One of today’s finest journalists, Naomi Klein, flips the usual relationship between climate science and activism in the New Statesman article How science is telling us all to revolt. For a long time, climate science has informed activism. Now activism is becoming a measurable factor that scientists are accounting for in looking at climate change. Here’s to being a grain of sand among many in the gears of the fossil fuel machine.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
On the scientific merit of sand in the gears
One of today’s finest journalists, Naomi Klein, flips the usual relationship between climate science and activism in the New Statesman article How science is telling us all to revolt. For a long time, climate science has informed activism. Now activism is becoming a measurable factor that scientists are accounting for in looking at climate change. Here’s to being a grain of sand among many in the gears of the fossil fuel machine.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Ever built a mobile community workspace?
In the last few years we’ve come up with great projects that require a space to meet, store materials, hold workshops and be accessible to the different communities that make up Roslindale.
We think the key to realizing these projects is a mobile community workspace. We know that this kind of mobile workspace can be successful because one of our board members, Beth Ireland, is part of the collaborative art team Turning Around America, a mobile education project that brings art education to underserved communities. The Turning Around America team created the Mobile Work Shop, a van with a full woodworking shop and living space, and Sanctuary, a sustainable trailer that’s also a 2D art studio. www.turningaroundamerica.com.
 |
| Picture something like this! |
The mobile space will allow us to store materials for tool and seed swaps, tree and garden workshops, and projects at the farmers market.
We’re mobilizing for this project now. Please join us! Let us know if you have any interest in building, fundraising for, documenting, and using a Rozzie Mobile Community Space.
Want some inspiration? Check out the Turning Around America Sanctuary mobile workshop and sustainable trailer.
Please join us.
- Amy, Beth, Eric, Kim, Pam, and the rest of us at GreeningRozzie
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Hold the next mayor accountable
The Mayor's race is in the home stretch! Now’s the time to sign the Neighborhoods for Climate Accountability climate action pledge to hold the next mayor accountable for taking action on climate change.
Let’s make sure the next mayor of Boston uses the Menino administration’s environmental record as a springboard, and that the good ideas and lofty rhetoric of the campaign turn into measurable progress on tackling climate change.
Let’s make sure the next mayor of Boston uses the Menino administration’s environmental record as a springboard, and that the good ideas and lofty rhetoric of the campaign turn into measurable progress on tackling climate change.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Boston mayoral candidates talk climate
The environmental views of the Boston mayoral candidates are coming into focus. Read their responses to the Neighborhoods for Climate Accountability questionnaire about climate change. Neighborhoods for Climate Accountability is a coalition of neighborhood green groups.
Also, read candidates' responses to the Boston Globe's environmental questionnaire, and candidates' statements from Boston Greenfest's August 16 Mayoral EcoForum.
We also posted about the Boston green mayor forum held on July 9.
And don't miss the Boston City Council District 5 Candidate Forum, on Thursday, September 12 from 5:45 to 8:30 at Saint Nectarios Church, 39 Belgrade Ave.
Also, read candidates' responses to the Boston Globe's environmental questionnaire, and candidates' statements from Boston Greenfest's August 16 Mayoral EcoForum.
We also posted about the Boston green mayor forum held on July 9.
And don't miss the Boston City Council District 5 Candidate Forum, on Thursday, September 12 from 5:45 to 8:30 at Saint Nectarios Church, 39 Belgrade Ave.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Colombian village’s story inspires dreams of sustainable communities
By Hannah Pullen-Blasnik
In July, the sustainability book group discussed the book Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman. This true story chronicles the vision Paolo Lugari sets out to make a reality: a sustainable, energy-efficient community in the llanos of Colombia, one of the most inhospitable environments in existence. He reasoned that if a village could survive agriculturally, economically, and artistically in the war-ravaged Colombian llanos, a village could survive anywhere in the world.
Although the odds seemed stacked against them, slowly a village sprouted from the infertile soil; a village run on wind turbines converting the mild breezes into energy, efficient water pumps that tapped water sources that had previously seemed inaccessible, solar-powered kettles that sterilized the water so it was suitable for drinking, and much more.
