Help pick the title for the next Wellesley-wide reading program! 

Wellesley Free Library is joining forces with Mass Bay Community College to plan and promote a community read. Books will be available for borrowing this summer and related events will begin in the fall. Civic engagement is a major theme of each of the three choices.

For more information about the 3 titles, and to cast your vote, click here - don't delay! Voting ends April 10th.

Thank You and Good Night

A Few Final Words 

We hope that you have enjoyed the first Wellesley Reads Together program which ended on Sunday November 13, 2011 with the multi-media musical program Sabor y Memoria (Flavor and Memory).

The books chosen this year (The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hungry to Having Enough by Wellesley resident Katie Smith Milway and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver) highlighted themes of sustainable farming and local eating. If you haven’t had a chance to read the books, copies are still available to borrow from the library.

During the six weeks of Wellesley Reads Together,  a wide variety of programs and events related to the topics of the books were held, including discussion groups, a Harvest Dinner, a weeklong visit to Wellesley by Maria Cecilia Vasquez, the young Honduran woman who inspired the main character in The Good Garden, a movie series, and many programs about sustainable farming, gardening and local eating.

Thanks to all the Library staff and WRT committee members who planned the events for Wellesley Reads Together and contributed to this blog.

We appreciate your comments about this year’s community reading program and your suggestions for future ones. You can reach the Wellesley Reads Together committee at 781 235-1610 ext. 1206 or wrt@minlib.net.

Until next time,

Pam Stirrat

for the Wellesley Reads Together Committee:  Library Director Janice Coduri, Library Trustee Ann Howley, Linda Kondo Chapman, Janet Pattillo, Lisa Leslie Henderson.

Sabor y Memoria (Flavor and Memory)

Please join us this Sunday, November 13, at 2 PM in the Wakelin Room of the Main Library to celebrate the wrap-up of Wellesley Reads Together at a program by composer-guitarist Brian Amador and his wife, singer-percussionist Rosi Amador of the well-known musical group Sol y Canto. Their presentation is based on Brian's original 7-song suite 'Sabor y Memoria' (Flavor and Memory), a multi-media work that explores the way music and food trigger our memories, express our roots, and tie us to our origins. This event is free and recommended for adults and children ages 10 and up. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries and World of Wellesley. Refreshments courtesy of Wellesley Whole Foods Market.

Some of my favorite unexpected local products...

   Initially when I planned what to write here, I considered the fact that people tell me it is harder to eat local in New England's winters. Boredom with the same recipes for root vegetables (boiled or roasted, sometimes mashed), seemed the prevalent attitude among most people I knew. However as I searched, a thought occurred to me. Not only are there many interesting recipes for local seasonal food if you look for them, there are also a lot more locally made products that may not readily spring to mind but are fantastic when you find them.

    In Cambridge, Tazo Chocolate grinds and makes chocolate products. They give the remaining cacao shells from the process to local organizations to use as mulch; mainly use recycled materials for packing and even delivers via bike to people in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston! They also operate a direct trade model, compensating those growing the cacao beans fairly and supporting sustainable farming. My favorite product they make is the vanilla bean chocolate mexicano disc, which makes a fantastic hot chocolate in the brisk New England weather.

    I know Massachusetts and Cape Cod do not spring to mind when you think about wineries and vineyards, but there are a growing number of them. One that particularly stands out to me is Truro Vineyards. They make a Cranberry Red wine that is a Beaujolais like red blended with Cape Cod cranberries. The Vineyard is located next to the National Seashore and they take great care in using sustainable practices and green buildings.

   And if there is something that goes with wine, it is cheese! These days cheddar is not the only cheese that should spring to mind when you think of locally made dairy products. In fact, there is an ever-growing variety available, from multitudes of varieties of goat's cheeses, blue cheese and Gouda, to other delicious treats. One of my favorite cheeses is mozzarella, and fresh mozzarella is made daily by Fiore de Nonno in Somerville. They make their cheeses with milk from the Shy Brothers farm located in Westport. I'd been regularly buying their fig burratta during the Copley farmer's market in Boston which has ended for the season, but luckily Wasik's Cheese Shop sells a number of their cheese's all the time!

    If you are more of a beer drinker, there are a number of excellent breweries. Pumpkin beers always seem especially appealing around Halloween and thanksgiving, and in Waltham there’s a brewery that makes an impressive one. Watch City Brewing Company makes a brew called Pie-eyed Pumpkin Ale- for every batch they make; they use over 250 pounds of locally grown sugar pumpkins! They also grow a number of herbs they use in different beers and use locally made chocolates when they brew chocolate porter.

