Author: Kimsmithdesigns

Documentary filmmaker, photographer, landscape designer, author, and illustrator. "Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly" currently airing on PBS. Current film projects include Piping Plovers, Gloucester's Feast of St. Joseph, and Saint Peter's Fiesta. Visit my websites for more information about film and design projects at kimsmithdesigns.com, monarchbutterflyfilm.com, and pipingploverproject.org. Author/illustrator "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden."

FRIENDS- THE OPEN DOOR NEEDS OUR HELP!

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We don’t need to remind our readers what a truly amazing organization is the Open Door, and how they have fed, supported, and uplifted countless members of our community. The Open Door really needs our financial help. Nicole Duckworth shares that the food pantry is already serving more people. The Open Door has lost 40 percent of its revenue due to the Second Glance temporarily closing. And they cannot at this time take food donations because of corvid-19.

Please consider donating money to the Open Door. You can either write a check or click through to Network for Good:

Financial Contributions by Check:

If you would like to help us feed hungry families here on Cape Ann, please send a check, made payable to The Open Door:

The Open Door, 28 Emerson Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930

Donate here through Network for Good 

NEW WAY TO PICK UP FOOD AT THE OPEN DOOR

Beginning Wednesday, March 18: We will move to curbside pick-up; clients are asked not to enter the building. Pull up to the front of our building on Emerson Ave., and a volunteer or staff member will bring you food prepacked for your household size.

If you work during this time, or are quarantined and unable to pick up groceries, please call 978-283-6776 or email gethelp@foodpantry.org.

This change will help to keep our staff and volunteers healthy and able to serve our clients. These measures are, of course, temporary during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, and we look forward to returning to our full-service, full-choice model as soon as it is safe to do so.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

DO YOU NEED HELP PUTTING FOOD ON YOUR TABLE DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK? MESSAGE FROM BACKYARD GROWERS

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COVID-19 is having a direct impact on many families and seniors in our community. We’ve put together a list of resources available to those experiencing food insecurity and hunger at this challenging time. We’re all in this together. For assistance, please see below:

🥕 Project Bread – Food Source Hotline: The toll-free Hotline responds to more than 28,000 calls a year from people across Massachusetts struggling to feed their families. FoodSource Hotline counselors refer callers to food resources in their community as well as provides them with information about school meals, summer meal sites for kids, elder meals programs, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

🥕 The Open Door – The Food Pantry at The Open Door provides emergency groceries to those in need. Community Meals offer free, nutritious meals to those in need of food.

🥕 Gloucester School Food Service Department – The City has established a lunch “Pick-Up Station” at O’Maley Middle School at 312 Cherry St., Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. – noon. All children ages 18 and under, regardless of their Free/Reduced/Full Pay status will receive a FREE complete nutritious bagged lunch daily. The meals are prepared under the same strict nutrition and food safety guidelines that are followed every day in our school kitchens. Meals may not be consumed at the “Pick-Up Station” limiting participants’ interaction and proximity to other participants.

🥕 The Office of the Mayor of the City of Gloucester – If you are self-quarantining or under mandatory quarantine (none as of 3/16) and need food assistance, please contact the Mayor of the City of Gloucester at mayor@gloucester-ma.gov. The City has runners and will drop off a food package to you.

🥕 Backyard Growers will soon be launching a program to make container gardening materials and resources available to our community – putting the power to grow your own food on more doorsteps, patios, back stairs, and backyards throughout the region, in a variety of shapes and sizes. Watch this space.

SHORT AND MAIN COVID-19 UPDATE

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Dear Short & Main customers,

Obviously things are moving pretty fast.  Before Governor Baker’s announcement we had decided to close our dining room and switch to takeout service only.  We are ready to continue serving you in a safe and responsible way.

Place your order over the phone with a credit card and we will deliver to your car on Short Street.  No cash, no signatures, no door handles.
We are of the belief that we can’t be too cautious or too clean.  It’s for that reason that we will not be doing delivery at this time as it adds an extra link in the chain that we’re unable to control.  We hope that you trust us to be diligent and mindful during this time. That trust feels personal to us and we’d like to keep it at all costs.

We will be opening an hour early; 4pm to 9pm for now.

Our public events are obviously canceled but we will still be serving burgers and fried chicken on the first and last Wednesdays of the month.  You can pre-order via phone or email if you’re worried about our popular specials running out.

Let’s FLATTEN THE CURVE together!

-sincerely Short & Main

Wednesday March 25th Burger Night

Friday March 27th Steve Lacey Record Release

Saturday March 28th GIRL lbgtq dance party

Wednesday April 1st Fried Chicken from Green Circle Farm

CORVID-19 UPDATE FROM CAKE ANN

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This has been an unprecedented week and its only Tuesday! After a lot of thought and consulting our team we decided to open and serve our community as long as we are able.

At Cake Ann we have:
– Stepped up hand washing and continue to use all good health practices for safe food handling
– Removed our small seating and waiting area
– Clean the Point of sale after every customer interaction.
– Sanitize all surfaces and equipment on a continuous basis
– Serve coffee to limit cross contamination of equipment
We ask you to:
– You not travel if you and or your family is not well
– Please do not help yourself – we will help you.
– Be patient and realize that we are working in extraordinary times.
– Support your local businesses as you can
– Reschedule – not cancel your existing event.
I am working on online ordering and starting today we will accept prepaid orders that we will be delivered within a window of 4-6 PM in Rockport and Gloucester. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
Thank you very much –

Our team at Cake Ann

TWO UNRELATED BUT JOYFUL SIGNS OF SPRING!

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I look forward to the appearance of these beautiful lavender crocus, a patch that blooms without fail every spring. It has naturalized from a garden probably planted long ago and now springs up along the road’s edge at Niles Pond.

And we had our first sighting of plovers, not Piping Plovers mind you, but Kildeers!

DUCKWORTH’S GIFT CARDS- HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF A WAY TO HELP OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES

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Many share our worries in regard to local small businesses. Our restaurants and the friends who work in these establishments, downtown Main Street retail shops, Cape Ann’s fishermen and lobstermen, the nonprofits that serve our community, artists, writers, photographers, musicians, designers, the list goes on and on. We are all going to be hit hard by this devastating turn of events.

One way in which we can help each other stay afloat is to buy gift cards. It may sound inconsequential, but every purchase will help. Our friends at Duckworth’s have a link to purchase gift cards and it is a great example of one small way we can help. Duckworth’s Gift Cards

Any local business that wants to communicate with their customers and the public about special offerings during these extremely challenging times please feel free to email me (kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com) or email any of our contributors and we will post here. Thank you!

Statement from the Cape Ann Symphony REGARDING UPCOMING CONCERTS 

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To Our Patrons, Supporters and Friends of the Cape Ann Symphony:
Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our patrons, the musicians and our staff, and heeding the advice provided by Massachusetts and Federal authorities about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Board of Directors of the Cape Ann Symphony announces the cancellation of the upcoming concerts scheduled for Sunday March 22nd and for the Musicians Unleashed on April 26.
 We will make a decision as to the status of the concerts scheduled for May 16th and 17th and will notify the public as to the status of these concerts early in April.
We are suspending all ticket sales for all concerts effective immediately. We will be in touch with all ticket holders as soon as possible.
 
Thank you for your patience and understanding. 
       Fran White                                                                        Yoichi Udagawa
       President                                                                          Music Director  & Conductor
       Cape Ann Symphony                                                      Cape Ann Symphony

CAPE ANN COFFEES IS OPEN FOR TAKE-OUT!

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Cape Ann Coffees is open for take-out!

 

WOODMAN’S IS OPEN FOR TAKE OUT MENU!

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Woodman’s is open for take out!  Click here to see the menu.

 

PASTAIO VIA CORTA – ONLINE IS UP AND READY TO ORDER!

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MESSAGE FROM DANIELLE AT PASTAIO:

ONLINE IS UP. We are now accepting online orders. You can visit my website to not only have my dried pasta shipped to you but also some really really amazing specialty pantry items. As usual we still plan to open on March 25th, Wednesday, with the intention of servicing good food for our community here taking the most serious precautions. Your health and ours in the most important and we want to make sure everything goes smoothly. My need now here in my community is to make sure everyone has access to good food, whether it’s local or imported from small farmers, we plan on being fully stocked and providing the best food possible. Stay tuned!

BEAUTIFUL CAPE ANN LIGHT, BEAUTIFUL BRACE COVE

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That rosie pink Cape Ann light –

MARK YOUR CALENDARS – CEDAR ROCK GARDENS OPENS FOR THE SEASON ON APRIL 15TH!

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Cedar Rock Gardens

Opening for the season on April 15th, 2020!

2020 Hours of Operation

Monday 8 am – 4 pm
Tuesday 8 am – 4 pm
Wednesday 9 am – 6 pm
Thursday 8 am – 5 pm
Friday 8 am – 4pm
Saturday 8 am – 4 pm
Sunday 9 am – 3 pm

 

Tomatoes and other hot weather seedlings will be out May 20th, 2020!

Happy Spring!

We are very excited to open for the season on April 15th this year. We have been busy busy seeding and transplanting in the greenhouses to get all the little plants ready to go into your gardens, pots, window boxes and planters! We were so excited the other night to hear the sweet sounds of the spring peepers coming from the pond.

The buds on the honey suckle are blooming, the garlic is pushing through the mulch, the green grass is starting to push for the sun, and the tulips are spreading their leaves. This is the time of year to remember though we still live in New England and we have another three weeks before we “should” start planting outdoors. That being said we are busy planting and seedling many beautiful plants for your gardens in the greenhouse.

We realize that many of you are going to be spending some extra time at home over the next couple of weeks. With such lovely weather, it is a great time to start planning. On this topic, we are planning to open April 15th this year – if there are any changes to that date due to the current events you will be the first to know. We hope you are all staying healthy and keeping calm. We are happy to help in any way we can – please feel free to reach out at any time.

This year we have loaded up the greenhouses with cold tolerant greens and other crops as well as seedlings so when we open in mid April we will have fresh produce for sale at our farm stand along with the cold weather seedlings.

We will be updating our website with a list of plants growing here at Cedar Rock this season  – we started early this year so we could offer a good variety of perennials and included in that will be lots of native and pollinator attracting flowers.  As always we grow everything here at Cedar Rock using practices that meet or exceed organic standards although we are not certified at this time, you can expect happy and healthy plants and produce grown right here on Cape Ann!

The greenhouses are bursting right now with an assortment of great foliage colors – we do not have many blooms on flowers yet but the shapes, sizes and colors of all the leaves are mesmerizing.  We are still using compost tea on all the seedlings and they love it! It helps the plants fight off any foliar diseases that might lurk in the warm and humid climate of a greenhouse . We also released a whole bunch of ladybugs and lacewings in the greenhouses to keep them clean of any bad bugs. Despite their cute little red body with the most symmetrical tiny black spots, ladybugs are ferocious when it comes to snacking on unwanted bugs. We take a lot of pride in the health of our seedlings and doing these preventative measures means no need for spraying harsh chemicals on the plants we grow and come to love over the weeks of tending to their needs.  We have also started applying mycorrhizah to the seedlings before transplanting them to bigger containers. This application of endomycorrhizal fungi and ectomycorrhizal fungi form a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the seedling. The fungi bonds to the roots of the seedling and allows the plant to get more benefit from nutrients and water in the soil.

We will be sending out a seeding schedule in the next couple of weeks. As many of you know, we have a CSA here at the farm and are able to offer a diverse diet of produce and herbs every week. There is still room in our CSA if you have any interest in joining please visit our website for an enrollment form and more information. If you have a large garden at home though we would still like to help you be the most successful. The seed schedule can act as a base for your garden planning we will dd in seed dates if you want to start your own and also transplant dates so you know exactly when we plant all our seedlings in the ground. Look forward to that email in the next few weeks!  We also will be hosting some education events here at the farm over the season and will be adding those to our website soon.
In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine and take care of your neighbors!

All the best,

Elise and Tucker
www.CedarRockGardens.com

We still have room in our 2019 CSA, email us for more information or to sign up!
CedarRockGardens@gmail.com

SWAN ALERT!

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A young Mute Swan arrived at Niles Pond this morning. He /she seems a bit travel weary and spent most of the day sleeping. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see him eat once. This is very unusual behavior for Mute Swans who spend their days alternating between foraging, preening, resting briefly, and then resuming eating.

