Let's Get Crackin'

I've mentioned before that Dan and I were on the quest for local and organic meats and animal products like eggs, cheese and yogurt. While we've struck out so far on meats and cheeses, but hit gold with Sidehill Farm's yogurt. Now, we've struck gold again with Pete & Gerry's organic eggs.


I am thrilled to pieces to eat these eggs. In fact, I've eaten perhaps a few too many for my own good! They taste great, they're versatile, they're affordable, and they're good for people and the environment. What's not to love? What's else could possibly make them better?

Toast!

With (hungry) Love,
~Brande N.

Delicious looking soft-boiled egg photo credit goes to: Askliu via Flickr.

No Pain, No Cane

Dan and I were recently given the assignment to recane a few of our chairs. You have no idea what I'm talking about, huh? That's ok, when we were given the assignment we didn't know what it meant either.

In short, that lattice-like wooden screen that you often see on chairs is called "cane" or "caning". It's actually not wood at all, but the skin of the nonporous rattan vine. Its impermeability makes it ideal for furniture because it won't stain or react to humidity.

Behold the odd and strangely useful things you learn as an innkeeper...

We have a few chairs that feature a lovely woven cane backing. They had unfortunately taken a bit of a beating over the years though, and two out of three chairs had holes ripped through the cane. Rather than replace the whole chair, John opted for Dan and I to re-cane it ourselves. One benefit being that it's significantly less expensive, but another being that it's the greener decision because fixing an old chair instead of buying a brand new one means less resources are used. It's a win-win!

Anyway, this is how the process looks currently:
Kind of a mess. You'd think that throwing a screen into a panel would be easy, right? Not so much... First off, the directions are really vague and don't have any pictures.

Through process of elimination [and some pieces being kind of obvious] we determined that these two pieces are the spline and the cane.


See how they fit into the finished product? (By the way, that's an old, unbroken chair, not one that we've finished.)

Aside from the spline and cane, the wedge, chisel, and hammer were pretty easy to identify...

One line in the directions mentions using "4 wedges to hold the spline in place, and the fifth to pound it into the groove". How do I hold 4 wedges in one place, a fifth in another, AND somehow manage to hammer at the same time? And why in the world do I need 4 wedges to do what two of my fingers are doing in the photo above?? What kind of crazy person invented this process???

As much of a pain as this is, it's going to be neat to be able to proudly say when it's done, "Hey Bob. I caned a chair once. Did you know that?" And he'll be confused and have no idea what I'm talking about. Then I'll be able to rant on about rattan vines and permeability and spline chisels and prewoven cane and...

...I'm doing that right now, aren't I?


With Love,
~Brande N.

The Holy Grail of Yogurt

What could possibly be better than yogurt that is:

-Delicious and...
-Locally made...
-By hand...
-With no artificial sweeteners, flavorings, or additives...
-Using milk from ethically and humanely raised cows...
-Who are 100% grass-fed...
-On certified organic pastures?

The answer?

Nothing. Nothing could possibly be better! This is the holy grail of yogurt.

Introducing:

Sidehill Farms yogurt! I can't even tell you how good this stuff is. So good, in fact, that John ate two bowls of it over the course of a 4 hour meeting. So good that we went through almost 2 quarts over the last two days.

And it's good for you too! Pasture-raised cows produce milk that is higher in essential fatty acids such as Omega-3 and CLA. These fatty acids are linked to everything from healthy skin and nails to a decreased ricks of stroke and cancer to reduced depression. Super foods, indeed.

We're making great progress on converting our foods to local and/or organic varieties. Our coffee is locally roasted, fair trade and sustainably grown; our teas are all organic and/or fair trade; our honey is local; most of our produce is organic (soon to be local, come summertime!); our bread is local and organic; our apples are locally grown and residue free; our preserves are all locally made; even our instant oatmeal is organic!