    The variety of locally grown and/or produced edibles are growing all the time with the growth of interest in them. What things have you found available that you would not have thought of? Please let me know!
Melanie Griffiths, Circulation

http://www.tazachocolate.com/AboutUs/Taza_Direct_Trade. http://trurovineyardsofcapecod.com/sustainability.php. http://www.fioredinonno.com/our-story http://watchcitybrew.com/our-beers/brewing-process/.

  

How I began to eat healthier foods

The book that got me on the road to healthy eating is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  I had tried reading it several times before without success because I found the chapters about corn and animal feedlots particularly upsetting. 

Finally, while my husband and I were visiting his family in Italy, I brought the book along.  Reading about how over-processed and unhealthy American food and meat can be made me wonder if it would be possible to eat delicious, local food at home as we do while we are in Italy.  I vowed to make changes in our eating habits when I returned home.  

Confusion set in when I start looking closely at ingredient labels at the grocery store.  I was astounded to discover how processed our food is, and how many ingredients are listed on items that should only contain one or two. It raised so many questions about how to successfully change the way we buy and eat food.  

On Tuesday night, November 8^th, at 7:00 PM, local farmer Chris Yoder will be at the Wellesley Main Library to lead a discussion and answer questions about organic gardening, CSAs and our local food community.  Yoder grows organic vegetables on his 5-acre Vanguarden Farm in Dover, Mass. He’s also on the board of the Waltham Fields Community Farms.  Bring your questions, and be open to discussing everything from home gardening to regional food production. Please join us!

Janice Coduri, Library Director

Chickens and Eggs

After I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I felt that I should start raising my own hens to have fresh eggs every day.  Yes, you can raise chickens in Wellesley, as long as you follow the regulations of the Health Department. 

Although so far I have not taken up the challenge of raising chickens myself, in the process of exploring the option I have learned some interesting facts about eggs.

It doesn't matter what the color of the shell is - there is no difference in nutrition or quality.

All eggs are examined, cleaned and graded for sale - either AA, A or B.  AA eggs are relatively compact when cracked open and have firm whites and tall yolks.  B eggs spread out more, their whites are thinner and their yolks sink.  Grades are mostly a function of freshness. 

Here's how you can tell if your eggs are fresh:

Most cartons of eggs have a "sell by" date stamped on them.  In addition, there is another date on the carton called the Julian date, which is the date of the harvest.  Each Julian date represents a day of the year beginning January 1 (001) through December 31 (365). If you want to buy the freshest eggs possible, check the Julian dates on the cartons.  You may be surprised to see the range of dates on eggs available at the supermarket.

This Sunday, November 6th at 2 PM, at the Main Library, Wellesley resident Amie Smith will discuss breeds, equipment, food, raising baby chicks, winter care-taking, coops and more for beginning chicken owners and curious observers.  I’ll see you there!

Janice Coduri, Library Director

Great Worms in Children’s Literature

You can’t get more down-to-earth than the lowly worm; in recent years these invertebrates have wiggled their way into popular picture books at a rapid clip.

Imagine the shock a worm must feel upon discovering that his best friend has been a caterpillar all along when said friend emerges suddenly as a butterfly. In Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel, this is the dramatic scenario that plays out on the pages.  A story about biology as well as friendship, Bob and Otto is a satisfying mix of fiction and science.

A hilarious diary kept by a school-age worm, Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm (2003 winner, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year) documents the day-to-day life of a worm, both good and bad; a worm can't chew gum, but a worm is also free from cavities because they have no teeth. This worm’s eye view is fresh and funny, hard for any child to resist.

In Caroline Arnold’s Wiggle and Waggle, our protagonists are two likeable worms who sing while they do their work, aerating the soil and contributing to a healthy garden. Teamwork and an upbeat attitude make this duo unstoppable, and the plot relies on scientific information to move forward.  A list of facts about worms rounds out this appealing title.

Another story about a worm-caterpillar friendship is Herman and Marguerite : an earth story by Jay O'Callahan. This unlikely relationship blossoms when Marguerite (caterpillar) rescues Herman (worm) from certain sunburn.  Their gifts, while different, are both essential for making the orchard bloom.  Herman gets a chance to repay Marguerite for her heroics when he rescues her from falling rocks.  An appendix of facts about nature completes the text.

In Yucky Worms by Vivian French, a boy and his grandmother encounter a worm in the garden.  Grandmother sings the praises of worms, enlightening her grandson about the many benefits that worms provide for us. A section on How to Be a Wormologist! Is a nice touch.

Farouqua Abuzeit
Children's Department Supervisor