Newsletter 0609

8/14/2019 Newsletter 0609

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Local Synergy, the GrotonLocal Newsletter June 2009Vol. 1, No. 1

Copyright 2009 GrotonLocal Page 1 of 11Our Website: www.grotonlocal.org

Table of Contents

Editors Introduction Featured Article

Groton Community Dinners Upcoming Events

Groton Local Annual Members Meeting

Group Updates Community Farm

Education Group Egg Co-op

Energy Group Kitchen Garden Food and Agriculture Nashoba Local First

Web Presence Regional News

Ayer Local Other News You Can Use Help Wanted

www.grotonlocal.org

You may contact the editors bysending email to

[email protected]

Local SynergyThe GrotonLocal newsletter

Groton Local is a non-profit organization in Groton, Massachusetts,working to ensure sustainability for future generations by reducing energy

consumption, promoting local food & economy, and becoming morelocally self reliant.
http://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.orghttp://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.org


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Editors Introduction Welcome to the initial edition of Local Synergy , the newsletter for Groton

Local. We've known for a while now that we needed a better way to keepour members and interested parties informed of what's happening in our diverse and evolving organization; this newsletter is our attempt to meetthat need.As we were putting this edition together, we were struck by how many

parallel efforts we have under way! Take a look and let us know how wecan improve. And if you see something you'd like to help with, by allmeans do get in touch.

Your editor team -- Yuval and Karen Gonen,Leo Laverdure, Tucker Smith

Visit GrotonLocalsCommunity Dinners at

http://grotoncommunitydinn

ers.org . www.goodguide.com

Featured Article

Groton Community Dinners by Tucker Smith

By the time this inaugural Groton Local newsletter hits the cyber waves,the towns first Community Dinner will have taken place Friday, May 29at First Parish Church in Groton. Billed as a free, monthly (for starters),healthy (food and practices), hot meal with live music, great food, andgood com pany, the mission behind the idea is to nurture a sense of community as well as combat a variety of hungers in this region. Nosingle group owns this project in fact organizers from the outset representchurches and schools as well as civic entities (such as Groton Local).Besides hospitality, guests will receive resource information for other social services if needed and if a guest can afford a donation, it will bewelcomed. Many volunteers are needed each month to make it happen:at-home cooks (recipes and instructions will be given reimbursement for cost of ingredients, too, if desired), servers, set-up and clean-ups helpers,musicians, and more. The next meal will be Friday, June 26 so jump on

board whether a doer or a diner!
http://grotoncommunitydinners.org/http://grotoncommunitydinners.org/http://grotoncommunitydinners.org/http://www.goodguide.com/http://www.goodguide.com/http://www.goodguide.com/http://grotoncommunitydinners.org/http://grotoncommunitydinners.org/


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Education GroupBy Bobbie Spiegelman & Tiffany Doggett

Farm-to-SchoolLast March, as part of the Groton Reads 2009 book, Animal, Vegetable,

Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, we sponsored the Three Chefs event atthe Groton School with food service directors Paul Correnty (Bromfield,Harvard, MA), Jed Coughlin (Groton School) and Maria Barker (Groton-Dunstable) in starring roles as they discussed the process of feeding our school children. Jamie Cruz and Paula Robinson of Springdell Farm inLittleton represented the farmers. The evening was so successful, we're

planning to celebrate Farm-to-School Harvest Week, September 21-25.More details to follow for any interested parties. Check out the web sitein the meantime to learn more about the program.

School GardensAfter many meetings between some members of the Groton communitygarden and Paula Bye, GDR high school teacher, we are able to appreciatethe "fruits" of these discussions as the garden space now includesvegetable and flower seedlings started by Paula's students last March.They even had a hand in planting some of this year's potato crop. Paula isin the process of constructing raised beds for the garden so her studentswill have access to their own garden space sometime in the near future.We hope this is the beginning of a strong relationship between GrotonLocal and Groton school teachers and students.

