Concord Magazine Blog

A staff editorial in the February 7, 2010 Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/02/07/ecology_thoreau_ly_different_at_walden_pond/) is another indication of the downfall of a once-great paper. There are several problems with the "facts" in this piece, but we will focus only on this assertion found therein: "[Thoreau's] work was scattered and mostly forgotten until it was reassembled by Bradley P. Dean, a leading Thoreau scholar." 

Huh? Dean, who died a couple of years ago in mid-life, was indeed a leading Thoreau scholar.  But that he is solely responsible for the collecting of Thoreau's works is utter pap. (A knowledgable commenter agrees, saying, "...Dean's important contribution involved rediscovering and editing two not-quite completed manuscripts on natural history; editing a volume of letters between Thoreau and a friend; and editing a set Thoreau's field manuscripts. It may also have been Dean who rediscovered materials related to a book or calendar Thoreau planned on Concord flowering times.")

There were Thoreau scholars before Dean was born. The Thoreau Society holds one of the major collection of Thoreau's work (now housed in the Thoreau Institute in Lincoln where he used it in his own work).  That collection was amassed before he became a scholar. (In life, it appeared to us that BPD as ardently self-promoting and protective of his position at the top of the Thoreauvian heap -- it's as if he's reaching out from the grave for more of the same now.)

There have been those since Thoreau's death who have kept the torch of his memory burning, collected his work and ephemera, published scholarly papers, and gathered to celebrate him. The Globe (and it's source(s) of this information) insults all those who came before. Issac Newton said, "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants." Certainly, we can honor more recent scholarship and collecting without denigrating that which came before.

Photo: Walden Pond. © Nicole Lawton www.nicolelawtonphotography.com

"It was a singular experience that long acquaintance which I cultivated with beans, what with planting, and hoeing, and harvesting, and threshing, and picking over and selling them, -- the last was the hardest of all, -- I might add eating, for I did taste. I was determined to know beans." -- Thoreau, Walden

Do you read heirloom seed catalogs? Having spent many happy hours doing so both as an education and in preparation for ordering seeds, I've noticed that some list dozens and dozens of old bean varieties.  They have great names and the text sings their praises but I always thought, "They're just beans, right? Besides different colors outside, what  does it all amount to? Not much of a hill of beans, right"

Wrong: it turns out that dried beans can be a revelation! A wonder to eat and a delight to smell, they display a great variety in texture, firmness and flavor. And they can be easy to digest. Whodathunk? 

This winter I have climbed to the mountaintop and I have had my revelation... and here it is: we have been robbed. Yes, robbed -- yet again -- by the industrial agriculture practice where we get crap for dried beans: stuff that is as dull as dust but easy (and profitable) for the farmers and grocers. We no longer know the flavor and the savor of dried beans.

Our next-door gardening partners last year bought a bunch of seeds, including a box of 6 different types of dried beans from SeedSavers.org -- 1 lb each.  They puzzled the heck out of me all year because for some bizarre reason, they didn't have any planting or growing info on them -- just how to cook them. 

I planted several of them out over the summer and got poor germination on all but one variety: Good Mother Stallard.  Good Mother grew wonderfully and made absolutely marvelous string beans -- the best I've ever had -- and I accidentally set a lot of seed.  You know -- you don't find the pods until they're too big to eat as snaps or strings... so why not let them set  beans for drying?

Finally this fall it dawned on me: these beans weren't packaged for planting, they were packaged for cooking! I'm guessing Seed Savers Exchange took leftover seed that was not fresh enough to sell for planting, and they sold it for eating. Thus the lack of planting info on the packaging.

So, that's what I've been doing: getting to know beans by eating them.  Each time I made a different variety, preparing them identically so we can tell what the beans themselves taste like.  I presoaked them in boiled water for some hours. I fried a little bacon, onion, carrot, green pepper, celery leaf, and thyme.  Add the beans and their soaking water (there's a lot of nutrients in that water; don't throw it away), and cook covered until fork tender. I often made cornbread and greens to eat along side -- the cornbread and pot liquor from the beans being just heaven together.

The first ones I made were Lina Cisco Bird Egg beans.  They were the best beans I'd ever tasted!  I've been giving a bit to our gardening neighbor each week so she could see what she thought about them, too. She asked me if I had added some exotic Indian spices to the Lina Ciscos, because there was so much amazing flavor -- she loved it!  Even her 5-year-olds loved it. She was as astonished as I was to find out that the "exotic" flavor is in the beans themselves!

This coming year I will be growing bean for drying not just in our gardens, but in the Thoreau Farm kitchen garden I'm starting at the birth house (all varieties there will be pre 1878, the date of the house exterior restoration). Some of them have New England histories. Here are the varieties I will be growing for dried beans in one or both locations.

Good Mother Stallard • Irish Creek Annie • Mayflower* • Christmas Lima* • Hutterite Soup* • Scarlet Runner • Vermont Cranberry

I've made five varieties of beans already.  Irish Creek Annie and the Lina Ciscos were my favorites so far -- I still have the Good Mother Stallards to try, as well as the Scarlet Runner beans we also grew.  Oh, and not one episode of gassiness for any of us after eating beans as the main course of these meals.  Amazing grace, indeed!

* Boarded on the US Slow Food Ark of Taste. All Ark members are outstanding in terms of taste--as defined in the context of local traditions and uses; at risk biologically or as culinary traditions; sustainably produced; culturally or historically linked to a specific region, locality, ethnicity or traditional production practice; produced in limited quantities by farms or by small-scale processing companies. See http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste/ for more info about the Ark.

Helen Halloran of the Concord Flower Shop on Thoreau Street had the creative idea to star in her own reality series -- in the store's front window! Her January performance art was a hit, and a story about it appeared in the magazine Floral Management, which can be seen here:
http://floralmanagement.safnow.org/DigitalAnywhere/viewer.aspx?id=31&pageId=16&refid=48412&s=undefined

The point of this piece of performance art -- besides it being a lot of fun for staff and for surprised passers-by -- was to demonstrate just how local a business they truly are. There so many other so-called local florists one can find in the phone book and online who do not have any presence anywhere nearby whatsoever.  They are doing misleading mass marketing, hoping customers will think they are local businesses, and then drop-shipping from whatever distant place they do business.

Just let them try to drop-ship this kind of living window display - ha!

Image: As it appeared in Floral Management.

Yankee Magazine's Heather Atwell called Debra Stark at Debra's Natural Gourmet in West Concord to tell her that their readers selected her take-out kitchen with its wonderful chefs as a favorite establishment and attraction as "Best of New England - Readers' Choice" winners for 2010.  The store's deli was a winner along with only two other delis -- one in ME and one in NY.
 
Wow.  This hometown little deli made a big impression.  And they didn't even know it. In their cheerful way, the deli has made converts over the years.  Using as many organic ingredients as possible, as much local as possible, the kitchen at Debra's Natural Gourmet prepares foods with heart and soul.  The aromas wafting out across the store as people come through the doors make people feel happy and make them go "Yum!"
 
This honor coincides with the release of Debra's third cookbook, Blue Ribbon Edition: From Our Kitchen to Yours (Lightning Source, 2010).  This book, she says, is for everyone who feels that food, like life, is an adventure to be shared.  Debra writes, "May your kitchen be full of those you love.  May your kitchen be a place of light and laughter."
 
"For 75 years, Yankee Magazine has served as the authority on New England travel. Our readers are passionate about exploring this region, and we asked them what places they'd nominate as 'Best of New England,'" says Heather Atwell, communications manager for Yankee Magazine. "They answered enthusiastically, and we're happy to share their top choices."
 
This is the first "Best of New England - Readers Choice" list in Yankee's 75-year history. Yankee Magazine is the only magazine devoted to New England through its coverage of travel, home, food, and features. It has a paid circulation of more than 350,000 and a total audience of over 2 million. For 33 years, Yankee Magazine's Travel Guide to New England, published every May, has been the most widely distributed and best-selling guide to the six-state region, providing readers with a comprehensive vacation-planning tool and daily reference. A hallmark of that issue is Yankee's "Editors' Choice" picks, in which their editors and contributors share their favorite travel establishments with readers. For the "Best of New England - Readers Choice" list, it's Yankee's readers who, for the first time, get to share their favorite picks.

Tickets are available for a Wine Tasting Social and Fundraiser at the Concord Scout House featuring light refreshments, and music by renowned pianist Jacqueline Schwab (below, right).

