Big Mo Takes on a Little Blog...

Dear Patchers,

I, and my partner, Eddie Donley, opened a little shop downtown, , in June. In November, we will move to our much larger, more permanent home in .

Our goal was to create a business that not only sells fantastic eco-friendly products but focuses on educating on the "whats," "whys" and "hows" of fixing environmental problems, improving the quality of your (and your families) lives, and making your own cheese — you know, important stuff.

Our free workshops are part of that effort. However, there were selfish motivations to open my own business too, namely to save myself from the evils of an alternate universe... but, more on that another day. One side effect of owning my own business is that there is a constant stream of research and education with every move I make. I decided I wanted to blog with the Kent Patch to share and discuss some of what I am learning. Thankfully, they agreed and here I am.

However, to be honest, I’ve been avoiding you, Kent Patch followers. Like I said, I opened in June — its October.

Somewhere along the academic line I became afraid to be caught unprepared. I studied every detail of every word I wrote for scientific journals, every sentence of my dissertation scrutinized ad nauseam — or is it nausea? Have I always been saying it the wrong way? (quick google search) and, whew, I’m ok. But, ad nauseam is so overused, a cliché. Cliché is cliché, n’est ce pas? — Do you see the problem here with my being a blogger? I’m over analyzer. It’s a great personality trait for some things – like tedious identification of maggots. I can ID an aquatic maggot like nobody’s business. I like having the time to review, compare, select and ruminate. That’s what makes me good at product selection for my store. I’ve been avoiding you because blogging doesn’t really allow for that level of dissection. I hope you will bear with me, and allow me to share with you what I know (as I learn it in some cases).

As I blog along, I will write primarily about environment and sustainability issues, “greening” your family, yourself, pets, home, business, car, etc., and give seasonal suggestions on all things eco-related. The seasonal suggestions will include organic gardening issues, tax tips, reminders to tap your maple trees and the like. I would also like to invite you to ask questions that I may be able to answer. For example, if you are considering installing a composting toilet at your cabin and want to know which one is the best, or if you want to know what the heck a composting toilet is, I can help with that too. 

Eating cheese and playing Atari,

Maureen