You Are Making a Difference…

The Westminster Farmers’ Market</span /> will be opening on Friday, May 7^th! Watch this space and our website for information about a free give-away in the month of May. We already have 20 vendors signed up and I have heard rumors that we will have plenty of asparagus very early in the season! In addition, you will find local meats, cheeses, eggs, artisan breads, and confections. Stop by for a cup of locally roasted coffee and catch up with your friends and neighbors while shopping for the healthiest food available. Try THAT at your big box grocery store!</font />

Dean and Debbie Johnson, along with Ann Patsis, set up a Farmers’ Market table at the Young Children’s Festival a few weeks ago. You can read about it here</span /> on our blog!</font />

You may have seen us at the Mount Wachusett Community College Health and Fitness Fair, also a few weeks ago! The fair was well attended and our Farmers’ Market table did attract a lot of attention. I can tell EVERYONE is hungry for fresh garden products this year!

You Are Making a Difference…

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Guarantied, it's not local food.  But, is it an artery clogger or an item from The Atkins Diet?

KFC has a new menu item, a bacon cheese sandwich, between two slices of fried chicken.

http://consumerist.com/2010/04/kfcs-bacon-sandwich-on-fried-chicken-bread-kills-people-everywhere-on-april-12.html

  Read the comments, and decide for yourself.

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  Last week one of our local parent-teacher organizations, PTO ran their annual "bunny breakfast", in the cafeteria of the middle school. At the same time in the lobby and mezzanine The Young Children's Festival  (sort of a mini trade show for kids) was set up.

 My wife, Debbie and I, along with Anne Patsis set up a table at The Young Children's Festival. We were representing The Westminster Farmers' Market, Mass Local Food, and The Westminster AgComm.

 The festival was well attended by young families. They showed a lot of interest in locally grown food and asked good questions.

  In the first hour we gave away 100 helium filled balloons monogrammed with “I love eggs". When we ran out of monogrammed balloons, Debbie went out and picked up some generic balloons and we gave away another 30 balloons before the helium ran out. We also gave away "I love Eggs" stickers, children’s activity books, and "Kids in the Kitchen" recipes from The American Egg Board. We had information sheets on The Westminster Farmers' Market and Mass Local Food. Sheryl Vaillette provided us with a sign up sheet for people to receive the MLF newsletter.

  There were a lot of comments that people can't wait for The Westminster Farmers' Market to open. (Neither can we.)

  This function was well worth attending. We got a lot of information out to the local community, and had a good time doing it. We look forward to attending The Young Children's Festival again next year.

Michelle Obama has a larger garden this year. Read about it in "The Christian Science Monitor":

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/2010/0401/Michelle-Obama-expands-the-White-House-garden

  Will This White House support small scale agriculture? Or are they going to turn local food regulation over to FDA? Follow this link to "S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act"

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510

I think The White House Garden

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font />

Don’t Miss This Incredible Opportunity to Vote for Healthy Food!</font />

Mass Local food</span /> orders are now open and they will be closing on March 29^th. The next delivery day is April 2^nd with pickups in Westminster, Holden, Sterling and Berlin. </font />

Voting by Choice, Your Vote Counts at the Grocery Store…

So, most of us want better food. Better quality, better taste, better nutrition. It all seems like David and Goliath sometimes as we are just one person, one family, one community and cannot be heard, right? While this true at some level and can be very overwhelming, it is not exactly the whole story. The rest of the story is this: food producers produce what you will buy. That’s it. If you won’t buy it, they won’t produce it. You can make a statement every time you shop. We saw this very clearly when Monsanto stopped producing rBGH (genetically modified growth hormone) because you voted for milk from cows that didn’t receive it (note that another company still produces it, but many dairies have stopped using it). Sure, it took a while, but look how far we have come!</font />

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font />

Take up your Forks! You Can Now Begin Eating Seasonally in the Wachusett Region!</font />

