bottles FYI) for sale in their gift shop. The sanctuary has many sugar maple trees and gives tours for families during February and March. So if you are in need of a great weekend activity take a walk through the woods and pick up a bottle or two on your way out.

Their are many other maple farms in Massachusetts and each gives an opportunity to taste a bit of sustainable living. Many farmers markets will be starting in June and maple products usually sold.

Finally, there are some minerals and amino acids contained in maple syrup that just don't appear in refined sugars. So perhaps one can say the maple syrup is a health food? Well, I guess that may be a stretch, but this weekend I am determined to make something tasty with my syrup. I will check out some recipes and see what I can come up with.

Next year...I'm tapping in!

Sweet.

Home Economics

I have to admit, when I took Home Economics classes in middle and high school my thought on the matter was not one of "Oh gee, I better pay attention. This is really necessary information." I was probably cracking jokes and goofing on the teacher, all-the-while hoping, that at the end, I got the biggest slice of cheese toast.

If you are like me perhaps you have started to become aware that what-a-surprise..prices are rising! OK, see...that is home economics. I will refrain from the political aspects of these economies, but there is no doubt we are paying more for food, energy and just about everything else.

First it started with my husband telling me that his friend paid $4.09 for heating oil! I could not believe it. We locked in this year at $2.79 so we are obviously living like it is 2007 :). I know that when our rate resets will will be in for a whole lot of hurt which is probably happening those of you without a locked rate. I read in this old house magazine about home energy inspections. They recommended that interested folks find an inspector through The Residential Energy Services Network's (RESNET) We decided to have one before the big pain is on, and we are hoping he can tell us ways to save big on our energy costs. All of those little leaks and insulation creep can have a large negative impact upon the efficiency of a house. While this makes economic sense, of course saving energy makes environmental sense. I will keep you posted on the outcomes.

So energy up...the home economics fairy tells me that you probably will have less money to spend on items like food. Since our modern food production relies so heavily on petroleum and natural gas based agriculture (fertilizer, delivery, etc) it is only natural for food costs to rise and rise they do. Crops being devoted to ethanol and increase in global demand has raised food costs dramatically. We are fortunate: we still have the availability we have always received, but what about in the future? We are lucky that Massachusetts has a very good farmer to market delivery system in place, but I really think that it would make sense to start to grow our own. Perhaps it is not a necessity now, but practice makes perfect. I have no idea how to grow potatoes, but grow potatoes this year I will do (or at least make a grand attempt)! I have recently decided to expand on my tiny garden space by using a raised garden bed. A Massachusetts small business called the Farmstead makes non-toxic cedar beds http://www.gardenraisedbeds.com/ from a 17th century design. How cool is that! This makes my idea of expansion so much easier. No digging up sod, I will just place it right on top of my unused lawn space. This is something you can do too! Well, I talk big now, but I guess time will tell how far my peasant genes and good intentions will take me!

So I bring these things up now since there is some time left to get thinking of spring-time occupations...even though it is still in the 30's and there is again talk of snow. Just think about

it. Digg it?

P.S. I talk a good game of econ class-clown, but I did always get an A:)

Eating Fresh and Local is Good For You and Yours

I am really pressed for time this week, so I just wanted to give you a story that will tie is so very nicely with our talks about food. Michael Pollan has a follow-up to the Omnivore's Dilemma (totally great book FYI) called In Defense of Food. Take a listen and perhaps you will be inspired to eat better and locally!

Talk with you soon.

Water Water Everywhere, But For Some, Not Safe Enough to Drink

Tonight the selectmen are scheduled to discuss the proposed water towers that would be situated on the 128 cloverleaf. The towers are to aid the distribution of MWRA water to the towns in the area. I am sure that many of you may have thoughts on the proposal, so I just wanted to way in.

For those of you who didn't know, last year Reading changed the water supply of the town from our wells placed around the Ipswich watershed to MWRA which takes it water from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs. The decision to change to MWRA, in my view, was one of the best the town has ever made. Not only did the Ipswich not provide enough water for our town use, it had a negative impact upon the river ecosystem and in my opinion, it was only a matter of time before the water in our neck of the woods would suffer from the same fate as our neighbors in Woburn and Wilmington....well water contamination. Toxic plumes in underground aquifers do not adhere to town boundary lines.

Briefly, Woburn closed two of its wells in 1979 when it was found to be contaminated with a myriad of toxic chemicals. The damage was severe to the citizens of Woburn. I know that most of you have heard of the book and the movie, "A Civil Action", but perhaps you don't know the details of the incidents that took place. So here is a recap so eloquently detailed by in a speech by Gretchen Latowsky in 1998. She was a key participant in organizing citizens of Woburn to get some answers to why people were getting sick, very sick.

"What is the legacy of this industrial development, this progress that creates jobs and fuels the economy? Woburn has two federally designated Superfund hazardous wastes sites of approximately 350 acres each. It has over 100 smaller state designated Superfund hazardous waste sites. And, for 15 years people of Woburn received drinking water from a supply contaminated with volatile organic chemicals from improper and illegal hazardous waste disposal throughout the Aberjona River Watershed. The people of Woburn have suffered from significant and diverse health problems. The most notable was a cluster of cases of childhood leukemia that the US Centers for Disease Control deemed the most persistent cluster of childhood leukemia in the country. From 1964-1986 there were 28 cases of childhood leukemia, 16 children died, a rate four times the expected rate for a community of its size. In contrast to Woburn, the six communities that are its immediate neighbors had a rate ½ the expected rate. This tragedy, in one way or another, touched the lives of almost every family in the community. Studies have also shown that Woburn residents have suffered from increased rates of kidney and liver cancer, birth defects, and heart system, immune system, and nervous system disorders."

Yes, you did read that correctly 16 children died. For further reading in heartbreaking "real time" I highly recommend Charles Ryan's early investigative pieces from the Daily Times Chronicle. This should hit all of us like a ton a bricks and bring these events of the past directly into our present.

Currently, Woburn only receives a portion of their water from MWRA and operates wells around Horn Pond. The superfund sites are still not contained and now are in phase 2 of cleanup operations. You may recognize part of the location of the Industri-plex Site. It is where Target is located on Commerce Way.

These are and were our neighbors.

Now onto Wilmington and another contamination that impacts a municipal water supply. According to the January 30, 2008 Wilmington Advocate, "The Olin Chemical property was added to EPAs Superfund National Priorities List in April 2006. Contaminants found in the groundwater at the site include ammonia, chloride, sodium, sulfate, chromium, and N-nitrosodimethylamine. These chemicals were also present in several of Wilmington’s municipal drinking water wells at Maple Meadow Brook. In 2003, these wells were taken out of service."

Wilmington is now scrambling to provide their citizens with clean water from other towns as they were not able to quickly change to MWRA as Reading did. It is my understanding that Wilmington needed to add to its infrastructure in order to tap into the MWRA, which is why they have been digging up 129. As for the health impacts, their risks are not zero.

These too are our neighbors.

While the proposed towers may not have a direct impact upon Reading other than as a back-up, I think that aiding our neighbors in their quest for a simple human right, clean safe water, is our moral imperative. There may come a time when Wilmington and Woburn need to go fully on MWRA and that should always be possible for them to do. While having ...OK I'll admit...GIANT towers in Reading may be in inconvenience, how could we not lend a hand? It could be a matter of life and death.

Get Yer Farm Share

I know that as you look upon this fine weather we have been having of late, the first thing on your mind must be "farm share"! Right!? Well, never-the-less, it is sign up time for many farm shares in the area and if you snooze you lose. Why a farm share? Here are my top reasons for doing a farm share....with my myriad of experience of....1 season!

• 1. If you do it right, you will be eating yummy veggies all winter. My frozen beets, squash, beans and broccoli are keeping us with wonderful tasty veggies that will last until late spring...at least.


• 2. You will try new vegetables and greens. Can you say kohlrabi?
  
• 3. You will learn how to eat seasonally by eating seasonally. It feels more connected to nature.


• 4. Many of the farms are organic which provide a more nutritionally balanced product.


• 5. You know exactly where your food comes from.


• 6. You have a personal relationship with the folks that grow your food and many times you actually can work on the farm in return for a reduction in price.


• 7. The food tastes so much better than produce found in the supermarket.




