New Juicer

Glad that I will be using my juicer for mostly carrots and greens.

"I'd Like to Build a Little Home for You"

A common theme in tin-pan alley songs of the early 20th century was domesticity. I can't find any information about this song except the sheet music I purchased at a flea market.

Music by W. Raymond Walker
Lyrics by Ballard McDonald
Copyright 1911 Ted Snyder Co. 112 W 38th St N.Y.

He's been calling regularly ev'ry single night
Sitting in the parlor with his arms around her tight.
She'd been waiting patiently for him to ask the question
So she thought it up to her to make a slight suggestion.
"Charley, dear" she whisper'd, "Have you heard the latest news?
Father sold the house today, our home we're going to lose.
And it makes it awfly awkward so you will agree
They're taking an apartment where there isn't room for me.
What am I going to do? I thought I'd come to you.
To ask for your advice, then Charley took his cue.

He said I'd like to build a cosy little house for you
With the fixings and the trimmings all complete for two
A kitchen and a parlor where we both could spoon
And a nice wide piazza where we'd sit beneath the moon and cuddle
Upstairs, your room right next to mine,
with two big bay windows where the sun would shine
And if by chance the stork should call,
There'd be a spare room down the hall
In the little house I'd build for you.

Laborers got on the job with shovels and with picks
Carpenters were hammering, and masons laying bricks,
Paper hangers, painters and the gasman and the plumbers
Worked to get the place done, so they'd move in in the summer
Charley took her out to see the place most ev'ry day
They'd talk about the furnishings, and argue all the way
Finally the house was done, all spick and span and new
Then Charley said, "Now tell me if there's anymore to do."
She said "There's quite a lot, I guess that you forgot.
To ask me in the first place if I'd marry you or not."

You said I'd like to build a cosy little house for you
With the fixings and the trimmings all complete for two
A kitchen and a parlor where we both could spoon
And a nice wide piazza where we'd sit beneath the moon and cuddle
Upstairs, your room right next to mine,
with two big bay windows where the sun would shine
And if by chance the stork should call,
There'd be a spare room down the hall
In the little house I'd build for you.

A chance for a new post!

Finally- something interesting to relate.

I just wrote a small piece for my employer's newsletter which connects today's local food movement with similar efforts 100+ years ago. Food and agriculture issues were a major component of the Garden City movement, which developed into regional planning.
Read at Today's Garden City.

Composting & Recycling Mass Products

My first 5k race- the Hot Chocolate Run in Northampton, Massachusetts.

I could go on ad nauseum as to why this race was awesome- I finished, the residents cheering from their yards, the competitors were so friendly afterward even when the hot chocolate was late in coming, it's the ultra-progressive "Happy Valley", etc., but one thing I really appreciated was that not only did they provide after race bananas and oranges, they also provided COMPOST BINS to toss your peels into. Someone smart realized that they'd have a lot of orange and banana peels, that could easily be collected and composted. At first I threw my banana peel in the trash, then saw the compost bin, and thought, "of course, this is Northampton, after all."

I read in Treehugger today that Coke has "developed" a compostable paper cup. Why, in a place like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, that makes its own consistent profile of trash, can't they make sure the trash is compostable or recyclable and collect it out? Argh!

On another note, I realize that road race runs aren't the greenest activity- they create a lot of unnecessary travel for all those participants, especially to a race like Hot Chocolate which attracts people from all over. But at least Hot Chocolate, and the Greater Hartford Marathon (not sure why you can't just call it the Hartford Marathon) are taking obvious steps to "leave no trace."

Resurrection of the Blog

Hello the world,
After moving back to Connecticut from New Jersey, I decided it's time to restart a blog. I had fun with my other blog, Agropolis Now, which focused mainly on community gardening in central New Jersey. Alas, here in Fairfield County I don't have access to a garden, but I'm still seeing places and events that deserve coverage on the web. Most of my posts will have to do with sustainability, community planning, and the environment, so Big City Small Town is coming back.

Although I'm not new to Connecticut, I never spent time in the southwestern corner until I moved here recently. So, I get to experience the amenities of Stamford, New Canaan, Westport, etc., for the first time. Lots to explore!

Allotment Late October

I finally remembered to bring my camera to the community gardens today and got photos of what could be the last pre-frost day. It was a busy day as many of the gardeners were doing last minute harvesting and soil preparation. The marigolds were also being harvested for the Day of the Dead celebration coming this week.

My broccoli now has small florets. According to my neighbors, I need to fence these soon or the deer will eat them. They already got the red lettuce I had left open which is now growing back.
I harvested a 3rd head of green lettuce (Black-seeded simpson) grown from transplants planted my first week of gardening in September.

I also planted 3 heads of garlic in 2 3x3 plots and sowed winter rye in several fallow areas.
My neighbor gave my parsley and more strawberries to over-winter. It was pretty chilly today!

Chickens at Suydam Farms, East Brunswick, NJ

Here are poor camera phone pictures of a few of the chickens at Suydam- there are 2 coops this size attached to a large barn with in/out for the chickens. I've seen 4x as many as seen here outside at once, but don't know how many total they have. Very happy, funny chickens to which you can throw corn kernels from cobs in basket outside their coop.
Suydam also has some sheep, I found out, along with plenty of pumpkins, squash, and late summer vegetables, empire apples, and hayrides on October Saturdays. Not sure if the apples are sprayed, though he told me last week they use no pesticides on their crops.