Westminster Farmers' Market

Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm

Why NOT Make Your Own Puff Pastry?

The Holidays are upon us and everyone is in crazy mode preparing to have a relaxing Christmas day.  We are no exception as we are triple-booked some nights with meetings, elementary school chorus performances, holiday gatherings and parties!  With all the craziness, it is harder to gather my thoughts around dinner every night – and our local fruits and vegetables are becoming scarce.  Still we have no trouble finding the following:

·        Apples from Bolton Orchard that are as crisp as the day they were picked.

·        Butternut squash from Hartman’s Herb Farm (Mass Local Food)

·        Kale and sprouts from Elim Lodge Farm (Mass Local Food)

·        Jerusalem artichokes and greens from Rachel’s Everlasting (Mass Local Food)

·        Cheese, eggs and whole grains

·        Beef, Pork, Lamb, Goat, Veal

Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm

Is USDA Organic Cereal Better For Your Children?  It Is Not For Mine!

Stop by our Holiday Market for some Christmas Caroling (by Ann Patsis) and Holiday Cheer!  This final Farmers’ Market of 2009 will be held in the DPW barn on December 11, 2009 from 3:00 until 6:00.  The barn will be overflowing with unique and locally made gift items and all the local food you need to get you through holiday all your Holiday parties!

There are many items at our market and I probably only know of about one tenth.  But, some possible ideas for you to consider for Christmas Gifts include: wine gift sets (including everything you need except the wine), warm crocheted hats and scarfs, soaps – including beautiful shaving sets, beautiful hand-painted, antique reproduction tin pieces, jewelry, photos and cards of local scenery, tote bags and ornaments and so much more.  You can easily put together a few gifts for those hard to please people on your list!  Also consider that there is really no finer hostess gift than something handmade in our own local region.  And don’t forget hostess gifts which can be something as simple as a cookie mix, jams and jellies, or handmade soaps!

Seasonal food is also available for your entertaining needs.  You will find beef, pork, cheddar, Gouda and goat cheese, winter greens and vegetables, breads, jams, and baked goods, desserts and candies, all locally produced!

Another Reason that Local Food Is Better Than Organic:

I stopped by Big Lot’s today because Russell wanted to go to the Dollar Tree, so we checked out both stores.  We just wandered through seeing what was there.  Over by the far wall is a processed food aisle and food interests me, so we wandered through.  I was actually looking for some of the children’s cereal that made the news last month.  They were the typical sugary brands (I think Fruit Loops and Captain Crunch type things) that were labeled with a nutritious stamp of approval which horrifies me and I wanted to see it for myself.  They must have been pulled from the shelves pretty quickly because (though I don’t go down the cereal aisle that often), I have yet to see this label. 

I also have searched stores for Organic Marshmallow but have yet to find it.  I don’t care to eat it (and believe me, we buy marshmallows – for s’mores and for hot chocolate), I just want it as proof to anyone that cares that organic doesn’t mean what they think it means.  The word has been taken and redefined by the USDA and by food conglomerates that want their share of the market.  Organic used to be used to describe healthy whole foods that were grown under certain conditions.  In my opinion, if the USDA calls marshmallow an organic food, that does not make it an organic food.  My definition of organic is better than that.  Now you can even buy organic corn syrup and even organic cotton candy floss (see where this link lists it as healthy?  Shame on them!).  I’m not saying we shouldn’t eat it.  But this is NOT health food and it shouldn’t be marketed as such!  Last spring, I could comfortably buy organic root beer extract knowing that it wouldn’t have corn syrup.  But no more.  In my opinion, people should not even be eating corn syrup (most of it is high fructose corn syrup or HFCS).  You can read about it in this slightly technical article.  Or just Google it for yourself.  Just read multiple articles and make your decision.  Even Mayo Clinic and Harvard University, while saying it is as safe as table sugar, use words like “as for now” and “yielded conflicting results” -- scary words if we are feeding it to our children!  And the problem is: we are eating a LOT of corn syrup.  Just read the labels, the “organic” ones too!

I never did find the box of cereal that I was looking for – and you can see how I get sidetracked.  I did come across some Clifford Crunch cereal from Cascadian Farms (the website shows a very wholesome photo of its founder Gene Kahn, but I have to go to the General Mills website to find who owns Cascadian Farm.  The thing that made me notice this box was the bragging statement that it contains 16 grams of whole grain.  That is just over ½ an ounce which didn’t seem like that much to me.  So I compared it to my favorite breakfast cereal which has four grams of fiber, no sodium, 100% whole grain, 10%RDA for Iron, 5 grams of protein, and is not fortified with any extra vitamins (I can take a pill for that).  Ingredient list?  100% Natural Rolled Oats.