The most amazing feat they accomplished was to turn the fallow savanna into a beautiful rainforest. Starting with a single pine tree that managed to grow, the village planted two million pine trees that encouraged the regrowth of a previously extinct rainforest, thereby re-establishing an entire lost ecosystem.
At the book group meeting, our discussion started with the awe of a small village regrowing an entire rainforest. In order to meet their goal of two million trees, the villagers worked 24/7 planting trees, each taking a shift after finishing their normal workday performing other tasks for the community. The pine trees, in addition to giving root to the rainforest, provided a source of economic stability for the village as they collected the pine resin to sell. Once the pines became old, they cut them down to use as biofuel so as to use every aspect of the pines. The pines were eventually replaced by the natural growth, serving as a starting point that allowed a natural rainforest to reemerge.
We then approached the big question: can it be replicated? Does Gaviotas serve as a plan for the future, for other seemingly inhospitable environments, or is it simply a one-time miracle? In creating Gaviotas, Paolo Lugari certainly seemed to think it could be replicated. He specifically placed Gaviotas in the relatively inhospitable llanos to prove that villages can be created anywhere. He was concerned with the world facing overpopulation and viewed these environments as new habitats for people to live in. He devised the village as a model society for the third world, by the third world. But not every Gaviotas will have a Paolo Lugari to guide them. Was Lugari himself essential to the village’s survival?
In Maine, paper companies have tried to regrow the forests by planting trees for all the trees being cut down. However, it does not take on the same life that the forest once had, as the variety in plant life that creates the forest is missing. These forests are not regrowing in the way Gaviotas regrew a forest in the llanos. In fact, although Gaviotas was created over twenty-five years ago, nowhere else have people been able to replicate the amazing success Gaviotas had on a comparable scale.
Perhaps the most important ingredient to Gaviotas’ success was found in the social structure they established. In the village, there was no hierarchy. In the community everyone was equal, and everyone was expected to do work to help the entire community survive. They met with many obstacles in their struggle for success, and all villagers were involved in thinking up solutions to the problems again and again until they met with success. There are many inventions that can be taken away from their experience, but maybe the most important takeaway is the journey they went through and the community they built, rather than the incredible destination they eventually arrived at.
In July, the sustainability book group discussed the book Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman. This true story chronicles the vision Paolo Lugari sets out to make a reality: a sustainable, energy-efficient community in the llanos of Colombia, one of the most inhospitable environments in existence. He reasoned that if a village could survive agriculturally, economically, and artistically in the war-ravaged Colombian llanos, a village could survive anywhere in the world.
Although the odds seemed stacked against them, slowly a village sprouted from the infertile soil; a village run on wind turbines converting the mild breezes into energy, efficient water pumps that tapped water sources that had previously seemed inaccessible, solar-powered kettles that sterilized the water so it was suitable for drinking, and much more.
The most amazing feat they accomplished was to turn the fallow savanna into a beautiful rainforest. Starting with a single pine tree that managed to grow, the village planted two million pine trees that encouraged the regrowth of a previously extinct rainforest, thereby re-establishing an entire lost ecosystem.
At the book group meeting, our discussion started with the awe of a small village regrowing an entire rainforest. In order to meet their goal of two million trees, the villagers worked 24/7 planting trees, each taking a shift after finishing their normal workday performing other tasks for the community. The pine trees, in addition to giving root to the rainforest, provided a source of economic stability for the village as they collected the pine resin to sell. Once the pines became old, they cut them down to use as biofuel so as to use every aspect of the pines. The pines were eventually replaced by the natural growth, serving as a starting point that allowed a natural rainforest to reemerge.
We then approached the big question: can it be replicated? Does Gaviotas serve as a plan for the future, for other seemingly inhospitable environments, or is it simply a one-time miracle? In creating Gaviotas, Paolo Lugari certainly seemed to think it could be replicated. He specifically placed Gaviotas in the relatively inhospitable llanos to prove that villages can be created anywhere. He was concerned with the world facing overpopulation and viewed these environments as new habitats for people to live in. He devised the village as a model society for the third world, by the third world. But not every Gaviotas will have a Paolo Lugari to guide them. Was Lugari himself essential to the village’s survival?
In Maine, paper companies have tried to regrow the forests by planting trees for all the trees being cut down. However, it does not take on the same life that the forest once had, as the variety in plant life that creates the forest is missing. These forests are not regrowing in the way Gaviotas regrew a forest in the llanos. In fact, although Gaviotas was created over twenty-five years ago, nowhere else have people been able to replicate the amazing success Gaviotas had on a comparable scale.
Perhaps the most important ingredient to Gaviotas’ success was found in the social structure they established. In the village, there was no hierarchy. In the community everyone was equal, and everyone was expected to do work to help the entire community survive. They met with many obstacles in their struggle for success, and all villagers were involved in thinking up solutions to the problems again and again until they met with success. There are many inventions that can be taken away from their experience, but maybe the most important takeaway is the journey they went through and the community they built, rather than the incredible destination they eventually arrived at.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Harness the sun to power a do-it-yourself space heater
By Hannah Pullen-Blasnik
Most
people agree that steps must be taken to stop climate change, but often
it seems like such a big task that it’s daunting to figure out what you
can do to help. But what if you could spend one afternoon making a
kid-friendly project from recycled materials that could actually make a
difference in your home’s energy usage? It is possible with window box
passive solar heaters.
Passive
solar heating is heat generated by capturing the sun’s energy without
using any mechanical devices, other energy inputs, or physical effort.
With a smart design, it’s possible to capture the sun’s energy and
transform it into heat without using a power source – providing you with
a bit of free heating!
Imagine
a car sitting out in a sunny parking lot in the summer. It can easily
reach 120 degrees inside because heat from the sun comes in through the
windows and gets trapped inside. In the same way, passive solar heating
can be applied to houses – it’s all a matter of design.
The
most common form of passive solar heating for houses is a passive solar
building design. This is put into place as the house is built using
elements like special windows, window orientation, and tiles for the
floor that absorb heat well. But what can you do if you’re not planning
to redesign your whole house? In this case, you can consider building a
windowbox.
A
windowbox passive solar heater is a mechanism for capturing heat from
the sun. Put it in a window and, when the sun is out, more heat flows
into your house.
It’s
relatively easy to make one. The first step is constructing a box that
can be placed in a window similarly to an air conditioner. The box has
clear sides across from each other and is filled with empty aluminum
cans (e.g. seltzer cans, beer cans) that are painted black. The dark
cans absorb heat from the sun, and as the heated air rises and comes out
a hole near the top of the box, colder air is pulled in from a hole by
the base of the box and, in turn, heated.
So,
it is possible to make recycled materials into a passive solar heater.
The question is, how practical is this, and who is it useful for? It
works well as a way to save energy for someone who spends a good portion
of the day in one room, such as in a home office. This way, the heat
for the house could be significantly lowered while the room in use
remains at a comfortable temperature.
The
amount of heat produced by a windowbox heater is largely dependent on
size, shape, and window orientation. It must be placed in a
southern-facing window for maximum efficiency. An efficient passive
solar heater can heat air an average of 20 degrees on sunny days. For
example, if the windowbox heater is placed in a room that has a
temperature of 62 degrees, it will heat the air that passes through it to 82 degrees.
Generally,
a windowbox heater works best as an additional heat source, similar to a
portable space heater. However, unlike a portable space heater, it
doesn’t use any energy and is made from recycled materials. It’s also a
fun activity for both kids and adults to enjoy!
For more information about passive solar heating, visit http://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/stories/heres-how-passive-solar-energy-works
For example calculations by BTU/h from a windowbox compared to a portable heater, check out http://sunsystemdesigns.blogspot.com/2013/01/solar-window-heater-btu.html.
To see windowboxes as art for sale, check out the cool design of these products! Pre-made and ready for your window: http://www.heatstick.com/_AirMaze.htm
Mayoral candidates bid to out green each other
By Eric Smalley
The Boston green mayor forum held on July 9 at Suffolk Law School featured plenty of green testimonials from the nine candidates who participated. The candidates also offered several interesting ideas and numerous pledges for specific actions and goals.
The candidates agreed that it’s critical to reduce carbon emissions by making buildings energy-efficient, shifting energy consumption to renewable sources, and getting people out of their cars. They also recognized the threat climate change poses to our sealevel city. Hurricane Sandy was invoked numerous times.
Here are some highlights:
GreeningRozzie is joining with other green groups in the city to develop an environmental positions questionnaire for the candidates. Stay tuned for the results.
The Boston green mayor forum held on July 9 at Suffolk Law School featured plenty of green testimonials from the nine candidates who participated. The candidates also offered several interesting ideas and numerous pledges for specific actions and goals.
The candidates agreed that it’s critical to reduce carbon emissions by making buildings energy-efficient, shifting energy consumption to renewable sources, and getting people out of their cars. They also recognized the threat climate change poses to our sealevel city. Hurricane Sandy was invoked numerous times.
Here are some highlights:
- Charlotte Golar-Richie, like many other candidates, said she’d tap experts on climate change and alternative energy. Unlike the other candidates, she offered a name: Stanford professor Mark Jacobson. If you don't know who he is, naming an academic from the West Coast would seem to be a risky move for someone seeking office in Boston, given the large number of brilliant minds just across the river at Harvard and MIT. However, Jacobson stands out for showing that it is technologically and economically feasible to shift our economy entirely to renewable energy in the next few decades.
- Rob Consalvo declared that climate change would be his number one priority as mayor. He called for Boston to be a carbon-neutral city by 2050, upping the ante on Mayor Menino's goal of reducing Boston's carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
- John Connolly called for 100 megawatts of installed solar electricity by 2020, which would quadruple the current goal. He also called for all municipal buildings to be zero net energy by 2025.
- Felix Arroyo called for the city to divest from fossil fuels.
GreeningRozzie is joining with other green groups in the city to develop an environmental positions questionnaire for the candidates. Stay tuned for the results.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Markey, Obama and the Keystone Pipeline
By Pam Sinotte
On the morning of June 12, 2013, around 60 Massachusetts residents and climate activists of all ages gathered to protest outside Northeastern University’s Reggie Lewis Center, where President Obama was scheduled to speak. Many of us voted for President Obama. We were present to send one clear message to the President: stand with Congressman Markey in his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.
The proposed pipeline would transport tarsands oil from Canada through the US to Gulf Coast refineries and, ultimately, many activists believe, be shipped overseas. Famed climate scientist James Hansen has warned that, if approved, the Keystone XL pipeline, would exacerbate global warming.
President Obama, who has yet to announce whether or not he will approve KXL, was in Boston to rally voters to support Congressman Ed Markey in his bid to join the U.S. Senate.
I shared the task of holding a banner reading “Stand with Markey STOP KEYSTONE XL” (far right).
Click on the link below to co-sign act.350.org’s open letter to President Obama.
http://act.350.org/signup/an-open-letter-to-president-obama/
On the morning of June 12, 2013, around 60 Massachusetts residents and climate activists of all ages gathered to protest outside Northeastern University’s Reggie Lewis Center, where President Obama was scheduled to speak. Many of us voted for President Obama. We were present to send one clear message to the President: stand with Congressman Markey in his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.
The proposed pipeline would transport tarsands oil from Canada through the US to Gulf Coast refineries and, ultimately, many activists believe, be shipped overseas. Famed climate scientist James Hansen has warned that, if approved, the Keystone XL pipeline, would exacerbate global warming.
President Obama, who has yet to announce whether or not he will approve KXL, was in Boston to rally voters to support Congressman Ed Markey in his bid to join the U.S. Senate.
I shared the task of holding a banner reading “Stand with Markey STOP KEYSTONE XL” (far right).
Click on the link below to co-sign act.350.org’s open letter to President Obama.
http://act.350.org/signup/an-open-letter-to-president-obama/
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Recycling a Tree
By Amy Galblum
Sadly, I had to take down a very old sugar maple tree in my yard this past winter. It had lost a considerable portion of bark below a large dead branch, plus it was close to, and leaning toward my house. Two arborists concurred that it was time to go. I am telling this part of the story because I still feel badly about losing that tree, but what makes me feel a little better about it is that I was able to recycle most of the tree.
I had the tree removal company leave the wood chips in my yard and I've used them to mulch my garden. I also salvaged hundreds of board feet of lumber by hiring a guy with a portable sawmill to mill the wood right in my driveway. The wide maple slabs are beautiful and are in fact ‘spalted’ which means the grain has a pattern of dark lines created by an invading fungus. It will take a year or more for the wood to dry and I expect it will yield a lifetime of cabinets, counters and other projects. Here are some pictures of the sawmill in action:
Sadly, I had to take down a very old sugar maple tree in my yard this past winter. It had lost a considerable portion of bark below a large dead branch, plus it was close to, and leaning toward my house. Two arborists concurred that it was time to go. I am telling this part of the story because I still feel badly about losing that tree, but what makes me feel a little better about it is that I was able to recycle most of the tree.
I had the tree removal company leave the wood chips in my yard and I've used them to mulch my garden. I also salvaged hundreds of board feet of lumber by hiring a guy with a portable sawmill to mill the wood right in my driveway. The wide maple slabs are beautiful and are in fact ‘spalted’ which means the grain has a pattern of dark lines created by an invading fungus. It will take a year or more for the wood to dry and I expect it will yield a lifetime of cabinets, counters and other projects. Here are some pictures of the sawmill in action:
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Kids Gardening Day at the Sumner
GreeningRozzie organized a “Kids Gardening Day” with the Afterschool K1 and K2 kids program of the Charles Sumner School on April 30, 2013. What a wonderful experience to teach our kids the importance of plants, flowers and trees in our community!
We planted marigold seeds and some green bean seeds in milk carton containers. These milk cartons were recycled from the kid’s daily breakfast and/or lunches. That brought us to the topic of recycling and how we can help the Earth by recycling at home.
These are just a few of the comments that the kids shared with me after our gardening day:
“Flowers need oxygen and water to grow”
“The environment needs more flowers to make it pretty and a happy place”
“Plants and trees help the earth”
“If we recycle we can save the world”
“We save money if we recycle because we use things over and over and over”
“If we don’t recycle the earth will “suck-up” the stuff we leave behind and that is not good for the earth”
“Flowers need love”
Many of them expressed their interest in gardening again in the future.
One of the things that I told the kids was that we have to love our seeds in order for them to grow, so one of the kids suggested we should sing to our seeds so they can sprout to become beautiful flowers.
As kids they see that we love them, sing to them, feed them, nourish them and so this is what they want to do to help our seeds grow. What they see from us as parents is what they will do later on, so if we take care of the environment and our community now, they will follow our example and make it a better one in the future.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Global Village Construction Set
Check out the Global Village Construction Set. It’s a do-it-yourselfer’s guide to building 50 industrial machines, including a tractor, well-drilling rig, plasma cutter, wind turbine and 3D printer. It’s a great resource for those building self-sufficient, sustainable communities.- Eric Smalley
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Roslindale out in force for Boston Shines
By Jeremy BinghamOn Saturday, April 27th people from across the Roslindale community and beyond gathered to support people of the community surrounding Healy Field in cleaning their streets and planting sunflowers.
As part of the days’ events, GreeningRozzie gave away around 300 sunflower seeds donated by Allandale Farm to people from the community and other participants. Each sunflower sequesters roughly 6 g of carbon dioxide. So if all the seeds are planted and grow into sunflowers that adds up to 1.8 kg!
Participants included monks, neighbours, students, city officials and local development groups. The event was organised through the combined efforts of the city, Casserly House, Habitat for Humanity, Councilman Rob Consalvo's office, Temple Viet Nam, and GreeningRozzie. It was wonderful to see such a broad and enthusiastic group get together and work to improve the place we live. It speaks to the unique spirit of Roslindale, where the diversity of our population breeds a strong sense of cohesion instead of confrontation.
It felt so uplifting to walk the streets on Saturday and see folks from all walks of life taking the time to take care of our shared spaces and community, getting their hands dirty to keep Roslindale shining.