The next and most difficult step is sourcing local and organic meats. We tried this winter and struck out, but we're hoping for better luck this time. I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime; wish us luck!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Ashes to Ashes, Eggshells to Dust

How serendipitous and grand that we should start composting on Earth Day! A local woman recently responded to our Craigslist ad advertising free compost, and let us know that she'll be picking her first batch up during the first week of May. That makes today the perfect day to start separating our eggshells and coffee grounds from saran wrap and burnt bacon bits. Even the ashes from our fireplaces can be composted.

It's so encouraging to see what a difference these changes are making! When Dan and I started only 6 months ago every bit of waste went to the dumpster. All of our food scraps; every can, bottle, carton, box, and wrapper; all of these ash and soot from the fireplaces; everything. Now it's ALL getting a second life through either recycling or composting. Really, I wouldn't feel I was exaggerating if I said we've reduced our waste by 60% or more.

I love, too, that these changes we're so easy to make. To begin recycling we just gave our waste management company a call, found out which days are recycling days, and signed up (at a slight extra cost). To compost, I spent about 5 minutes making a Craigslist ad and then waited for a call. Add a few separating bins to the mix and that's it!

I think the biggest challenge that hindered me from composting was the fact that I have no idea how to make compost. There's turning and mulching and carbon and nitrogen and this-is-good and this-is-bad--it's overwhelming! Collecting it is easy. Once I realized that I could find someone else to take it and use their expertise to turn it into rich fertilizer, there were no more hindrances.

So If you're thinking about composting but are too scared, or your yard is too small, or your green thumb turns things black; try Craigslist or even Freecycle. You know what they say: "One person's trash is another's treasure!"

Good luck and Happy Earth Day!
~Brande N.

What VOCs?

Approximately three weeks ago, this is what our Sherry Room looked like:

(Please forgive the terrible photography. The lighting was bad! I couldn't find the right angle! My batteries were almost dead! I hadn't slept in a month! ...Alright, I have no excuse.)

It's a little tough to see in this photograph, but the wallpaper had a very fine, pink floral print on it. (click to enlarge, if you please)


Here is the Sherry Room now:

(Yup, photography is still bad. Told you I didn't have an excuse.)

What a difference! The red is striking, vibrant, lively, and absolutely gorgeous. And you know what else?


That's right, it's totally VOC*** free. In fact, after the paint was applied I asked our painting crew how they liked it. You can't even imagine how excited I was when they said that not only did it go on well, but it dried quickly and it didn't make them loopy at all. Hooray!

The funniest and most memorable thing about this paint (in my opinion) was how instead of the room having that "paint" smell for days afterward, it only had the slightest scent of vinegar for about 24 hours. Vinegar! How odd is that?

So because the paint is good for the environment, worked well, looks great, and didn't stink up the Inn for a month, we'll be using No-VOC paints for all of our paint projects from now on. Hooray!


With Love,
~Brande N.


***As much as I hate to use Wikipedia as a source, in this case it's the best choice because it's the most concise and it's references are pretty reputable. Here are a few more useful links:

About VOCs and Indoor Air Quality - Via Treehugger

About Indoor Air Quality - Via the Environmental Protection Agency

Where to find affordable low or no VOC paint - Via Treehugger

Feel free to Google "Volatile Organic Compounds" if you want to know more.

Esselon Coffee

After three months of searching and researching and brewing and tasting and testing and stressing we have finally made a decision on coffee. WHEW!


Readers, meet Esselon Cafe. In addition to their homemade hot chocolate, exceptional sandwiches, delicious salads (one of the best house dressings I've ever had), and crazy good desserts, they serve and sell incredible house-roasted coffees. Richard, the owner, is a man with a deep passion for coffee and all of the intricacies of growing, buying, and roasting. In fact, Richard only buys from small (4 hectares or less) family farms and co-ops, and roasts all of his coffees to order.