Seasonal Maple Syrup: Your Vote Counts! Vote for Local!</font />

Our maple syrup producers are in full production! Look around you: taps are set everywhere, blue tubing running from tree to tree, metal pails hanging on the sides of trees; on my street alone (West Princeton) we have three syrup operations! Driving a bit further on Worcester Road, I see another! Forget those robins; this is really our first sign of spring! So vote local by committing to our own Wachusett Region Maple Syrup! Visit www.WachusettLocal.com</span /> where I will attempt to keep an updated list of local food producers. There, you will find the Maple producers that I know about in this area.</font />

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font />

Cooking on the Edge: Pig’s Feet and Chicken Toes, Oh My!</font />

Westminster Farmers’ Market has a new website…

We have a new (somewhat preliminary) website for the Westminster Farmers’ Market. Visit for ideas on how you can help the farmers’ market, participate as a vendor, or get information on our schedule for the season. Visit us at www.WestminsterFarmersMarket.com</span />. Google us too, by clicking here</span />. This will help us bubble up to the top of the search page (as of now, we are listed at the bottom of the first page).</font />

Cooking on the Edge…

Because of our farm, we have some foods in our house that are out there on the fringe. We have an oxtail or two, pig’s feet, organ meats, and perhaps strangest of all, during the last chicken processing day and because my children’s favorite meals seem to revolve around our healthy broths (and because Julia Child and Weston A. Price tell me I can do this, and I know the nutritional value of homemade broth), I requested that they save a few chicken feet for me. Now, I know that puts me way out on the edge of strange, right along with the contents of my freezer, but I assure you, I wasn’t always like this. </font />

 

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  Just a quick note to let you know Kerrie Hertel is developing a web page for The Westminster Farmers' Market. Here: http://www.westminsterfarmersmarket.com/

  We will continue to post on our blog here on Local Harvest. We will be able to post current vendor applications, market rules, upcoming events , and entertainment.

  Check back on our site, as the market season approaches, and see what we will have in store for you.

Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm

Super Size Me and My Garden

Come see Super Size Me with me…

This Friday, February 12^th, there will be a showing of Super Size Me at the office of Dr. Linda Smith and Associates</span />. This is an interesting movie about a month long journey of one person eating nothing but food from McDonald’s. This free evening promises to be enjoyable with comfortable seating, a room filled with people that are interested in food, great discussions and refreshments. The movie will be at 2 Narrows Road in Westminster, Suite 101A. I hope to see you there! </font />

My Seed Starting progresses...

While we await the warm weather, spring has started in my sunny window

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font />

Football and Valentines

Orders for Mass Local Food are now open…</font />

Orders for Mass Local Food</span /> are open until midnight on February 1^st with the delivery day to follow on Friday in Westminster at the Leominster road Farmers’ Coop building. Note that we also have pickup sites in Berlin, Sterling, and Holden. I’m placing my order which will include many locally produced items. But I’m dreaming of my lunch on Saturday which will include half a ginger scone and a pear that is ready to eat and is as sweet and juicy as any fruit you ate in August. I don’t hide food from my family as a general rule – not even the chocolate chips (though I’m tempted with baking powder – an ongoing story for another day), but, even though I have ordered 12 pears, I will be lucky to get even one! Last month I cut one in half (my first one even though I have ordered

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font /></span />

Five Months on One Tank of Oil?  </span />We Can Hope…</font /></span />

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Come see </span />Food, Inc. with me…</span /></font />

…and you will be able to choose another reason or two (out of three or four) to shop at our Westminster Farmers’ Market and </font />Mass Local Food</font />!  </span />This Friday, January 15^th, there will be a showing of Food, Inc. at the office of </font />Dr. Linda Smith and Associates</font />.  </span />I saw this movie over the Christmas break and it is really well done and definitely worth seeing (and if you’ve seen it, you know it is worth seeing again).  </span />To be able to view this in a group setting is fantastic because it is a movie that evokes discussion!  </span />I have heard it said that you shouldn’t plan to go out to eat after seeing this movie, and I didn’t get that feeling, but I think I have read EVERY book written by EVERY author that was interviewed for this movie, so it held no surprises for me.  </span />Still, there was an interesting sub-story or two within the movie that really got me thinking…  </span /></font /></span />