Help the Concord Scout House be prepared for the future, come and learn about precious community resource, and its Building Preservation Plan.

Advance ticket purchase recommended; space is limited. Main Event Tickets $35.  Special Seminar Tickets $15 . Sponsored by West Concord Liquors. Net proceeds benefit the Concord Scout House Preservation Fund and the Rotary Club of Concord.

Main Event Tickets $35 - limited to 200 people.
Special Seminar Tickets $15 - limited to 25 people per seminar
(requires purchase of main event ticket)

• 6:45 PM - 7:30 - Discover the wines of Spain, with Len Presutti
• 7:45 PM - 8:30 - Single Malt Scotch with Gary Keimach

Web Page: http://www.concordscouthouse.org/wine-tasting-body.html
Flyer: http://www.concordscouthouse.org/wine-tasting-flyer.pdf
Article in Concord Journal, Jan 22, 2010:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/concord/town_info/history/x1090816427/Concord-Scout-House-advocates-to-start-fundraising

Advance Tickets available at:

• West Concord Liquors, 1216 Main Street, West Concord - 978-369-3872
• Middlesex Savings Bank, 64 Main Street, Concord - 978-369-8112
• Concord Scout House 74 Walden Street, Concord - 978-369-3455
• ONLINE: http://www.concordscouthouse.org  (Online, click on Paypal, select gift and use email address  info@concordscouthouse.org; in the message box, please type your name, address, number and type of tickets you are purchasing. Email confirmation will be sent. Tickets will be held at the door.)

What you get for $35!  A guaranteed fun evening out on the town without driving into Boston! More importantly, it's a chance to be a part of preserving Concord's history.

75 different wines to taste, 10 - 15 different beers, light refreshments from some of the area's best caterers and our favorite desserts from the best bakers in town.  In addition to the main event, there are two 45 minute seminars and tastings being offered, one on. Discovering the Wines of Spain and another on Single Malt for an additional $15.  Wine and Spirits tasted and displayed may be ordered, to be picked up at West Concord Liquors.

Fantastic silent auction!  Bid on packages to Beat the Winter Doldrums, Kid's Night Out, or plan ahead and bid on the Valentine's Day package.

This Public Information Meeting was requested by the State as a follow up to the 25% Design Hearing for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT). This request was due to the gap in our 25% Design which had the proposed trail going through West Concord  Village in an undetermined fashion at the time.  Some State office/agency representatives will be present at this meeting. However, to be clear, the "Public Hearing" for the 25% Design was completed and is officially closed.
 
The design of the multiuse BRFT has an undermined routing through West Concord.  Several alternatives have been studied by Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., GPI, at the request of the Concord BFRT Advisory Committee and are now ready for review with citizens.  These alternatives deal with the safety of crossing the active rail line and feeder roads, traffic on Commonwealth Avenue and Main Street, street parking, impact on local businesses, environmental considerations, the look and feel of West Concord Village, design and construction costs, ongoing maintenance, and the positions of the MBTA and other governmental offices and agencies relative to permissions, design and funding.  There are difficult issues and decisions to be made regarding this section of the Concord section of the BFRT.  Public participation and comments are requested.
 
The meeting will briefly present all the alternatives, and with more detail for those deemed more feasible/least objectionable and likely to be pursued once public comments have been considered.  A "just revised" BFRT/MBTA Commuter Rail Crossing Alternatives Analysis report in PDF form should be posted on the Town website Monday or Tuesday per last Thursday's BFRT Advisory meeting.  The more feasible/least objectionable individual alternatives may also be posted in separate PDFs in as much as the whole report is about 75 pages once revisions are completed. The link to the Town's BFRTAC page is http://www.concordma.gov/pages/ConcordMA_Freeman/index. The BFRT Advisory Committee expects to have a handout picture/schematic of the more feasible/least objectionable alternatives for this meeting.
 
While the BFRT Public Information Meeting on the 9th will focus on the West Concord design gap alternatives, separate comment sheets will be available at the meeting for the public to submit should there be additional comments or questions about the project not covered by the purpose of this meeting.

By Debbie Bier, Publisher and Editor of this blog.

Wild, cold water shrimp, caught in our local (Cape Ann) ocean! Piles of raw, deep pink shrimp with caches of glimmering blue-green eggs clutched in their swimmerettes.  Small, oddly soft, lightly cooked commas of shrimpy wonder so flavorful and briney that they taste more like lobster than what we've come to know of as "shrimp" -- those farmed, pale, over-plumped nuggets of blandness.

Renewing my share in the winter Community Supported Fishery through Cape Ann Fresh Catch, I had NO IDEA what I had been missing. A friend and I decided to split a fish/shrimp share (one week fin fish, the next shrimp for 12 weeks). It turns out that just one little wild shrimp has more flavor than 100 farmed shrimp combined.  And all along I thought I liked shrimp. But judging from the flavor of this stuff, farmed shrimp must be all I had ever eaten before.  How was I to know how amazingly bland and pale farmed shrimp tasted compared to the real thing?

Here's some weird shrimp info: did you know that all shrimp start out male, but after year or two they complete their lives as females? This is why just about every one of the shrimp we receive in our share are female, witnessed by bearing their clutch of beautiful roe.  (No idea what the mysterious "head roe" in the photo at top right might be -- the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has not said what it is, and a web search doesn't turn up anything helpful.)

Every second week (weather permitting) we get about 5 lbs of whole shrimp, so far brought in the very same day of delivery at our Acton pick-up location. The fish has continued to be mind-bogglingly fantastic -- see my earlier review of 12 weeks of their fish, which was itself a revelation.  But the shrimp has been another huge epiphany. When will I realize the full scope of how little "real" food I've had the opportunity to eat over my 50+ years?  

Through my 20's, I was a professional chef. I ran a catering company. I cooked for other caterers. I'm still considered amazing in the kitchen -- home cook only that I now am. Yet... how little did I know about how great, plain, unvarnished "real" food itself could taste. Because so many of my underlying basic ingredients were too often mainstream products (produce, meat, dairy), I didn't know that all the yummies had been bred right out of them in the interest of industrial food production. And of course, whence goes flavor, goes nutrition, too: tasteless food simply isn't that nourishing.

This is why I've been writing for the past year on this blog about my surprise (and great delight!) around finding out what "real" food tastes like. It started with growing many types of heirloom vegetables in our four-season solar greenhouse, then outdoors, and then outdoors in fair weather -- what little we had in the summer of 2009! Then the discovery of the exquisiteness of truly fresh ocean fish.  And now: wild shrimp.  Be. Still. My. Heart.

Working with Audubon's Drumlin Farm and Concord-Carlisle Adult and Community Education, ConcordCAN regularly offers Adult Education workshops that encourage people to work toward greater sustainability in their own lives and in their communities. Current offerings are:

Small Scale Agriculture: The Winter Months
Robin Wilkerson
Get Ready, Get Set, Grow...well, at least get ready and get set. Winter is the best time to plan your growing season. We will cover garden locations, space needed, what to grow, varieties to plant, and other issues to ensure the best outcome for your efforts. This will be an opportunity to discuss seed and plant catalogs, learn all the tricks of the trade for seed starting and growing, and get ideas for general vegetable garden planning. Lots of garden inspiration to illuminate the darker months. MA Audubon members pay a member rate by registering with Audubon.
Robin Wilkerson is a long time vegetable gardener, public speaker and naturalist based in Lincoln, MA. She keeps a small flock of chickens that help her keep weeds at bay.
Tuesday, Feb 23, 7-9pm @ CCHS

Suburban Backyard Farming                
Debbie Bier and Rich Stevenson
(This garden and greenhouse is often featured in this blog!) What kind of food can be ready-to-harvest in an unheated winter solar greenhouse in February? Come find out!  Tour (and taste) the cold-weather activities in this suburban backyard farm, and see what's being planned (and planted) next.  Broaden your imagination about what is possible to grow year-round in our climate, and help yourself get ready for spring planting. Dress in layers. Release form required.
Debbie Bier has long been interested in and involved with local plants, both wild and domesticated. Rich Stevenson, is a carpenter and photographer who grew up in Concord with connections to local food growing and growers.
Sat Feb 6th, 12-2 PM -- location available upon registration. Feb classed is filled!  Additional session will be held Saturday, March 6, 12-2 PM. 

Living More Sustainably- Food & Shelter
David W. Bearg, PE, CIH
Two key aspects of living more sustainably on this planet involve taking more responsibility for growing your own food and making your home easier to heat in the winter.  Examples of both are presented as part of this on-site visit that includes extending the growing season with an attached heat-storing greenhouse (11 tons of rock) with an automatic greywater irrigation system, plantings of fruits and berries, and efforts to improve the thermal effectiveness of the building envelope through the use of movable insulating shutters, airlock entryways, and passive and hybrid solar architecture.  After all, on a square foot basis, 10 to 20 times as much heat is lost though windows than through walls.
David Bearg has been modifying this former summer cottage for over the last 30 years, with an emphasis on achieving and maintaining good indoor air quality while minimizing the need  for purchased energy to maintain health and comfort for his family and guests.
Saturday, February 27th, 12-2 PM @ on site

For information & registration: Concord-Carlisle Adult and Community Education at www.ace.colonial.net or (978) 318-1540 days, 318-1432 nights, 318-1539 fax. You can also contact ConcordCAN at Concordclimate@yahoo.com
 

Do the costs of energy--to your wallet, to your community and to the environment--concern you? Do the latest developments in renewable energy, efficiency, and local planning intrigue you?

Learn more from experts in the field and connect with others seeking answers at "Our Community and Tomorrow's Energy," a Life in the Balance public forum on Friday, February 5, 7-9 pm, at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center, 1276 Main St., W. Concord, MA. (Snow date: Feb. 7.)

"Our Community and Tomorrow's Energy" will focus on community-level solutions to the energy challenges we face. Massachusetts Representative Will Brownsberger (24th Middlesex District), whose work in the State House has emphasized the environment, transportation and carbon reduction, will deliver the keynote speech.

In addition, Gretchen Brewer will address recycling and waste-to-energy programs; Dr. Warren
Leon, co-author of The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, will discuss home energy choices; and Christopher Ryan will speak to localization and related planning issues. After the panel, audience members may participate in group sessions to discuss local responses to the issues. This free forum is open to all; refreshments will be served.

"Our Community and Tomorrow's Energy" is Part 2 of Powering the Future, which began on
January 22 with a well-attended screening of "The Great Squeeze," a compelling documentary
(www.thegreatsqueeze.com). CCTV is airing this film on local cable Channel 8 almost daily through February 5; the schedule is available at www.lwvcc.com and www.concordtv.org.

The Life in the Balance series is co-sponsored by four community groups dedicated to educating and engaging the public: the League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle, ConcordCAN (Concord Climate Action Network), Carlisle Climate Action and Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Education (CCACE). For more information, visit http://lwvcc.com/lifeinthebalance.html, email Green_Initiatives@lwvcc.com or call 978-369-3842.

The Concord Free Public Library continues its 2010 Thursday Author Series with financial advisor and investment analyst, Michael Carpenter.   His new book, The Risk-Wise Investor:  How to Better Understand and Manage Risk, which Carpenter will discuss on Thursday, February 11 at 7:30 pm, offers a user-friendly approach to evaluate risk in today's highly volatile financial markets.

Carpenter introduces his "risk-wise" investment strategy first with an examination of everyday life risk.  He then evaluates our common responses to these everyday risks and suggests ways to apply these basic principles to managing investment risks.  His book seeks to prepare the average individual to make smart decisions in bull or bear markets and to minimize personal risk in the midst of extreme business cycles.

Carpenter has spent thirty-five years in the investment world.  He has led industry programs at Harvard and Columbia Universities and worked as an investment advisor for PaineWebber.  He led national distribution efforts including sales support, national advisor and investor educational programs for John Hancock Funds, Transamerica IDE and Rydex Global Advisors before setting up his own Boston-based consulting firm in 2003.

The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library sponsor the Thursday Authors Series from September through June.  Programs, which are held in the second floor Periodical Room in the Main Library, are free and open to all.  Following each presentation, books are available for purchase and audience members are encouraged to continue their conversations with the author.

Upcoming talks in the series, all on Thursdays at 7:30 pm at the Main Library include March 18th presentation of principles from the architectural firm of Albert, Righter & Tittmann, New Classic American Houses.

For more information, please call the Library at (978) 318-3300 or visit www.concordlibrary.org.