Roots and ShootsStacey Chilcoat and members of Middle School science teacher DorothyDwyer's after-school Green Team designed a project as part of the 2009Roots and Shoots Campaign for Water entitled "Mission JamesBrook...Not Impossible." These students will participate in cleaning upthe brook, making wildlife and plant observations, taking water samplesand helping to educate the community about the importance of the brook in our watershed by writing articles and creating posters. There will bemore to come for our Roots and Shoots chapter, and we'd love some more

student and parent involvement. Please visit the web site to learn moreabout the organization:

If anyone has additional questions, please contact Bobbie Spiegelman at978-448-6366.

www.mass.gov/agr/markets/ Farm_to_school/index.htm

www.rootsandshoots.org/re gional_offices/new_england

/home
http://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htmhttp://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htmhttp://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htmhttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.rootsandshoots.org/regional_offices/new_england/homehttp://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htmhttp://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htm


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School Garden Project at Florence Roche Elementary SchoolBy Tiffany DoggettLisa Wiesner and Tiffany Doggett of the Education and Food &Agriculture Groups, have merged their passions and have joined forces torepresent Groton Local in starting a school garden initiative at the

Florence Roche Elementary School. Lisa is a professional landscaper andgardener who owns her own landsape business. Tiffany is a parent of twoFlorence Roche children and an amateur gardener. Lisa and Tiffany areheading up the project to bring school gardens to the elementary schoolwhich will be used by the teachers and students to enhance curriculum.Florence Roche would like to join the many schools across the UnitedStates where school gardens have enhanced the learning experience.Teachers, parents and administrators feel that using school gardens as ateaching aid can foster personal growth for children as they learn how to

plant, nurture and harvest in the garden.

As gardeners, the children play the part of observers, questioners, doersand problem solvers, as well as learning outside the classroom in thenatural world. The project received a Groton Dunstable EducationFoundation Grant which will enable a butterfly garden and one raised bedfor vegetables to be built by the end of the school year. The school PTAhas also supported the project and given the group money from their

beautification fund. That money was spent recently on updating the plantings around the welcome sign on Rt. 119. Please notice thewonderful new plantings when you drive by the school.

Lisa also generously donated two containers at the school entrance for

students, parents and staff to enjoy. The vision is to create wonderfulgardens all over the school that can be admired, studied, utilized, andenjoyed! This spring has been spent meeting with the administration,teachers, the school committee, and parents, so planting has just begunwith just 5 weeks left of school, but this is an ongoing project that willencompass all grades and will grow every year. One reason why is hasgone a bit slow is that we need help! We need more volunteers, moremoney and more donations! Currently we are looking for in kinddonations such as, divided plants from your garden, extra hoses you mayhave laying around, extra tools that are cluttering up your garage, and oldseeds that you'll never use. We are looking for all sorts of plants, but we

really need ferns, hostas, butterfly attracting plants, lilies, iris, lupines,and small shrubs. The sorts of tools we are looking for are shovels,spades, small claws, wheelbarrows and rakes. We also need volunteers for


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work days. We will have at least two work days in June. Please contactTiffany Doggett at [email protected] if you are willing to help onwork days, would like to be added to our email list, or have any donationsfor the project.

Egg Co-opBy Brad Bigelow

The Groton Local Egg Co-op was started by a small group of GrotonLocal members in May of 2008. We started with 9 people who wereinterested in learning how to care for chickens collectively. We built a run(12x20) that was safe from all predators from above, sides, and below.The hen house that was at the site was of concrete and proved to be toosmall for the 30 hens felt adequate to provide eggs for 9 families. We built

a wooden coop of sufficient size with recycled (mostly) material. By Julywe had 48 hens in a 10x8 night coop, a 6x5 connector, the old 5x5bunker, and 2 12x20 runs. They were producing about 36 eggs per day.Members take home 10 dozen eggs per week. The rest are sold to offsetthe price of certified organic feed. The hens are totally free range andtotally organic. They are down to 39 in number after one year.

The costs of producing eggs far exceeds the revenue generated by the saleof eggs because some hens do not lay every day, produce substantiallyfewer eggs in the winter, only lay for 3 years, and are lost to predators anddisease. Efforts to raise the price of sold eggs even to near market levels

are resisted by customers. Distribution to other (retail) outlets wouldincrease costs and decrease revenue.

The current model provided an opportunity to learn first hand whatchickens needed to lay consistently. It also taught us what members wereable to learn and what they were willing to do unsupervised. It providedan opportunity for people unfamiliar with animal husbandry and therealities of egg production to gain confidence and information withoutrisk to wallet or their hens. It illustrated what people would pay for anunbranded product presented in a recycled box and the limits of an honor system payme nt method.

By the end of the first year I have realized that a group can no more affordto pay the equivalent of $45/ week for labor to sell (on average) 10 dozeneggs than an individual can. All producers make various compromises tocut costs: organic feed costs twice that of regular, free range chickensmust be put in at night, more freedom produces more losses, more space
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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per bird requires more lumber, etc. Suburban lifestyles do not mesh easilywith rural necessities without costs.