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This movie is free.  </span />I plan to attend and I’m already thinking of what I might donate to the (optional) refreshments table…  </span />The movie will be at 2 Narrows Road in Westminster, Suite 101A.  </span />I hope to see you there!  </span /></font /></span />

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A trip to King Arthur Flour:</font /></span />

Over the Christmas Holidays, Gwen Farley, Carol McGee and I took the day off from family life and headed up to Vermont to King Arthur flour.  </span />We signed up for a class on baking using whole grains.  </span />It was a great experience.  </span />The class was about four hours in length and we picked up loads of tips to improve our baking.  </span />Between the three of us we have a lot of experience, baking about 15 or 20 loaves of bread each week (co</font /></span />

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mbined), yet as soon as the class started we were all learning new tips and tricks! During the class, we made the following:</font /></span />

Spice Cake</font />  </span />The recipe we used was modified as follows: 2/3 cup of sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, and reduce the oil to 2 T.  </span />All in all, not bad for a snack cake.  </span />My children loved this cake, I didn’t care for it, but I only tried the instructor’s cake and I think it wasn’t mixed as well as it should have been.  </span /></font /></span />

Whole Grain 5 seed bread</font />  </span />This is similar to a five seed braid that we made in class.  </span />This loaf is absolutely delicious.  </span />I made it yesterday for my family.  </span />By the time lunch was over (for Russell and I) most of the loaf was gone.  </span />Russell ate five pieces and our normally very well behaved dog snatched 2 more pieces from Russell.  </span />I can’t think of too many times our dog has snatched food so I have to guess that the bread was too good for her to pass up.  </span />It may be because we decided to eat on the floor by the fire – but the dog loved the bread, too!  </span />The recipe we made in class was sugar-free.  </span />I used two tablespoons of brown sugar.  </span /></font /></span />

Multi-seed crackerbread</span />, for which I cannot find a comparable recipe.  </span />This was so much fun to make and delicious to eat.  </span />I really enjoyed these with fresh goat cheese from Capri.  </span />When I came home we experimented with the cheddar cheese crackers.  </span />These were delicious and were gobbled up in short order – even by my cheese-hater (whose favorite food is pizza).</span /></font />

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The class was great fun and a welcome day away with good friends.  </span />I think we will make it a holiday tradition!  </span />One word of caution if you try these or any King Arthur recipes.  </span />They are based on a cup of whole wheat flour weighing four ounces – which is VERY light.  </span />All purpose flour (for their recipes) weighs 4.25 ounces per cup.  </span />I always weigh my flour rather than measure it at home, but these weights are much lighter than what will work in many of my own recipes.  </span />For the whole grain 5-seed bread, definitely lightly sprinkle the flour into the cup until it is piled to the top, then even it up with a knife.  </span />Do not scoop the flour for these recipes.  </span />Better yet, weigh it if you have a small kitchen scale.  </span />It is worth this slight extra attention, especially for the whole grain seed bread!</font /></span />

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One other interesting event from the class.</span />  </span />The instructor passed around a “rancid” batch of whole wheat flour.  </span />Everyone in the class smelled it and most of the students felt that that is what whole wheat flour is supposed to smell like!  </span />Interesting!  </span />I have been using whole wheat flour from Four Star Farms in Northfield.  </span />I gave it the sniff test.  </span />It actually smells sweet with absolutely NO TRACE at all of the sharp smell of some whole wheat flours.  </span />Of course, it was just milled 5 days ago!  </span />This is a worthwhile addition to your pantry.  </span />Although it is more expensive than what are used to at the grocery store ($2.00 per pound instead of $.50), your family just may give up nutritionally bankrupt white bread forever – and that alone is worth it!  </span />Even through my Yankee Frugality I can see that cheap is not always the best value.  </span />I would rather cut that thirty cents out somewhere else and give my family the best – not that I actually slice and dice my food bill to this extent!</span /></font />

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The Hertel, one-tank-of-oil project…</font /></span />