Before we settled on Esselon, I did some intensive research and practically questioned poor Richard to death. I was so happy when he had all the right answers! The coffee is purchased either directly from the farms or through a community co-op for a price that is at least at but usually above the standard for fair-trade pricing. All of his coffees are locally roasted in the cafe, which is in Hadley, MA--about an hour away. This means less fuel gets used transporting it from roastery to us and therefore this coffee has a pretty itty-bitty carbon footprint.


And did I mention that it's delicious? Really, really delicious. One of my New Years Resolutions is to drink more tea, but it's definitely harder with this coffee hanging around! By summer we hope to have 1-pound bags available in our gift shop as well. I'm a huge fan of edible souvenirs (Dan and I will be grabbing some California Almond Blossom Honey while we're in San Francisco, mmm!) so I thought that would be a good way for our guests to take home a taste of the Inn. Hooray for edible memories!

With Love,
~Brande N.

My bread is Green!

I can't believe I haven't written about this yet! This green change is practically eons old, but only last night when I was counting loaves of bread did I suddenly realize it.

This is our delicious "new" bread from Berkshire Mountain Bakery. From left to right you are looking at San Francisco Sourdough, Multigrain, and Raisin. We've had it since about early December (the type of bread, not these particular slices), and let me tell you, this bread is good!

I've always dreamed of living off the classic European diet: freshly baked breads, cheeses, wine, butter, fresh veggies... And my own personal twist: fish. No chicken, no red meat. Just fish. And crustaceans. Mmmm. I'm going off on a tangent now, aren't I?

Anyway, this bread is so very, very good that it makes me feel like living that dream is not only possible, but good for me. As in healthy and encourageable in spite of the carb fever that occasionally strikes the nation.


Why do I think it's so healthy?

Firstly: Berkshire Mountain Bakery uses organic flours. Good for me and good for the environment. And considering that their bread is only comprised of flour, water, and a sourdough culture that is made of flour and water, I might as well just say that the whole bread is organic!

Secondly: They use a traditional fermentation process when making the bread. Now, I'm no food scientist, but Richard, the owner, appears to be and there's a breakdown of the process and health benefits on their website that makes for some pretty interesting reading. In short, the process renders the bread more easily digestible, which means that you absorb more of its nutrients. Oh yeah, and that process makes it tastier. Don't you just love when something is good for you but doesn't taste like cardboard?

Thirdly: They mill all of their grain fresh. Essentially, the vitamins and nutrients in any fresh food oxidize and break down when exposed to oxygen. By milling fresh, there is less time for nutrients to break down and therefore more goodness in the bread. When I describe the bread to guests here, I usually tell them that Berkshire Mountain Bakery has pretty much mastered the science of bread making.

Lastly: It's locally baked in Housatonic, Ma. And I know that anything that's good for the environment is also good for me in the long run.

If you happen to be visiting us, they have a store front as well where you can purchase any of their breads, and let me tell you, they have some incredible bread varieties.

Until next time, I'm off to go have lunch. Which will probably involve a grilled cheese on San Francisco sourdough. Mmmm!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Guestbook

Wayyyy back in October our guest book filled up. It had lasted almost two years and finally the last page was signed and it was time for it to go into retirement. This meant it was time to get a newer, spiffier, more ecologically sound model, in accords with our Green Commitment.

We knew we wanted it to be:
-Refillable
-Handmade
-Plastic free
-Filled with recycled paper
-Interesting

Here is what we got:

An artist from Etsy made it for us, and did an excellent job if-I-do-say-so-myself! She and her husband harvested the pine from their own backyard and then designed and crafted this according to our specifications. And that beautiful wood-burning? We gave her a photo of the Inn, she converted it to a line drawing, and then burnt it by hand.

Just look at that detail!

Amazing. If I had that kind of talent, well... I'd be really talented.

On top of the fact that it's beautiful, functional and refillable, it's also filled with 100% recycled paper!
I love the texture. It's lovely and gives the book so much personality.