• 8. You support local economies and agriculture.


• 9. You have extra food to share with friends and family.


• 10. Opening the bushel box each week is a bit like Christmas morning. You never know quite what to expect.

We decided to get the full share at the Farm School again this year since we see how much food we have to eat this winter. I think that splitting the share would be a fine idea as well especially for families new to the experience.

How did we choose the Farm School?. It was primarily about location and that they offered organic produce. My husband works in Cambridge so we knew that it would be a good choice for us and he could commit to picking it up each week. Many of the farms that offer shares in the area have Cambridge, Boston or Brookline at their drop points. For example, Red Fire Farm offers several urban pick-up points which may be great for folks working downtown.

Other farms have pick up at the farms some of which are fairly close to Reading. Appleton Farms, a beloved choice of a friend, has pick-up on location in Ipswich/Hamilton. Drumlin Farm

in Lincoln as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) as well. To find many more CSA's in the state go to Local Harvest and search all the different farm offerings in the area.

Another option is a farm co-op which finds the best of all worlds from different farms, and puts them together to form the baskets for pick up. Farm Direct Co-op is one such organization and has a drop off in nearby Melrose. Hurry on this one, as it looks like there is already a wait-list.

Some farms even offer meat shares with drop offs mainly in the Boston metro area. The exception is The Houde Family Farm which has a meat drop off in Melrose! Many of the online reviews are extremely positive. I am thinking about this one myself! I do think that with a meat CSA you need extra freezer space. Perhaps a better choice would be small ordering like at Carraig Farm with pick in Dedham. I love their site and I am so envious of this small farm lifestyle and their philosophy. I may have to order some chickens just to be a part of the scene:)

Finally...to Reading. We are not to be left out of the farm share business! Heaven's Harvest Farm is offering farm share delivery to Reading! They are offering full and half shares and you will have a local gal supervising the local delivery. Email the farm aneforever@aol.com or the local coordinator tmarfione@comcast.net for a brochure and details. I am very excited that Reading is having such a great opportunity and there has been enough interest to support a local drop! Way to go Reading!

I know this has been a link-heavy post. I just wanted you to know that there were many options that you could choose from . While the up-front cost are high, usually $600 per full share, spread out over the year will save you money. First you will be cooking more and eating out less and second, it really can store well over the winter months.

Happy dreams of sunshine and warmth!

Taking a Side Trip

It is that time of year that we all have to think about our gardens and farm share plans. I have been busy this morning researching for this post, and for my garden, when I came across a most wonderful blog called skippy's vegetable garden. This experienced gardener in Belmont will wow you with her photos alone, and there is so much to this site that it can occupy you hours so, be warned! I really loved the way she not only catalogues her post by title and dates, but she also divides them into vegetable topics like cucumber, tomatoes and get this potatoes. She also has an extensive list of other gardening blogs. So, I naturally gravitated to the ones located in Massachusetts.

Dreams and Bones is a blogger on Martha's Vineyard who is an avid gardener. Great entries and a helpful links to seed companies that includes the one I choose to get my potato seed, a Maine seed producer called Fedco Seed. I figured, if I am going to go down the potato route, I should get as local as possible. Maine is long synonymous with potato so this will be my chosen route. I also liked the whole company vibe as it is a co-op. Excellent!

From there I moseyed over to the Back Quarter Acre,which primarily focuses upon the beautiful world of non-edible gardening. These photos too, are so wonderful and delicate, it makes you want to dig up your yard and plant bulb, after bulb, after bulb. This Middlesex County blogger/gardener links to other Bay State bloggers which was how I found the Backyard Granger. I really liked the best and worst garden review.

So that was my morning, getting lost on the way to the potato field. I really feel it was important to read what other folks were up to around the bend in my road. They have inspired me to improve my own blog and to add a bit more too it. Hello to you all, and will be eager to hear of your season!

I will go into more detail about local farm shares as there have been a few messages about a local Reading farm share drop off. So... coming soon! I have to get through my season of celebrations..my son's birthday and my cousin's wedding! So much to be thankful for on this cold, snowing day in February.

p.s. I cannot post photos nor check spelling this afternoon with blogspot...so I thought I would publish and move on, mistakes and all!