We are doing well with our tank of oil.  </span />I filled my tank on November 13^th making the assumption that the price would be higher as winter got under way.  </span />I was going to top-off the tank around December 21^st in order to start the winter with a full tank and see how long I could make it last.  </span />I never did top it up in December.  </span />So, we are now two months into this tank of oil.  </span />The gauge on the tank is exactly half way between ½ full and ¾ full.  </span />I don’t know exactly what this means because the gauge is this red floaty thing that is about 3/8 inch thick.  </span />I don’t know if I need to look at the top or the bottom or the middle of the floaty thing.  </span />Either way, it looks like I’ll still be above (or at) ½ tank by January 21^st (about 2 months and 1 week after filling the tank).  </span />I’m estimating we will make it at least to the beginning of April before we need to consider refilling!  </span />That is about 4.5 months on one tank of oil.  </span />I’m pretty happy with that considering the weather.  </span />Although we haven’t had many dreadfully cold days, we have had constantly cold days and I’m sure we are all looking forward to Friday when we will be reminded of how WARM a 35 degree day is!</font /></span />

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In November, I estimated that I would need to run the central heat (radiant floor heat and hydro-air) if it gets below 20 degrees with a westerly wind or at 10 degrees no matter how much the wind blows.  </span />As it is now, we have only turned on the heat for less than one hour so far this winter!  </span />Andy turned it on in one of our upstairs rooms, I turned it off.  </span />He mumbled something about freezing pipes in the attic, but the house was not cold enough to freeze them (and we do have antifreeze in the pipes).  </span />As I sit here now it is about 68 degrees with two wood stoves running (one in the basement and one on the first floor).  </span />This is pretty constant for the temperature of the main part of the house during the day.  </span />It is a bit warmer in the evening when Andy stokes the fire with more skill than the rest of us possess and it is a bit colder in the morning as the fires burn down.  </span />The kids bedrooms are colder than 68, probably closer to 60 degrees but they have warm bedding and would probably be too warm at 68 degrees anyways.  </span />They also occasionally use a hot water bottle to pre-heat their beds before crawling in (try it!  </span />This is probably an enormous energy saver over all!)  </span />Our bedroom thermostat is set at 50 degrees but the room stays warm enough that the gas fireplace has turned on only few times this winter.  </span />Note that I do keep a heavy sleeping bag weighted against two exterior doors that should have the weather stripping upgraded.  </span />Without this extra “insulation” (sleeping bag) we would probably be using the central heat from time to time.  </span /></font /></span />

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I continue to run the furnace in the evening for one cycle (which we are only using for hot water).  </span />This gives us enough hot water for one run of the dishwasher (all we need), water for cleaning up, and showers for everyone.  </span />If we don’t use up all the hot water, it stays warm until evening (probably longer but we reheat it after supper anyways).  </span />I have yet to figure out if it is more efficient to run the furnace all the time, or just once per day.  </span />But, my genius brother in law is going to solve this for me.  </span />He is going to wire an analog clock to my furnace which will run only when the furnace runs.  </span />At the end of the day and the end of the week, we will know for how long the furnace runs.  </span />We will test this by leaving the furnace on for a full day and also by running it just for one cycle for a day, then comparing the results and rerun the test, but for a week at a time.  </span />I’m really curious about his one!  </span /></font /></span />

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Well, the Fed-Ex truck just delivered a new motherboard for my refrigerator (which has been out of commission for almost a week while I try to guess at the problem – I’m very thankful for the internet!).  </span />I’m off to swap that out to see if we can get this thing cold again!  </span />Wish me luck, as all this oil savings isn’t going to amount to much if I’m facing the purchase of a new refrigerator!!</font /></span />

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Gardening Year 2010:</font /></span />

I am wondering if anyone is interested in swapping any interesting cherry tomatoes with me?  </span />Perhaps four seeds from your interesting cherry tomatoes for four seeds of mine?  </span />I like to grow interesting colors and shapes of cherry tomatoes because they are more fun for my children and I think it is a great way for them to get a bit more interested in the garden and in the food that they eat.  </span />They are also great as little snacks for school in September.  </span />This year, I have ordered the following:</font /></span />