And while I know the the clear (and probably petroleum based) stain on the surface of the book isn't green by any means, I do feel that we made the right decision in selecting this option. As I've said before, I'd much rather our money go toward an individual over a faceless, nameless corporation. And considering the state of the economy, the fact that this was made domestically seems like a big plus. The fact that the bulk of the materials were also domestically sourced means that the carbon footprint of this book has been significantly reduced. Oh, and did I mention that even though this was handmade and custom designed it was less expensive than the imported alternative? How great is that!

Yet another example of being green and saving green!

With Love,
~Brande N.

These Anti-Fatigue Mats Make Me Tire-d

On the left, you see our old kitchen mats. On the right is our new one. what's the difference, you ask? The new one is made from recycled tractor trailer tires. How cool is that?

The gentleman that runs the company makes these by hand, custom sized to his customers' specifications. By recycling these old tires, he diverts 15,000lbs of waste from entering the landfill. Wow!

And the best part? They're significantly less expensive than traditional kitchen mats. Another great example of how going green doesn't mean spending green. Sometimes you actually save some.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Eco Update!

It's time to announce yet another easy green change for us here at the Inn.

What do you notice about this picture that is AWESOME?

That's right, almost every tea is Organic and/or Fair Trade Certified! It's a little bit more of an investment to offer these options, but we believe that they're completely worth it due to the wealth of ecological and social benefits that come with growing organically and trading fairly.

And I wish I had more to expound on for this post, but I really don't! Change doesn't get much easier than this!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Using the Green Light

Bye bye 2008! It was nice knowing you!

I'm so glad Dan and I got to usher 2009 in with our New Year's Eve package. We met so many wonderful, interesting, fun, lovely people; ate more good food than should be legally allowed; listened to beautiful music by Alexandra and her husband, Tsuyoshi: and generally had a great time. With the exception of the whole sleep deprivation aspect, I can't wait to do it again next year!

And I get really excited when I think about how green next year could potentially be! Imagine a locally farmed, grass-fed filet mignon. Mmmmm!

I think we did pretty well this year, ecologically speaking, especially considering the time restraints. We used primarily paper favors (i.e. hats, noisemakers, decorations), served locally produced wine and coffee, and organic teas. Plus our salad greens were organic! All in all, not too bad.

But my favorite green change for New Years was a small one.

This:

Mole Hollow Candles.

Locally produced and hand-dipped in Shelburne Falls, Ma. Dan and I discovered this company (and their beautiful gift shop) when we were vacationing in Massachusetts a few months ago. When we decided to use a greener candle for our table décor, we knew Mole Hollow was the best choice.

This is what we were using last year:

There are a few less-than ideal things about these candles.

Firstly, that they are produced in Vietnam. That's almost 8,000 miles away. According to one source, that's up to 160,000 pounds of jet fuel to transport them to the USA. I don't even want to know how much atmospheric CO2 that generates. But I do know that the distance between Shelburne Falls and the Whole Foods these were purchased at is 28 miles. And even in a big ol’ transport van that might get 10mpg, that's still not even 3 gallons of gasoline. WOW! Talk about an easy and effective change!

Additionally, these candles are scented. Anything that is fragranced synthetically could be hiding phthalates, and I think it's best to stay far, far away from them.

Plus, these candles are packaged in plastic. Sadly, as useful and versatile as plastic is, it is completely non-biodegradable and is home to any number of scary and potentially hazardous chemicals. For everything you'd ever want to know about plastic, check out one of my favorite blogs, Fake Plastic Fish.

And lastly, these candles came from Target. Much to Dan's dismay, I am a BIG Target fan. Bright colors, an abundance of accessories, shoes, trendy clothes, music, food, and kitchen supplies all in one place? Heaven! But when given the chance, I always feel better if I try to put my dollars in the pocket of a person rather than a faceless, nameless corporation. And knowing that our purchasing these candles helps the nice folks at Mole Hollow make a living feels really good.