The Co-op provided me with the challenge of organizing a group whonever met (no meetings) toward a common goal with equal compensationand equal labor input. It was interesting but not sustainable. Some

members are raising their own chicks now and will have their own flocksat home. We will reorganize under different principles soon. Suggestionsare welcome. The eggs continue to be delicious and nutritious. Providingunparallel quality and purity to the Local community has been a pleasure.

Energy GroupBy Yuval Gonen

Seminars

In the past year, we organized seminars in such diverse areas as:Saving Energy Solutions for your Whole House System Green Energy Updates Solar Heating Home Energy Audits (panel discussion)

Slides from the above seminars are available on our website. For thecoming new season, we are seeking suggestions on Energy / Green

building seminars members would like to attend. Send your ideas [email protected] .

Senior Center ProjectsWe continue to support our seniors by offering to replace incandescentlight bulbs with CFLs. The program is offered through Groton Senior Center. For more information about this program, please contact MarthaCampbell, Director of Groton Council on Aging (978) 448 1170.

This year, just before the cold winter arrived, Jim Hubert calledGrotonLocal members to action. One of the seniors in our town neededhis chimney replaced. Jim worked with town officials to get the correct

permits, and through the dedicated work of Jim and other GrotonLocalmembers, we managed to keep one home warm this winter.Good job !!!

Wind PotentialGroton will soon be one step closer towards achieving clean, renewableelectric power. Groton Electric is one of the 14 members/investors inthe 'Berkshire Wind Energy Coop' located at N. Hancock, Mass (near Mt.Greylock). The current project consists of ten 1.5MW wind energyturbines for a total of 15 million watts and is ahead of schedule (estimated

You can access our seminars(video and slides) at

www.grotonlocal.org/node/76
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.grotonlocal.org/node/76http://www.grotonlocal.org/node/76http://www.grotonlocal.org/node/76mailto:[email protected]


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completion date Dec. 2009) and under budget ironically due to therecession which has slowed or canceled many other renewable efforts.Groton will be generating more that 6% of its electric power needs fromthe Coop with the potential to increase as the project moves forward.

We added our voices (and writing) to the successful passage of the Wind

Energy Conversion Facilities zoning bylaw.

Kitchen GardenBy Tiffany Doggett

The Kitchen Garden Cooperative was organized last autumn and hasslowly taken shape over the winter and this spring. The group isessentially a web based group that supports kitchen gardening and is agreat way to ask questions, get advice, swap recipes, and inspire yourself

to get planting! There are 29 members on the web group and there have been discussions on transplanting raspberries, gardening workshops, biochar and horse manure, to name a few! Tiffany Doggett has beenspearheading this group and has a roto-tiller that she is happy to lend outto anyone. Two people have taken her up on this and have great gardensthis spring! This is a great, non-commitment group which is all aboutsharing ideas and linking people together. If you would like to join,

please email Tiffany at [email protected].

Food and AgricultureGrotonREADS 2009By Nancy Tucker

Many members of Groton Local's Food & Ag Group led discussions andcoordinated events for the Groton Public Library's town wide read,"GrotonREADS 2009!". The book was Barbara Kingsolver's Animal,Vegetable, Miracle chronicling the year she and her family ate onlylocally produced food, much of which they grew or raised themselves.

Nashoba Local FirstInterview of Haynes Turkle by Leo Laverdure

Nashoba Local First, a regional offshoot of Groton Local to strengthenlocal independent businesses, has experienced a burst of growth thisspring. Ayer has been particularly active. Other towns include Bolton,

visit the Google group athttp://groups.google.com/gr

oup/grotonlocal-kitchen-garden
http://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-gardenhttp://groups.google.com/group/grotonlocal-kitchen-garden


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Harvard, Pepperell and Townsend. Recent activity includes:

Formation of a communications sub-committee working on printed brochures and a banner for Grotons Main St . (subsidized by the Town of Groton and donations, including a contribution byGroton Local).

Development of a web site (to appear soon as NashobaLocalFirst.org), including listings and links for local businesses.

A drive for new business members.

For more info, contact Barbara Scofidio at NOA Gifts, 157 Main StreetGroton, MA 01450, 978.448.0990, [email protected]

Web PresenceBy Yuval Gonen

The internet has helped GrotonLocal to meet its goal of reaching out tothe people of Groton and surrounding towns. Most importantly, it hasgreatly facilitated bringing peoples diverse excitement into our discussion space.In the past year we have updated our web presence. Our website todayallows dynamic interaction between GrotonLocal team members andothers. In the past year, we added link to videos of our seminars, chatrooms, comment posting, several forum sites, and a complete calendar of events. As we move forward, we plan to add more educational materials.