News from Our Farm

At Maple Heights Farm, we will have our last batch of 25 chickens processed on December 20^th, just in time for a Holiday meal if you wish (pair it with a small boneless ham and you have the makings of a terrific Christmas dinner).  These chickens are a heritage breed, Barred Plymouth Rock, and are listed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy protects genetic diversity in livestock and poultry species through the conservation and promotion of endangered breeds.  Now, if you followed along with my suggested reading last summer, you will know: if you eat them, the species will recover an interesting paradox to say the least.  Our chickens have been free-ranging outside since they were old enough to survive the elements without protection (though we brought them in on Tuesday night for the first time due to the weather).  We have used a “chicken tractor” that gets moved to fresh grass every few days, providing a clean and rich source of food.  This is not your oven-stuffer roaster (we had those in October and they were delicious in their own right) but should have a more chicken-like flavor, though not as plump and tender (or mushy as some would say).    We will take orders by email or at the market on Friday.  Price is $4.00 per pound and I estimate they will weigh between 3 and 5 pounds each.  Pickup will be at our home in Westminster later in the day on December 20^th.    These can be eaten fresh on or before Christmas Day or put in the freezer for later this winter.

Kerrie Hertel   

mapleHeightsFarm@verizon.net

www.mapleheightsfarm.com

Our Home for sale…  Great home with beautiful views, overlooking Mt. Wachusett (across the street) and the private Noyes pond (in the back), and absolutely the most peaceful place I have ever lived in my life.

Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm

Eating the Best Quality Food and Saving Money at the Same Time…

Thanksgiving is over, table clothes and napkins washed and stored for the next celebration, leftovers packed and stored in every available corner of the refrigerator, furniture placed back in its proper place, and now onward toward Christmas!

The Thanksgiving farmers’ market was fun and it was great to see everyone again, vendors and customers!  The children that come to the market brought their free spirits with them and are definitely not used to the confines of the DPW garage, but they survived the day (and so did we), hopefully without bothering too many people.  I think they were a bit spoiled all summer being able to run and scream and play (and throw apples at each other) to their hearts content!  My own children included!

Christmas Market Details:

Our next and final farmers’ market for this year is scheduled for December 11^th from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.  You will be able to purchase meat, bread, eggs, winter vegetables, plants, fudge, baked goods and many gift items including hats, mittens, cutting boards (Bob Richard has added a smaller cheese board that is as beautiful as his existing boards, but smaller and less expensive), pet treats, ornaments and more.  I purchased a hat and scarf made of the softest alpaca wool from Jessica at buzyhands.  It is a really comfortable set and very warm and I get a lot of compliments on it.  The only problem that I have with it is I tend to leave it on, even after I arrive home, just too warm and comfy!

The Farmers’ Market Needs Your Political Sign Frames

Please don’t fill up our local recycling centers with obsolete political signs.  We can re-use (more environmentally friendly than recycling) them to repair our now decrepit farmers’ market signs.  If you have any of these frames, please consider bringing them to the farmers’ market on December 11^th.  Maybe the DPW will even let you drop them off prior to the market (though I haven’t asked so be sure that you check with them first).  If you want to get rid of them sooner, you can drop them off with me during the Mass Local Food delivery in the old Finnish Farmers’ Cooperative on Leominster Street (between 2:00 and 5:30 on Friday).

Massachusetts Local Food:

Massachusetts Local Food is growing and now has goat, pasture raised veal, eggs (limited), whole grains and flour, winter vegetables, Cheddar, Gouda and Havarti cheese, Christmas decorations and more.  Delivery day is this Friday at the old Finnish Farmers’ Cooperative building at the east end of Leominster Street.  Stop in and see what we are doing.

But Mass Local Food is so Expensive!

This month my bill for Mass Local Food is $96.03.  Seems so expensive, but is it?

My bill for Mass Food Coop is really high for the relatively small package (I am old enough to remember filling the back of my car for $100).  But when I look at what I get, there is a good reason.  If I separated my weekly/monthly grocery list into the every-day items and the specialty items, like really great cheddar and goat cheese, fine meats, bakery products, even the grocery store bag filled with the specialty goodies would probably cost about the same, or possibly more than Mass Local Food.

·        I cannot compare (in price or quality) Honeybee Baking Companies desserts to the grocery store bakery, and my Cheddar that I get from Smith’s Country Cheese with the Land o’ lakes type variety that I might get on sale at Market Basket.  And I want my children to know what Cheddar and Gouda taste like – the finer nuances of the flavors.  Now, for economy and convenience, I will admit to always having a shrink wrapped bar or two of junky Swiss (in case I decide on Quiche Lorraine) or cheddar (in case I am having a tomato based soup), but I want the good stuff too.

·        The meats that I purchase are not even comparable to anything in a butcher shop or grocery store (including Whole Foods – which is NOT a farm store.  It is a big box grocery store).  Mass local meats actually come straight from the farm.  The producer knows what the animal ate, how much exercise it got, how fast it could run into a new pasture when it was first opened, where it spent its afternoons on a hot summer day…  Unless you are shopping at a farmer-owned meat shop, your butcher is likely purchasing animals wherever s/he can find them, and butchering them as-is.  Not quite the same thing…

·        I’m purchasing a vanilla “solid perfume” on my list for my lovely and sophisticated teenage daughter who has purchased a bottle of scent with her teenage birthday money.  I’m sure the solid perfume that I purchased will last as long as the bottle that she purchased and is about the same price.  Not having to smell the sticky sweet cotton-candy smell around this house anymore?…Priceless!