Well, I know I pretty much just snowpiled you with links to this and that, and quite frankly, I am pooped! So I’m off to bed! I wish you all the best of luck in the New Year and may all of your resolutions involve more chocolate!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Eco Update #2

Alright, I want to prepare you for this. We at the Garden Gables Inn have made a revolutionary and unprecedented ecological decision. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to make this happen. Months of planning, debating, conference calling, consulting, and editing have finally come to fruition. Are you ready?

We started recycling.

Boring, I know. I’m sorry! Big, awesome, exciting things will come, I promise. But how else was I supposed to get excited about recycling? Its... recycling. But it’s something that we weren’t doing, was easy to incorporate, and has a big impact. I didn’t even know how big until I started this post. How big you say? I’m so glad you asked...


-Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch. Energy savings from recycling aluminum in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.

-Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months.

-Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled: 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.

-26 recycled PET bottles equals a polyester suit. 5 recycled PET bottles make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket.

-If every American household recycled just one out of every ten HDPE bottles they used, we’d keep 200 million pounds of the plastic out of landfills every year.

Holy carrots!

I know that when I’m at home and I open up a can of soup, it sometimes seems like way too much work to rinse it out and walk it over to the recycling bin. But statistics like this help me realize that every little bit actually means something.

So even though recycling seems like a silly, insignificant, and common change to make, it’s worth posting about. Because it really isn’t silly or insignificant. And if it seems common, that’s great! I’m all for good things being common.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Eco Update Number One

Going green is all about baby steps. Changing light bulbs, keeping your tires inflated, turning the heat down a degree or two, all that stuff. Oftentimes it feels like these things just plain don't matter, but every little bit helps! In fact, according to Carbonrally.com, merely keeping your tires properly inflated will save up to 29lbs of carbon in one month. How cool is that!

Therefore, in the interest of starting with small, maintainable changes here at the Inn, our first step was to replace our no-calorie sweetener. This change is great because not only will it positively affect human health, but it will also reduce the use of various industrial chemicals. You see, when things like Splenda and Equal are made, chemicals (of varying degrees of toxicity, and environmental impact) are utilized. By not purchasing the product that uses these chemicals, we're avoiding the use of them altogether. It's a win-win because we get to provide a delicious and more healthful alternative to you and we get to feel good about minimizing our ultimate environmental impact.

I've compiled a whole bunch of information on the various sweeteners available on the market. Hopefully this gives you an idea of why we decided to make the switch:

Saccarin – Sweet ‘n’ Low

-Definitely causes cancer in rats and mice.

-Has not conclusively been found to cause cancer in humans, but Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests erring on the side caution due to unknown risk level for fetuses and children.

-Also belongs to class of chemicals called sulfonamides which can cause allergic reactions in those allergic to sulfa drugs. The product is not mandated to carry an allergy warning on its label.

Aspartame – Nutra Sweet, Equal

-Definitively amplifies the effects of depression. One study was cut short due to the severity of Aspartame’s effects on depressed patients.

-Some people are susceptible to headaches as a result of aspartame consumption

-May be a mild carcinogen. Studies performed worldwide have found conflicting results, so no definitive answer is currently available.Center for Science in the Public Interest lists this as a food "to be avoided, not worth any risk"

Sucralose – Splenda

-Is the newest nonnutritive sweetener on the market, was only approved for common use in 1999. Therefore, no long-term human studies on its affect on humans have been done.

-“According to the book Sweet Deception, sucralose is made when sugar is treated with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature.” Uses and heath and environmental impacts of each of these chemicals can be found online, but some uses include: creation of nerve gases, creation of photo film, vinyl production, and automotive fuel. Trityl Chloride is listed as an environmentally hazardous material.

-Chlorine is present in sucralose. Ingestion of chlorine causes “corrosive tissue damage of the gastrointestinal tract.” It is thought that this may lead to various digestive cancers.