In the wake of the horrific events two weeks ago the mantra of the greater Boston area has been "Boston Strong", and it is these kind of collective community efforts that foster this strength. It is events like the cleanup on Saturday that reinforce that it is far more than tragedy that bring the people of Boston together to support one another.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The 100 pound challenge
By Aviva Furman
There are many great reasons to eat local. Reducing your food miles and the packaging that enters the waste stream are just a few.
The Roslindale Farmer’s Market is a wonderful place to obtain fresh locally grown produce, but many home gardeners are choosing to grow their own vegetables. Just how much can a Rozzie apartment dweller grow in a Boston summer? I'll be answering that question with a 100 pound challenge.
With a sunny deck and a community garden plot, I'll be attempting to grow 100 pounds of produce this summer. Sounds like a lot? You can follow my progress on my 100 Pound Challenge blog. As of mid April, it is 2 pounds down, 98 to go. I invite other local gardeners to do their own 100 pound challenges. Let’s see how much local food the residents of Roslindale can grow.
There are many great reasons to eat local. Reducing your food miles and the packaging that enters the waste stream are just a few.
The Roslindale Farmer’s Market is a wonderful place to obtain fresh locally grown produce, but many home gardeners are choosing to grow their own vegetables. Just how much can a Rozzie apartment dweller grow in a Boston summer? I'll be answering that question with a 100 pound challenge.
With a sunny deck and a community garden plot, I'll be attempting to grow 100 pounds of produce this summer. Sounds like a lot? You can follow my progress on my 100 Pound Challenge blog. As of mid April, it is 2 pounds down, 98 to go. I invite other local gardeners to do their own 100 pound challenges. Let’s see how much local food the residents of Roslindale can grow.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Greedy Lying Bastards details anti-climate-science PR campaign
Last week I went with some GreeningRozzie friends to see the film Greedy Lying Bastards, a documentary about the public relations machinery behind climate change denial.
The film lays bare the decades-long PR campaign to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt about climate change science. It explores the campaign’s puppet masters in the fossil fuel industry and the industry’s pernicious influence in Congress. Greedy Lying Bastards nicely shows the real-life consequences of the campaign’s stalling tactics in the devastation caused by the 2012 Colorado wildfires.
Though I knew most of the information in Greedy Lying Bastards, it was a powerful experience to have it presented in a single, visually rich package. Here’s the New York Times review of the film: A Blunt Instrument in the Climate War.
Here's the trailer:
The movie’s brief run in the theaters is over, so watch for it when it comes out on DVD.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Making Maple Syrup in the City
By Amy Galblum
I am starting my third year of making maple syrup in Roslindale from several 100+-year-old sugar maple trees surrounding my house. I got started with 4 maple taps (about $3.50 each), a covered metal bucket ($22) and a “how-to” book on backyard sugaring.
Maple sugaring is pretty simple. Sap runs in maple trees in the spring when the days begin to warm up. Sugaring starts when the daytime temperatures are above freezing (32 degrees) and night temperatures dip below freezing. That first warm day is the signal to head outside with a drill, taps and a hammer.
With a 3-quarter-inch drill bit, I drilled holes through the bark about an inch deep and gently hammered a tap into each hole. Large trees can support 3 or 4 taps but smaller trees are better off with just one. Clear almost tasteless sap begins running just as soon as the tap is set.
I have one traditional, covered metal bucket and also use clean one-gallon plastic (milk) jugs with a quarter sized hole cut out near the top. The milk jugs are cheap and almost preferable because the amount of sap collected can be seen from the kitchen window, and they can be swapped out – full ones removed and empty ones hung up.
Maple sap generally runs for about 6-8 weeks and stops when the night temperatures warm up so there is no longer an overnight freeze. At that point taps should be pulled out.
Processing the sap over the weeks it is running is constant. My large trees produce almost a gallon of sap from each tap every day on a warm day. Sap can spoil like milk so it must be processed promptly or kept cold. The first year I was able to stash gallon jugs of sap in a snow-bank on my porch on days when I didn’t have time to boil it down, but when there is no snow, room must be found in the refrigerator.
It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup and this varies from year to year as the sugar content is not constant. With my crude calculations, I found it was closer to 35 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup.
The process of getting from sap to syrup is just boiling. I use a roasting pan stretched over 2 burners, and a large stockpot. There is not much actual work involved in boiling the sap down, just adding more sap as it boils off, and skimming off foam every once in a while. It creates a lot of steam which is why commercial sugaring is done out of doors in what New Englanders call a “sugar shack.” A good stove hood fan is a necessity for boiling indoors.
When the supply of sap is done and the boiling has gone on for a while, the syrup starts to take on a caramel color. At that point it needs to be watched more closely and is best transferred to a small saucepan. As it gets close to the syrup stage, it will begin boiling in little bubbles instead of a rolling boil like water, and will easily boil over if not watched carefully. A candy thermometer is helpful to determine when the syrup is done. Water boils at 212, and maple syrup is ready at 219 (and this of course varies depending on altitude). Five gallons of sap will produce about a pint of syrup in 4 or 5 hours.
The last step is to strain the finished syrup through a few layers of cheesecloth into clean pint jars. Full Jars will seal if they are laid on their sides with the hot syrup covering the lid.
I am starting my third year of making maple syrup in Roslindale from several 100+-year-old sugar maple trees surrounding my house. I got started with 4 maple taps (about $3.50 each), a covered metal bucket ($22) and a “how-to” book on backyard sugaring.
Maple sugaring is pretty simple. Sap runs in maple trees in the spring when the days begin to warm up. Sugaring starts when the daytime temperatures are above freezing (32 degrees) and night temperatures dip below freezing. That first warm day is the signal to head outside with a drill, taps and a hammer.
With a 3-quarter-inch drill bit, I drilled holes through the bark about an inch deep and gently hammered a tap into each hole. Large trees can support 3 or 4 taps but smaller trees are better off with just one. Clear almost tasteless sap begins running just as soon as the tap is set.
I have one traditional, covered metal bucket and also use clean one-gallon plastic (milk) jugs with a quarter sized hole cut out near the top. The milk jugs are cheap and almost preferable because the amount of sap collected can be seen from the kitchen window, and they can be swapped out – full ones removed and empty ones hung up.
Maple sap generally runs for about 6-8 weeks and stops when the night temperatures warm up so there is no longer an overnight freeze. At that point taps should be pulled out.
Processing the sap over the weeks it is running is constant. My large trees produce almost a gallon of sap from each tap every day on a warm day. Sap can spoil like milk so it must be processed promptly or kept cold. The first year I was able to stash gallon jugs of sap in a snow-bank on my porch on days when I didn’t have time to boil it down, but when there is no snow, room must be found in the refrigerator.
It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup and this varies from year to year as the sugar content is not constant. With my crude calculations, I found it was closer to 35 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup.
The process of getting from sap to syrup is just boiling. I use a roasting pan stretched over 2 burners, and a large stockpot. There is not much actual work involved in boiling the sap down, just adding more sap as it boils off, and skimming off foam every once in a while. It creates a lot of steam which is why commercial sugaring is done out of doors in what New Englanders call a “sugar shack.” A good stove hood fan is a necessity for boiling indoors.
When the supply of sap is done and the boiling has gone on for a while, the syrup starts to take on a caramel color. At that point it needs to be watched more closely and is best transferred to a small saucepan. As it gets close to the syrup stage, it will begin boiling in little bubbles instead of a rolling boil like water, and will easily boil over if not watched carefully. A candy thermometer is helpful to determine when the syrup is done. Water boils at 212, and maple syrup is ready at 219 (and this of course varies depending on altitude). Five gallons of sap will produce about a pint of syrup in 4 or 5 hours.
The last step is to strain the finished syrup through a few layers of cheesecloth into clean pint jars. Full Jars will seal if they are laid on their sides with the hot syrup covering the lid.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Portland Climate Action
By Karen Kirchoff
Downtown Portland, Maine was the rally destination for climate activists on January 26 as 1,000 people converged to declare strong opposition to the movement of tar sands oil from Canada through the Northeast to the port of Casco Bay. GreeningRozzie board members Pam Sinotte and I joined two busloads of Massachusetts residents in support of Maine environmentalists who are working to keep the corrosive tar sands oil from their land and waters. The event was coordinated by a coalition of regional environmental groups.
Pam and I teamed up with Jamaica Plain activists from Boston Can (Climate Action Network), JP Greenhouse, and JP Net for the journey. Buses from throughout the northeast arrived in Portland to sonorous Native American drumming and spirited chanting. Creative hats spotted in the crowd included paper mache water fowl covered in tar sand oil, a fedora “Windpower” hat with pinwheels, and a gaggle of fish with a hand- puppet squid holding up a sign that read: “Fossil Fuels = Acid Oceans.” Many participants in the crowd carried signs urging wind and solar energy.
Student representatives from many regional colleges updated us on their efforts to get their universities to divest from fossil fuel companies. Also addressing the crowd were coalition activists, Jill Stein (the MA Green Party candidate), and Maine representatives. The civil disobedience at TransCanada by the Westborough 8 of Massachusetts also made it on the program.
Tar sands oil extraction is devastating the Canadian lands and waters from which it is taken. The pipeline from Canada to Portland, already built, now transports crude oil from Portland to Canada. Reversing that flow of oil is riskier. Tar sands oil poses a threat due to its corrosive, much heavier consistency. Clean-up for a spill requires technology and methods more sosphisticated -- and untested -- than for crude oil spills, which already create environmentally toxic conditions. Tar sands oil extraction also requires more intensive energy and water use. These factors contribute to greater carbon dioxide emissions into an atmosphere already containing more than the 350 parts per million deemed safe for earth’s inhabitants.
GreeningRozzie plans to hold a letter-writing gathering on Saturday, February 2 at 3:00 at Select Café (2 Belgrade Ave.). Gary Rucinski of Boston Citizens Climate Lobby will join us to talk about their effort to get a carbon tax-and-dividend on states’ ballots in 2014. Please join us! RSVP to kmkirchoff@aol.com.
For more information about the event, see www.350MA.org and www.350.org.
Pam and I teamed up with Jamaica Plain activists from Boston Can (Climate Action Network), JP Greenhouse, and JP Net for the journey. Buses from throughout the northeast arrived in Portland to sonorous Native American drumming and spirited chanting. Creative hats spotted in the crowd included paper mache water fowl covered in tar sand oil, a fedora “Windpower” hat with pinwheels, and a gaggle of fish with a hand- puppet squid holding up a sign that read: “Fossil Fuels = Acid Oceans.” Many participants in the crowd carried signs urging wind and solar energy.
Tar sands oil extraction is devastating the Canadian lands and waters from which it is taken. The pipeline from Canada to Portland, already built, now transports crude oil from Portland to Canada. Reversing that flow of oil is riskier. Tar sands oil poses a threat due to its corrosive, much heavier consistency. Clean-up for a spill requires technology and methods more sosphisticated -- and untested -- than for crude oil spills, which already create environmentally toxic conditions. Tar sands oil extraction also requires more intensive energy and water use. These factors contribute to greater carbon dioxide emissions into an atmosphere already containing more than the 350 parts per million deemed safe for earth’s inhabitants.
GreeningRozzie plans to hold a letter-writing gathering on Saturday, February 2 at 3:00 at Select Café (2 Belgrade Ave.). Gary Rucinski of Boston Citizens Climate Lobby will join us to talk about their effort to get a carbon tax-and-dividend on states’ ballots in 2014. Please join us! RSVP to kmkirchoff@aol.com.
For more information about the event, see www.350MA.org and www.350.org.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sustainability Book Group launched with scary math lesson
The GreeningRozzie Sustainability Book Group had its first meeting on Monday, January 14th. We had a lively discussion about Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article Global Warming's Terrifying New Math. Gary Rucinski of Citizens Climate Lobby's Boston Chapter joined us.
We also scheduled the next few Sustainability Book Group readings, which are posted here. You can suggest readings and RSVP for the next meeting here.
We also scheduled the next few Sustainability Book Group readings, which are posted here. You can suggest readings and RSVP for the next meeting here.
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