beantown digest #2

I’m back | Rice vinegar | Crabapples | Reader Submissions | Next SustainaDinner: Friday 11/10

I’m back!

Boy, has it been a busy October. As it should be—it’s harvest season! I’ve been harvesting fruits, vegetables, and the fruits of my efforts. In the middle two weeks of October I took a trip down to North Carolina and Tennessee, using the power of Amtrak and the bicycle to travel to a cob building workshop (and see some cool things along the way). Big ol’ story post incoming on the blog. It took up much of my time in the weeks leading up, with all the preparation. Now I can finally make Sunday plans other than biking!

Rice Vinegar Update

I think I can call my rice vinegar experiment a success. Friends who’ve tasted it say it passes as rice vinegar. The batch with a small amount of added sugar got acidic faster, while the sugar-free brew has experienced a more alcoholic development. Fascinating. They still have a faintly kombucha-like flavor. With the temperatures falling, the second brew is fermenting much more slowly. I think I’ll start another one going, since I have the ingredients already, although it’ll take much longer as it continues to get colder. Anyone want some rice vinegar? I can’t sell it to you, legally.

It’s Crabapple Season

Riding the sour wave of success, I started another vinegar: crabapple scrap vinegar. There are tons of crabapple trees in this area, as they are planted pretty often. If you haven’t seen them, just keep an eye out for trees with roughly cherry-sized apples on them in autumn. I harvested a bowl of crabapples from the same trees I did last year, which were incredibly heavily laden with fruit, cored each little one, and threw them in the oven alongside my housemate’s bread to make baked crabapples. The baked crabapples were delicious. Although they’re much less sweet and more sour than regular apples, crabapples have much more intense apple flavor. When cooked, they sweeten slightly and soften, like normal apples. You can make an amazing crabapple jam, crabapple pie, or mix it in oatmeal with spices and nuts as I did.

I didn’t want to waste the cores that I had put all that effort into cutting out, so knowing about “apple scrap vinegar”, I put them in water, added some sugar, and splashed in a bit of my rice vinegar as starter culture. Three weeks later, they’ve soured mildly into what is really a very delicious, sweet but mildly tart, apple-y drink. I gave it away to someone who liked it even more than me.

Coring crabapples is a great chitchat activity, by the way. I’ll be doing more of it soon. Happy to take anyone to my spot while they last.

Pumpkin Activism

In September I found an event in my calendar I had made last year. It said: “START PUMPKIN ACTIVISM.” I immediately remembered what I had meant.

I remember being dismayed last year by all the rotting, whole pumpkins that persisted on doorsteps long after Halloween. I also remember discovering that I can toast pumpkin seeds in the microwave. These two ideas culminated into the notion that next year, I could do something to promote the prevention of pumpkin waste.

Why toast pumpkin seeds in the microwave rather than the oven or toaster oven? It takes way less energy to run a microwave for the few minutes needed to get seeds toasty. A typical microwave runs at 1200 watts. Multiply power by time to get energy: 1200 W * 5 minutes = 1200 W * 5 minutes * 60 seconds/min = 360 kJ or 100 Wh. Now a typical oven uses energy at a rate of 2.3 kilowatts, so almost double that of a microwave. Including preheating for 15 minutes, roasting seeds for 15 minutes takes about 4140 kJ or 1.15 kWh. That’s 91% less energy! This’ll vary with the amount of seeds, because more microwave time will be needed with more seeds, but the oven time will stay about the same because it fits a lot. This makes the microwave especially advantageous for less than enormous quantities of pumpkin seeds. For roughly one to ten pumpkins or squashes worth of seeds, the microwave wins against the gas oven.

How to roast pumpkin seeds in the microwave: put cleaned-ish (just no big pieces of squash flesh) pumpkin or squash seeds on a microwave safe plate or shallow dish. Spread in a thin layer. Salt if you want (I don’t bother). Microwave ~1 minute at a time, stirring as needed between blasts, until toasted to your liking.

No-Buy November

A guest post by Tim

For the month of November, I’m going to buy nothing. Why? Well, lots of reasons. But the foremost is illustrating a point about the Hard Sell of Sustainability.

The Hard Sell of Sustainability: to avert the worst of the climate crisis, we need to consume less. Less energy, less emissions, less non-renewable resources. Yes, new technology might move the dial a bit, but without consuming less, it’s still gonna be far in the red. That’s just a greenwashing coat of paint, on a house needing new foundations.

And that’s a hard sell, because we’ve been fed from birth that consumption is what makes us happy. So, consuming less means being less happy. Who the heck wants to be less happy!?

But with the Hard Sell comes the Gentle Promise. Yes, we must change how we live our lives. But the changes will make it better. We can stop looking for happiness where we won’t find it, and start looking for it where we will…in nature, in community, in our selves.

So for the month of November, I’m going to buy nothing. And more importantly: I’m going to buy nothing, while still trying to have the happiest, most fulfilling month of my life.

And when I say nothing, I mean absolutely nothing! No food, even…I can get enough from dumpster diving. No “stocking up,” which feels like cheating. I won’t get too into the nitty gritty here, but it’s gonna be a spartan time. And I’m looking forward to it!

I’m looking forward to throwing dance parties in my parlor. To hiking in the woods near my house. To spending time with my loved ones. To spending time with myself.

One reason I choose this month is Buy Nothing Day, a nascent holiday on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It’s kind of a counter-holiday to that *other* one…you know, the one where people get trampled to death. Feel free to join me in some small way.

I’ll also be hosting a party on Buy Nothing Day in Arlington, at the Calvary Church, who are generously allowing me to use their space. There’ll be a free stuff swap, music, refreshments, and just general communal vibes. You can find all the info here…hope to see you there!: https://xrboston.org/action/buy-nothing-day-party/

Good luck doing less consuming, and more cultivating

Reader Contributions

(Soliciting asks and offers for local help of any kind related to sustainability at beantowndigest@gmail.com)

[Tarang | Somerville] recommends “The Green New Deal’s Huge Flaw” by Alex Baca. He says: “It’s extraordinarily written and the very best summary I have found, something to that effect. My point is, I am not going to try to summarize this.”

Next SustainaDinner: Friday November 10th (CORRECTED)

You are cordially invited to the long-awaited next SustainaDinner, Friday November 10th. My place (nearest T stop: Union Square), 6 p.m. to cook, 7 p.m. to eat. Old friends, new friends, and friends yet to be made are all welcome. The only thing not welcome is plastic-packaged food, and animal products! Please email beantowndigest@gmail.com to RSVP, or for any questions and dietary restrictions, which I’m happy to try accommodate. Let’s catch up on sustainability. Let’s catch up on life! IT’S SOUP SEASON!