Acesulfame K – Food additive (common in chewing gum and candy)

-Contains methylene chloride (known human carcinogen)

-Long-term effect studies have not been conducted

On the other hand, here is some information on our new sweetener:

Erythritol – Z-Sweet

-60%-80% as sweet as table sugar

-Unlike other sugar alcohols (sorbitol, manitol, xylitol) erythritol is absorbed by the body, so it will not cause any of the gastrointestinal affects sugar alcohols are known for.

-Does not affect blood-sugar levels

-Produced by fermenting glucose with a specific strain of yeast.

-Erythritol cannot be digested by oral bacteria so it does not contribute to tooth decay.

I tried finding dangers, side effects, or long-term health concerns for Erythritol, but happily, nothing came up! This is why we’ve chosen to provide our guests with Z-sweet. It is naturally produced, has no side effects, tastes great, and is safe for diabetics, dieters, children, adults, and even those who just want to avoid tooth decay. If you've never tried Z-sweet before, I hope you'll give it a try the next time you're at the Inn. It's great in tea. I just finished my cup, in fact.

Safe Eating and Happy Greening Everyone!

~Brande N.

Primary sources:

http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/article.htm (all pages)

http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/chlorine_tech.htm

as well as various Google searches.

-When researching environmental topics I am always conscious to check my sources. I will never use a source that comes from the industry in question (i.e. using a statistic on the Exxon-Mobile website that talks about carbon emissions related to gasoline). If possible I try to use consumer advocacy groups such as the CSPI and EWG.

-I always ensure that I have several sources for anything that I post.

-I always start my research from an unbiased stance, then continue being first negatively biased and then positively. For example, when researching Saccharin I will search "Saccharin" first and take note of various statistics and studies. Then I will do a second and third search of "Saccharin hazards/side effects/dangers" and one of "Saccharin good/safe/conspiracy". This ensures that I am getting as much information as possible from each side. This also allows me to look for biases in research from both sides.

New Camera

We just got a new camera for the Inn. I've spent the last few days with it tucked in my pocket, snapping silly photos at random times. Here's a few of the one's I've taken this week:








All of these are straight out of camera (mostly because I don't actually have Photoshop) except for a bit of cropping and shrinking. My favorite kind of photography is Food Photography, so expect to see some posts involving biscotti and cookies and omelets and pancakes and waffles and all other sorts of delicious Garden Gables goodies.

Oh! And here's a fun little update: We got in some samples from Dean's Beans Coffee. It's locally roasted, organic, fair-trade certified, and mighty tasty. We're also trying out another local brand, so I'll keep you updated when we decide on a local coffee. Yum!


Much love 'n' Stuff,
~Brande N.

Eco-nnouncement

Yesterday’s silly post was a prelude to introducing the fact that The Garden Gables Inn is going green! And not in a superficial, “Jumping into the green market because it’s trendy” sort of way, but for real. We genuinely care about the environment and feel that it is not just optional to make strides to care for it; it’s a responsibility.

From now on I’ll be posting a weekly update on changes we’re making, as well as goals, improvements, and some statistics and facts to show the impact every little change makes. I hope you’ll give us some feedback in the comments section. Have you ever owned a bamboo shower curtain? Tell me how you liked it. Have solar panels at home? How do they work for you? Know a local farmer that has the best eggs this side of the Connecticut River? Tell me about it! I love to get feedback and firsthand experience is priceless.

Thanks in advance for your kindness and input. More updates soon!

With Love,
Brande N.

My favorite things

Fair-traded coffees with loc’ly made cookies
Organic veggies and cage-free roast chicken
Plastic free products sustainably made
These are a few of my favorite things

Reading “green” bloggers and making “green” changes
Recycled, upcycled, handmade, carbon neutral,
Avoiding synthetics, enjoying real foods
These are a few of my favorite things

Shopping at Co-Ops with totes made of cotton
Smelling the roses, enjoying the sunshine
Loving the earth cuz it’s one of a kind
These are a few of my favorite things

When the smog chokes,
When the trash heaps,
When I’m feeling sad…
I simply pursue all my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad!