The Proof is in the Test

Last year was The Year of the Kitchen.  I took one year (and an extra month or so) to renovate our kitchen, from the floor to the ceiling lights.  I worked hard, I learned a lot, and now we have a kitchen I really enjoy working in.  And I spend a lot of time in it.  I've expanded not only my construction know-how, but also my cooking, baking, and kitchen skills, learning how to grind my own grain for bread, ferment vegetables, and make yogurt.  It's been a great year.  (I will eventually get around to sharing some pictures -- I promise.)

This year has been dedicated as The Year of the Garden.  I thoroughly enjoy gardening, and had a community garden plot when we lived in Belchertown.  I credit working in that garden to allowing me to be calm during the interview that led to the job I have now -- and with producing many great vegetables for our table that summer.  Unfortunately, since moving to Hadley, my garden has produced very little.  It is a sad little garden.
I started working on this year's garden in the fall, putting in some soil improvers and building a compost pile of my own, in the hopes that this year my garden would be better and stronger.  I have also already built a pea trellis, purchased my heirloom seeds, and planned my garden map.  Today a visit to the Hadley Garden Center was made, in order to purchase some more of those gardening necessities. However, before purchasing more soil builders (which were on my list), I decided to purchase a soil test instead.  The results of that test follow.

The pH test did not turn out too badly.  It looks like our soil hovers around acid (6.0) -- a suitable level for most veggies.

However, our soil greatly lacks nutrients (I kind of already knew this, but the proof is in the test).  Potash is nearly adequate (perhaps because I added wood ash last year?), but nitrogen and phosphorous are both depleted.  I will need to work on this if I expect my garden to grow.
(I did run a second test from another part of the garden; it turned out a slightly better result in phosphorous and potash, but not nitrogen.)

As I said above, I added some top dressing in the autumn, hoping that some of those delicious nutrients would filter down into the soil over the winter.  Apparently, not enough have.  Time to improve the soil in the garden!

My biggest question in all this -- why isn't that rich Hadley soil that grows all those wonderful vegetables in my garden?  I know, I know -- I don't live on the flood plains....

More on the garden coming later!

All Things Local

I found this article on MassLive today reporting on a group of people who would like to take the idea of the Winter's Farmer's Market in Amherst and expand it into a cooperative store that sells "all things local" -- everything from soap to candles to produce to wool to art and more.

There will be a meeting tonight at Amherst Town Hall at 7pm (and another on May 29) to discuss the project and gauge interest.  People from the local communities are invited to attend and weigh in.  This initiative is in association with Transition Amherst.

I think this sounds like a fantastic idea.  I would love to see a store that offers more of the great things we have in the Valley; a permanent location where local vendors could really display their wares -- and where it's all in one place.  I can imagine so many grand possibilities....

Transition Amherst

Sugaring Season has Arrived

On my way home from work this afternoon, coming up Rt 47, I was excited to see a group of guys tapping and bucketing sugar maples by the side of the road -- lots of metal buckets hanging from lots of trees.  When I arrived home and shared the news, Mr Madley said he had heard one of the Boisverts from the N. Hadley Sugar Shack on the radio this morning talking sugaring and syrup.  Therefore, I am most happy to announce that a visit to the North Hadley Sugar Shack website (which has a new look) shows that they are open for business (as of today)!  Breakfasts are being served and the store is open.  Don't miss your opportunity to have a home-style maple sugar shack breakfast and to pick up some of our delicious local maple syrup.
For more on the Sugar Shack, see last year's post: Hadley Maple Syrup -- good on everything!
Happy sugaring season!

Small Business Saturday

Thanksgiving officially marks the beginning of shopping season.  It's sad that a holiday devoted to gratitude is overrun by advertising and marketing, and I hope that you thought of many things to be thankful for yesterday.  I waited an extra day to post this, just so that I could leave Thanksgiving for thankfulness.

But now it is post-holiday and time for thinking about presents and purchasing and who will get what and where you will get it.  Some of you may have already been at Target or WalMart during the wee small hours of the morning; I'm going to curb my comments on that....  However, Saturday is Small Business Saturday -- a day to be especially mindful of the small local businesses in our community.  We have many small businesses -- restaurants, shops, and more in Hadley, Amherst, Northampton, Deerfield, Greenfield, and all the other towns around.  Please get out on Saturday (or today -- and any other day, of course) and support our local small businesses.

