More Recommended Reading

Thank Goodness it is Friday! It's not only a payday when I can get some long awaited books (bought used of course) but tomorrow is the Farmer's Market!!! Yippeeee! It's the small things in life that really excite me! So without further ado, here are the books I have just been drooling over!

Preserving the Harvest

I just received this book as a birthday present from Ms. Judy. I am SO excited to use it. I find that my Ball Blue Book is getting worn and is also limited in terms of my options. I am really looking forward to putting this book to good use! THANKS MS. JUDY!!!! And thanks to Carol Costenbader for writing it!

Books from Maine

I have decided to take a break from the stressful things in my life today, and focus on laundry and catching up on some long put-off blogging. The intention of this blog has always been to document my process and research for beginning my own business. While it is a long term plan, that involves moving to our own family farm, much of my research involves finding plants, livestock and products to grow, make and sell once I have the business off the ground. The business will focus on sustainability and local products. One of my favorite products, as a researcher, teacher and parent, is of course books. In December's Down East magazine, they had in inset called "Best Books from Maine" which has been thumbed through and dog eared for far too long. So before that magazine joins the pile of magazines in my "business canvas bag" and or torn into pieces and glued into my journal, I might as well post about the books here!

By a Maine River - A Year of Looking Closely by Thomas and Lee Ann Szelog
A new book, published by Down East Books, features professional photographs of nature and wildlife along the shore of a small Maine river by photographer Tom Szelog. An evocative book that opens our eyes to how closely we live with nature even now, in this 21st century.



A Place Called Maine by Wesley McNair
24 Authors, both native and newcomers who reside and write in all reaches of Maine, write about the Maine experience, described by the Maine Sunday Telegram as"A vision of the Pine Tree State that is, at once, vivid, recognizable, and frank... a rich tapestry."







The Year of the Goat - 40,000 miles and the quest for the Perfect Cheese by Margaret Hathaway
I take a particular interest in this book because of my pending research on goats and cheese making. This book is a great starting place for my research on raising goats and making cheese. Part food memoir and part picturesque travel narrative, this book marries the author's twin obsessions with food and all things goat and tells the story of one couple's fascinating journey in search of peace, pastures, and the perfect goat cheese.

My kitchen counter

Those of you who know me well know how crazy it has been with my family of origin. I think this picture sums up how busy my days have been. There's the pumpkin seeds I roasted after the pumpkin carving. There's 2 jars of my apple creations. There;s the first scarf I ever knit, next to the bottle of glue that failed to adhere the pads in a Halloween mask. If you look closely, the left back ground shows H2's ghost costume for Halloween in progress. There's no glue over there but instead my glue gun. There's my new favorite book quietly calling me to go gather acorns. Clearly, there's a lot of projects in motion.

Happy Halloween everyone!
Welcome November!
Be safe - be happy!

Much love,

M

My new favorite book...

We took this out from the library and I am in love.

I think my newest domestic project will begin with gathering acorns this week. I have never thought about making flour from acorns, but a local flour company has definitely been on my mind. I need to get in touch with a friend I saw at the Common Ground. She told me there was a flour company in Maine. All I can find is Buckwheat.

http://www.amazon.com/Acorn-Pancakes-Dandelion-Salad-Recipes/dp/0060215496

Bibliography and recommended reading

Consider this my bibliography:

Andruss, Vann, et al; Home! A Bioregional Reader.

Burnett, Bruce; Herb Wise - growing, cooking, well being

Coleman, Eliot; Four Season Harvest

Denckla, Tanya; The Organic Gardeners Home Reference

Derby, Blanche; My Wild Friends

Dominguez, Joe; Your Money or Your Life

Hauser, Susan; Sugartime

Hawke, David Freeman; Everyday Life in Early America.

Jeavons, John and Cox, Carol; The Sustainable Vegetable Garden

Kingsolver, Barbara; Animal Vegetable Miracle

Louv, Richard; Last Child in the Woods

Nabhan, Gary Paul; Coming Home to Eat

Pollan, Michael; The Omnivore's Dilemma - A Natural History of Four Meals

Smith, Alisa; The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating

Smith, Alisa; Plenty

Wiser, Marita; Hikes in and Around Maine's Lake Region