Chocolate Cherry</font /></span />

Sweet Million Hybrid</font /></span />

Golden Gem</font /></span />

Jenny Hybrid</font /></span />

Juliet</font /> – not really a cherry, but a beauty that will make any gardener feel like a professional.  </span />Use in salad, cooking, or dry them for the winter!</font /></span />

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Maple Heights Farm:</font /></span />

At Maple Heights Farm, we are well stocked with meat.  </span />Our products are available either through </font />Mass Local Food</font /> or by pre-ordering by </font />email</font />.  </span />You can see our complete inventory on our website.</font /></span />

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We still have some </font />calendars</font /> available that will get you started on vegetable gardening in 2010!  </span />You can now order online!</font /></span />

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Kerrie Hertel    </span /></font /></span />

mapleHeightsFarm@verizon.net</font /></span />

www.mapleheightsfarm.com</font /> </font /></span />

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</span /></font />

Time to Start Planning your 2010 Vegetable Garden…</font /></span />

Mass Local Food is still taking orders and will be until January 4^th.  </span />Take a look at all the </font />new products</font />  </span />which include yogurt, locally grown whole grains, Smith’s Country Cheese, organic fair trade coffee, and a wide variety of meats.  </span /></font /></span />

I’m sorry Mr. G...</font /></span />

Time for a change: January 1^st is here and you may want to consider resolving to support our local economy in any way you can.  </span />This is something I will be doing more of as the year progresses and I was reminded of WHY it is so important last week.  </span />I needed some balloon animal type of balloons this week because our daughter only got about 150 for Christmas and due to a little boredom and a lot of creativity, they were used up in short order.  </span />I felt a little sad because I knew that I could have gone to Mr. G’s party center and purchased high quality, fresh (yes, they must not be old) balloons for our balloon twisting attempts.  </span />But..  </span />I helped put them out of business a few years ago.  </span />They moved to a slightly less convenient location, and then iParty moved in a quarter of a mile closer to the highway making iParty slightly more convenient.  </span />I don’t have a lot of party needs but sometimes I needed special items: cheap magic tricks for favors for a magic party, the occasional junky specialty items, great food coloring to make a John Deere tractor birthday cake, and really good, fresh balloons.  </span />A few times I went to iParty instead.  </span />Now Mr. G’s is no more!  </span />I miss the store.  </span />I liked it better than iParty.  </span />The employees could always help me find what I needed and they were always very helpful.  </span />And they were local.  </span />I could have been spending my money to benefit our local economy (granted a very small amount of money, but some nonetheless).  </span />For the upcoming year, I will scrutinize my purchases a bit more and seek out items from local merchants, first in town and then in our region.  </span />And I will try to do my part to help keep our local businesses viable.</font /></span />

Time to start a few seeds…</font /></span />

Seed catalogs are filling my mailbox and I am trying to control my plans for the upcoming year.  </span />This is hard for me to do because I everything looks so easy in January – in May and June, I find that this is not entirely the case.  </span />Anyways, I have ordered plenty of new seeds to add to my existing collection from last year.  </span />As soon as they arrive (hopefully next week), I will be starting globe artichokes and geraniums.  </span />I start many of my own seeds in a cool room, supplemented by two florescent grow lights (four long bulbs).  </span />I use wood ash to head off damping off, and I use a small amount of kelp and eggshells for fertilizer.  </span />This year I plan to do more and may hang two more lights beneath the existing table.  </span />I’ll put these on chains that I can raise as the plants grow.  </span />That will double my seed starting space.  </span />I have never tried artichokes or geraniums before.  </span />I’m trying the artichokes because I like to try something new every year (last year – okra) and geraniums because I like them and want about 20 for my porch and garden and I *think* I can grow them.  </span />I’m waiting for my seeds to arrive and I see that my credit card has been charged so I hope they are on the way!  </span />I have discovered overall that </font />Fedco</font /> is a great place to shop for seeds.  </span />I was able to purchase much more than I could from any other place for my budget of $40.  </span />They did not have EVERYTHING that I wanted, but their seeds are cheap enough that I can even try starting some wave petunias (something else I have never grown).  </span />Many of their seed packets are less than half the price of the more commonly known seed houses.  </span />Falstaff Brussels Sprouts range from $2.75 to $3.75 per packet at the popular seed houses, but at Fedco, $1.10.  </span />These kinds of prices allow me to start several varieties of certain vegetables and save the remaining seeds for next year.</font /></span />