I hope you're looking forward to a happy holiday season!

Play a Game!

I was strolling through Hampshire Mall today, stopping in at various stores looking for various things, when I came across a store not even two weeks old -- Greenfield Games.
What a great store!  This is not a store with a focus on video games and electronics, but rather a store that stocks a multitude of board games, card games, dice games, RPGs, and more.  The walls are lined with family-friendly and party games like Scrabble, Sequence, Rook, Fluxx, chess, checkers, Spot It!, Clue, Apples to Apples, Blokus, Boggle, the Catan series, and more.  There are also educational games like the 10 Days in... games and others (I can't remember them all).  Role-playing games include Warhammer, Pathfinder, Dresden Files, Doctor Who, D&D, SHOCK, and so on.
There are also frisbees, dice (of all shapes and sizes), dominoes, and kites available, as well as comic books, puzzles, and playing pieces.

I am a big fan of games and think they are a great way to pass the time with friends or with family.    They engage the mind, stifle boredom, encourage creative thinking and problem solving, and build relationships.  Small games are good to keep in emergency kits, camping equipment, travel bags, and backpacks.


The game store in Hadley is close to the food court and definitely worth checked out (don't confuse it with GameStop), whether you are just passing time before your movie starts or you have a particular game you're looking for.  (It's never too early to start stock-piling fun supplies for those long winter nights!)

Books @ the East Street Studios

A few weeks ago Mr. Madley and I finally made our way to the East Street Studios one afternoon to check out the used bookstore Grey Matter Books.  What we discovered while we were there was much more than just a store with used books.
Two bookstores inhabit adjoining space at the back of the East Street Studios buildings; their names don't show up on the main signs for the space (we'll explore those later), but they do have their own signs pointing the way.
An unassuming sign for a wonderful little used book & record store.

Mountains and hills and valleys of books (and records), waiting to be picked up, paged through, and possibly even read on one of those chairs or couches just begging to be sat in.

In the space adjoining, through a naturally open doorway, is Troubadour Books.  (I hear tell that there is another Troubadour Books in Hatfield -- a branch or the main -- but I have not gone out of my way to verify its current existence.)

Two bookstores, one basement, about a million books -- fiction, classic, science fiction, first edition, children's, academic, foreign language, vintage, philosophic, bestseller, obscure, art, comic, and more.  One who likes books, or any subject written of in the pages of books, could easily wile away an afternoon (or even a day) roaming the stacks and getting lost in the pages.

Looking for even more in used books?  If you're willing to take a little drive, you can also visit The Bookmill.

The Essentials

The other night, on our way to see The King's Speech at the Amherst Cinema, we walked by the small essentials store that's next door to Tabellas.  We thought maybe we'd stop in for a quick look around -- I've always loved the store and we had plenty of time to spare.
But a note on the door said something to the effect of: Sorry, we're not here anymore.  Because of the current economic situation, a desire to focus more on our special order business, and a need to spend more time with family, we are closing the Amherst location and consolidating to our Northampton location.
I had a mix of feelings about this -- sorrow, because they had to close; happiness, because the Northampton store is staying open (really, I love this store); and respect, because I'm a big fan of people spending more time with their families.

To cut this post short, essentials is a super-cool store, full of funky things for the home, for the baby, for the adult, for the child, for a friend, for the kitchen, for the bathroom....  Stationery, furniture, dishes, baby clothes, stuffed animals, t-shirts, wrapping paper, jewelry, trinkets, bags, books, soaps, perfumes, things with a Euro flair, things with a Korean touch; they even do wedding stuff.  They play music from old records and have a friendly, helpful staff.
Stop in sometime and see what they've got.  It changes regularly -- I discover something new every time I'm there (which isn't nearly as often as I'd like!

So Spicy: SNE Spice Company

Last Friday was excursion time -- a small excursion to nearby places of interest.  One of those places included the Southern New England Spice Company.  You know the place -- you've driven past it on 47 dozens of times but have never stopped in because you never quite knew what it was about and there were never any cars in the lot.  And each time you drove past you thought "One of these days I'll just stop in and see...."

Last Friday was "one of those days," and I stopped in to see.
The public space inside of the SNESC is deceptively small -- just a single room.  But that single room is stocked with large bottles of spices, salad dressings, jams & jellies, dried fruits & veggies, rices & beans, marinades, dips, extracts, oils, salsas, relishes, Mexican chilies, cooking agents, sauces, honey, and more.