He at first was closer to shore, but a Coyote was skittering around the edge of the pond this morning and perhaps that is why the young visitor moved to the center of the pond.

You can see that he is very young because he has so much brown in his feathers.

SHORT AND MAIN COVID-19 UPDATE

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Dear Customers,

The health and safety of our staff and customers is of utmost importance to us. We are following the recommendations and updates provided by the Gloucester Health Department. We are taking the additional measures to make keep our restaurant clean and safe:
-We are asking any staff member feeling ill to say home.
-We are asking all staff to wash their hands at regular intervals throughout service.
-We will have hand sanitizer available at the entrance of the restaurant.
-All surfaces in the kitchen and public spaces will be sprayed with a food safe disinfectant spray regularly.

Curbside Pickup: Because we know some people will want to limit their exposure to the public, we are poised for an uptick in to-go orders, and will be adding delivery service as soon as Wednesday the 18th

Our events are still scheduled as planned.  If anything changes we let you now.

Wednesday March 25th Burger Night

Friday March 27th Steve Lacey Record Release

Saturday March 28th GIRL lbgtq dance party

Wednesday April 1st Fried Chicken from Green Circle Farm

CORONAVIRUS MESSAGE FROM OUR FRIENDS AT DUCKWORTH’S

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Hello friends,

We are committed to our collective health and are taking direction from the CDC and ServSafe to keep all of us safe.

We are washing, and washing and washing our hands some more.

We are using a CDC approved bleach solution for cleaning tables in between guests.

All tableware has been sanitized through our high temp dishwasher before it gets to you.

Our compostable straws are individually wrapped.

Door knobs and pulls will be wiped frequently.

We have hand sanitizer in all server stations and the restroom.

We are using single use menus and recycling after each use.

This situation seems to be evolving rapidly and on that note, we fully understand that you may have to cancel last minute. We appreciate that and ask that you give us a quick call to let us know. Health and safety come first.

 

A SOGGY SNOWY OWL FOR A SOGGY DAY

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This sweet messy-faced girl was relaxing on the limb of a craggy tree after what had been a clearly successful morning hunt. She coughed up a pellet while enjoying a rare quiet moment perched in the branches

BEAUTY ON THE WING PREVIEW SCREENING POSTPONED

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Dear Friends,

The Gloucester Stage Company’s preview screening of my forthcoming documentary Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly has been postponed until May. We don’t have a set date yet and I will keep you posted.

If you have already purchased tickets you will be contacted by the GSC box office. You will have the option of a full refund or the ticket my be used at the screening on its new date.

Please forgive any inconvenience and thank you for understanding ❤

 

SUPER FULL MOON SHINING OVER OVER GLOUCESTER HARBOR

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One more Super Full Worm Moon over Gloucester Harbor

SUPER SIMPLE DIY HAND SANITIZER RECIPE

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If your skin breaks out in rashes from harsh chemical additives to personal care products, or you aren’t always near a sink for a thorough 20 second hand washing, here is a simple recipe for homemade hand sanitizer.

1/3 C. Aloe vera gel

2/3 C. Rubbing alcohol (99%)

Few drops of essential oil.

Combine all ingredients.

I had neroli oil on hand, but lavender oil, which has natural antiseptic properties would be even better.

Both essential oils and aloe are available at Common Crow.

Common Crow’s DIY Hand Sanitizer

8 oz.. Isopropyl alcohol, no lower than 70 percent OR Witch Hazel

4 oz. Aloe Vera gel

15 drops of your choice, can combine:

Medieval Mix (Aura Cacia)

Lemon Eucalyptus

Laveneder

Thyme

1.Put essential oils in glass jar and swirl to mix

2. Add alcohol

3. Add Aloe Vera and shake well.

4. Pour into squirt bottles.

Natural antiseptic Lavender

 

 

 

 

CHECK OUT OLIVER’S HARBOR RESTAURANT MENU!

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Recently we had a delightful dinner at Oliver’s Harbor Restaurant. The food was outstanding and equally so, was the service provided by these three sweet ladies!

Jeovanna Miranda, Johayne Miranda, and Caroline Olivera