·        Coffee, freshly roasted the Wednesday or Thursday before delivery day by Mark Johns in Holden.  Delicious, and $10.00 per pound is about the same price as a good quality coffee that was freshly roasted in a far-away manufacturing center before being packed and shipped half way across the country to you.

·        Freshly milled flour and whole grains grown in Northfield.  It is just not possible to get fresh flour any other way.  I’ll be making whole wheat bread and beef barley soup the first week of December!

·        Echinacea from Turessa Botanical and it is half what I would pay elsewhere.  And I have talked to Dawn and feel comfortable with her knowledge and skill in making these tinctures. 

Well, I could go on, but, in case you are still reading, I’ll stop here.  These items are so far superior to the same items from your grocery store.  It’s just that they are collectively the more expensive items on your list whether you are getting them at the grocery store or Mass Local Food.

Even with this Mass Local Food monthly bill of approximately $100 (which is my commitment primarily to my family to purchase the best foods that I can for them and secondarily my commitment to our local economy) my food bill per person is almost certainly less than most.  In addition to Mass Local Food:

·        About $150 each month at local grocery stores that have the sale items that I need.  This will go up over the winter as I have to begin purchasing more fruits and vegetables.  While I have fresh goat milk in my refrigerator and vegetables in my garden I only make it to a grocery store about once every 3 weeks.

·        About $100 each month at an unnamed big box store from which I am trying to wean myself.  This is for cleaners and items in the grocery aisle that are cheaper than I can get them elsewhere.  This also includes toiletries, plastic trash bags, kitchen supplies and such items.  I include them as my “grocery” expenses, but I don’t think the USDA does as you will see in the comparisons below.

·        About $50 at our local Vincent’s Country Store, usually for orange juice, the odd dairy product or baking ingredient and ice cream.  More if I include the newspapers that we purchase but don’t eat.

·        About $40 miscellaneous for apples when we drive by Bolton Orchard in the winter or find unique squash varieties if we are in the Deerfield valley, live lobster from the our local fish store to celebrate Sydney’s unrelenting efforts to teach Russell to tie his shoes (Sydney’s choice of reward) and other such things…

·        About $35 per month at BJs (almonds, cashews, peanuts, raisins, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, M&Ms (the 52 oz bag)).  I purchase enough so I do not have to return for 2 or 3 months (sometimes sooner depending on how long it takes my kids to find and then eat their way through the chocolate chip bag). 

·        About $15 or $20 (price varies) for a month’s supply of King Arthur flour from Dean and Debbie Johnson in Westminster.  They sell me a bulk 50 pound bag for less than half what I would pay at the store.  I just call ahead and it’s ready when I get there (reply to this email if you want more information on this).

·        About $25 per month average to restaurants (only local non chain unless we have a gift certificate – which we sometimes do).  We do not go out much, every few months at most, perhaps for the odd birthday or celebration (but the kids usually choose a special meal cooked at home instead).  We make our own pizza and subs and other kid fare such as French fries so everyone gets their favorite foods without having to pay restaurant prices.  Often, they like our food better.

That is about $515 a month for six of us from Mass Local Food, grocery stores and restaurants (and also includes cleaning supplies and toiletries).   Then I have the cost of our own, home grown meats for about $100 per month.  If  I didn’t have these from our farm, I would order them from Mass Local Food bringing my total to $200 per month.  Grand Total, rounded to about $615 per month for 6 of us.  If you are comparing this to your grocery bill, include your meals eaten in cafeterias and restaurants and school lunches (in my house, if you aren’t old enough to get an allowance (6^th grade) you bring your lunch from home.  If you get an allowance, you can decide if you want to eat your allowance or take your lunch from home for free – the allowance is generous enough for them to select either option).  Note also that this does not count the odd meal that Andy may pick up on the road.  He usually eats lunch at home if he is in the area, but will sometimes get a sandwich on the run.  I don’t know what this amount is and have not included it in my grocery totals. 

The USDA cost of food at home report says that in October of 2009 it should cost a “thrifty” family of 6, accounting for all the ages of each member of my family, would have cost me $715.40 per month ($864.40 average per month for the year).  Even with $100 of my groceries coming from Mass Local Food, I’m one or two hundred dollars below these numbers – and remember that my bill includes cleaners, trash bags and toiletries.  The USDA “liberal” plan for October would allow for $1,671.70 for the month for my family.  Hmm, I wonder to what parts of the world I could travel by saving over $1000.00 per month?  Better not start thinking of such things…especially since I cannot cut $1000 out of my bill each month.

Can Mass Local Food products be part of a healthy and thrifty meal plan?  It works very well for me!

Farmers’ Market Vendor Note:

If you are a vendor at the farmers’ market and you do not receive my market email notifications, please send me your information so I can add you to that list.

Kerrie Hertel   

mapleHeightsFarm@verizon.net

www.mapleheightsfarm.com