Gardening Books:   </span />I just ordered from the library…</font /></span />

·</span />        </span />The well-tended perennial garden</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Gaia’s garden: a guide to home-scale permaculture</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Garden Way’s joy of gardening</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />The garden primer</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Monticello</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Meet Thomas Jefferson</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book</span /></font />

Two of the Jefferson Books are children’s books, one a picture book and one from a children’s biography series (which I find to be very interesting, informative, and fun to read).  </span />One is a coffee-table type picture book.  </span /></font /></span />

In addition to these, I was given the new edition of “The Square Foot Gardener” for Christmas.  </span />This is an excellent book and should be read by everyone, especially those of you that think growing a few vegetables is too much work!  </span />In addition to “The Square Foot Gardener”, Bob Thomson’s “The New Victory Garden” is a must read!  </span />I read it every year and then again month by month through the gardening season!  </span />I’ll keep you up to date on any other “must read” books that I come across!</font /></span />

I’m wondering if you can provide some information to me…</font /></span />

Vegetable gardening:</font /></span />

What are you planning for a vegetable garden this year?</font /></span />

Are you interested in information on vegetable gardening in your backyard?  </span />Perhaps demonstrations and/or presentations?</font /></span />

What kind of information do you need about vegetable gardening?  </span /></font /></span />

Farmers’ Market:</font /></span />

Have you ever wondered about selling food items at the farmers’ market?  </span />It really is fun and we try to make it as easy as possible (we have wonderful support from our Board of Health, Board of Selectmen, and our farmers’ market).  </span />We (the Agricultural Commission) will be holding several “seminars” over the winter for vendors.  </span />Do you have any areas of interest?  </span />We will be discussing “collecting sales tax”, “board of health issues” and other such things.  </span />Is there anything else you are interested in learning?</font /></span />

Do you have any great gardening books that you can recommend to me?</font /></span />

Maple Heights Farm:</font /></span />

At Maple Heights Farm, we are well stocked with meat.  </span />Our products are available either through </font />Mass Local Food</font /> or by pre-ordering by </font />email</font />.  </span />You can see our complete inventory on our website.</font /></span />

We still have some calendars available that will get you started on vegetable gardening in 2010!  </span /></font />Email</font /> for more information or to order…</font /></span />

Kerrie Hertel    </span /></font /></span />

mapleHeightsFarm@verizon.net</font /></span />

www.mapleheightsfarm.com [Read More]

Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font /></span />

Why NOT Make Your Own Puff Pastry?</font /></span />

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

·</span />        </span />Apples from Bolton Orchard that are as crisp as the day they were picked.</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Butternut squash from Hartman’s Herb Farm (Mass Local Food)</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Kale and sprouts from Elim Lodge Farm (Mass Local Food)</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Jerusalem artichokes and greens from Rachel’s Everlasting (Mass Local Food)</span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Cheese, eggs and whole grains </span /></font />

·</span />        </span />Beef, Pork, Lamb, Goat, Veal </font /></span />

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Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm</font /></span />

Is USDA Organic Cereal Better For Your Children?  It Is Not For Mine!</font />

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!</font />

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!</font />

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!</font />

Another Reason that Local Food Is Better Than Organic:</font />

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.  </font />

I also have searched stores for </font />Organic Marshmallow</font /> 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.  </font />Organic</font /> 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 </font />corn syrup</font /> and even organic </font />cotton candy floss</font /> (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 </font />slightly technical article</font />.  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!</font />

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 </font />Clifford Crunch</font /> cereal from Cascadian Farms (the website shows a very wholesome photo of its founder Gene Kahn, but I have to go to the </font />General Mills</font /> 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.</font />

News from Our Farm</font />

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.</span /></font />

Kerrie Hertel    </font />

mapleHeightsFarm@verizon.net</font />

www.mapleheightsfarm.com</font /> </font />

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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. </font /></span />

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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.IfI 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

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.