Regional News

Ayer Local

Bike AyerBy Carolyn McCrearyJoin Ayer-Shirley Local in pledging to reduce our carbon footprint by 2tons by July 4th. We are doing this by riding our bikes instead of driving

and logging our miles with MassRides. It's simple. Just go tohttp://www.commute.com/bikeayer/ , setup a login and use the tool tokeep track of the miles you bike. Remember that burning 1 gallon of gasyields nearly 20 pounds of CO2.

Join us for our July 4th celebration at Pirone Park to check out our progress toward our goal, and look for the Ayer-Shirley Local table.

www.grotonlocal.org

www.commute.com/bikeayer
http://www.commute.com/bikeayer/http://www.commute.com/bikeayer/http://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.orghttp://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.orghttp://www.commute.com/bikeayerhttp://www.commute.com/bikeayerhttp://www.commute.com/bikeayerhttp://../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK3A/www.grotonlocal.orghttp://www.commute.com/bikeayer/


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Aquifer ProtectionBy Susan TordellaAfter a 10-year legal battle against the railroads to prevent construction of an 800-auto parking lot to unload Fords over a Zone 2 aquifer for Ayer and Zone 3 for Littleton, Pan Am and Norfolk Railroads have broken

ground to pave over a critical aquifer. UPS handles logistics for therailroad. Most folks expected that either EPA or Mass. Department of Environmental Protection would enforce strict standards for drinkingwater protection. For several reasons, these agencies have not acted toensure there is sufficient monitoring and state and federal laws areenforced. 500 yards away from the construction site is an unused autounloading facility. While there are complications in leasing, a bit of creative thinking from political leaders could make this lot available toavoid jeopardizing the water source of three Massachusetts towns.

Ayer, Littleton and Westford residents are directly impacted by the

quality of water in the aquifer.

Ayer and Littleton draw up to 2 million gallons daily from wells near Spectacle Pond some of the best water in the state, evidenced by thenumber of water-based businesses nearby -- Nasoya, Very Fine, Cainesand Aquifina/Pepsi. The best chance of protecting the water and ensuringthat paving Massachusetts aquifers does not become a precedent is for residents of the Commonwealth to hold political leaders accountable for

basic protections, especially the right to clean, uncontaminated drinkingwater.

Please take a few minutes to write Gov. Patrick and Sens. Kerry andKennedy. By June 1, ask them to let common sense prevail and stop this project before it goes any further.

If you live outside these towns in Massachusetts, you are indirectlyeffected by the railroads exercising unchecked power that can be appliedelsewhere. Speak up now to ensure that our state can be counted on to

preserve our right to clean water! Its important that people from other towns outside of the aquifer join in the chorus of opposition because of the precedent being set by paving over our aquifer.

Book Review by Tucker Smith

Did you know that almost all birds feed their young bugs not seeds or berries? Did you know that one oak tree (genus Quercus ) provides 517species of wildlife with food, shelter, or nesting benefits? Douglas


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Help Wanted

We are looking for an Editor to help us support the production of this NewsLetter on a regular basis.

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Douglas W. Tallamy. 2007. Bringing Nature Home:

How Native Plants SustainWildlife in Our Gardens.

Portland, OR: Timber Press.

288 pages

Tallamy, Professor, Dept. of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, U.Delaware, writes, My central message is that unless we restore native

plants to our suburban ecosystems, the future of biodiversity in the UnitedStates is dim. This very readable (to an easily -distractible reader) book makes an inspirational case for homeowners and gardeners to THINK

before they PLANT in order to continue to sustain native insects, which,

in turn, feed native wildlife. This book is not a diatribe against theubiquitous American Lawn but, rather, a sound argument why what we plant matters urgently along with practical ideas and suggested plantlists for getting started. After reading this compelling book, the next giftyoull want to give someone special is either an oak tree seedling (theycan be found for free in the woods) or a copy of the book!

Other News You Can Use by Tucker Smith

I heard about this website in a Living on Earth show broadcast onWBUR-FM recently and then read about it in The New York Times Home section, Thursday, May 21 edition, which said it is one of thefirst that rates products on potential environmental, health, and socialeffects. Its creator, Dara ORourke, a professor at U. California -Berkeley, began to wonder about the contents and consequences of her

purchases after she became a parent. The website says, From our originsas a UC Berkeley research project, GoodGu ide has developed into atotally independent "For- Benefit" company committed to providing theinformation you need to make better decisions, and to ultimately shifting

the balance of information and power in the marketplace. I checked outhair care and laundry products online and will tweak my shopping listaccordingly.

http://www.timberpress.com /books/isbn.cfm/9780881928

549
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.cfm/9780881928549mailto:[email protected]

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