Amazing how much variety can fit in one uncrowded room.  If you've ever wanted,needed to stock up on spices, this is the place to do it.  (Preview the list of spices here; an even more extensive list is available at the shop.)

Here's the kicker -- the SNE Spice Co. supplies over 700 restaurants in New England, so if you've ever been frustrated because you can't get that great restaurant taste at home with your kitchen oils and spices, you might want to stop in and see what they have.  They might have just what you're looking for.

Small Business Saturday

As Thanksgiving approaches more and more emphasis and advertising are given over to the feared "Black Friday" -- when all kinds of stores will open their doors to hoards of anxious shoppers who both dread and long for the morning they will rise from their beds at an indecent hour to seek out the biggest and best sales around.  Armed with wallets, credit cards, coupons, and bags, of course.
That's Black Friday.

Saturday is an entirely different story.
This Saturday, November 27, is Small Business Saturday -- a day set aside to support the local small businesses that keep our communities diverse and varied and not like one big strip mall (though Hadley does indeed have one).
There are plenty of reasons to participate in Small Business Saturday -- small businesses reinvest more money into our communities, employ our friends and neighbours, grow more jobs, and are staples of our society.
There are lots of small unique businesses in our valley -- hope you can get out and support a few on Saturday!  I know I'll be out at at least two, maybe even three or four (restaurants count!).  Essentials, Atkins, Local Burger, Rt 9 Diner, Amherst Books, Scandihoovians, Hadley Garden Center, The Gift Chalet, Modern Myths, Ben & Bill's Chocolate... so many options!


So tell me: what is your favourite local small business?

Vintage, Retro, Thrifty: Great Old Clothes

I used to love my vintage clothing stores in Salt Lake City and in Boston.  It was Grunts and Postures in SLC that finally reduced my dependence on my mother's closet and encouraged me to expand my vintage clothing collecting to stores beyond the Salvation Army and Deseret Industries.  Funky, cool, vintage, retro, new -- it had it all, and even though I didn't have much money, I loved what I found and could afford.
Later I moved to Massachusetts, and I found and was directed by other vintage clothing wearers to a number of second-hand stores and vintage clothing stores (included the ever-famous Garment District) to fuel my love of the classic and off-beat looks.  When I relocated to Western MA, however, I had a harder time tracking down the right shops.  Until last Friday.

Roz's Place was perhaps the easiest to find.  Right on Bridge Street in Northampton (where all of these stores are located), it's someplace I walk by monthly, at least.  It has a funky collection for men and women with some new and some old.  The collection rotates seasonally, and right now there is a whole rack of plaid flannel and wool shirts and another whole rack of leather coats.  Of course, there is also a large selection of skirts and dresses and men's and women's shirts and pants and shoes.

But just around the corner on Market Street, nearly hidden behind some other stores, is Uncle Margaret's, a good place for dressy and casual (I found a lovely 50s dress for a wedding I'm attending).  Jewelry, slips, skirts, dresses, men's & women's shirts and pants, clutches and purses, hats, shoes, and even some books. 
No pictures inside the store (that's almost what the sign says).

A couple of storefronts further down Market Street is Retro Genie, recommended to me by the owner of Uncle Margaret's.  Larger than UM's, it carries clothes and accessories, as well as home decor, small furniture, and interesting items.  Unfortunately, most of the clothing of interest hangs from the ceiling, requiring the help of a sales assistant for looking, sizing, browsing, and definitely trying.  However, there were some fabulous pieces hanging up there, if you're willing to ask about them.
Pretty sure this place is dog-friendly, since one of the employees had her adorable young dog (wheaten terrier, I believe) and a customer also brought in a dog.

Sid Vintage I did not have the opportunity to visit.  The store has just relocated from Crafts Avenue onto Main Street and anticipates its grand reopening this month.  Looks like fun, though, and I'm looking forward to getting there.

Just remember -- most vintage & used clothing stores do not accept returns -- so be sure to study your clothing carefully before deciding to purchase.  Look for stains, holes, tears, broken buttons & zippers; smell the underarms for lingering odors; check seams and hems.  Some shops may be willing to bargain down a price if you find a problem they weren't aware of when pricing the item.

If you have another favourite vintage clothing store in the area that I didn't mention here, please leave a comment!  (I'd love to have another store to check out!)