Energy Use at Better Farm Reaches Lowest Levels

Better Farm wants to be as green as possible. As we save our dollars and look to a bright future of turning this unsustainable house green, we bide our time by doing all we can with what we have to get the proverbial ball rolling.

To that end, we've been extremely careful about our energy use here. Back in May we swapped out all the lightbulbs for energy-efficient ones. Then we sold off the two air conditioners on the first floor of the house. Last week I lowered the hot water heater's levels by 10 degrees (the difference is imperceptible, but for every 10 degrees you lower your heater, you're looking at a money savings of 3 to 5 percent). We unplug all appliances and lamps (including the toaster, coffee maker, any lights not being used on a daily basis; even the printer) when not in use (even when something's not on, it still uses energy if it's plugged in). And the other day I picked up some fresh weatherstripping for the doors. We're also utilizing blinds and curtains to maximize or minimize heat and cold entry to the house, depending on what the weather's like.

So you can imagine it was a welcome surprise to learn, on our most recent energy bill from National Grid, that our energy use is at its lowest levels—in spite of the house being full of people on a fairly regular basis. The news has bolstered our commitment to keep going green, and now the synapses are really firing. Next up: insulation for the attic and crawl spaces, sealing off the basement, spackling, patching, and weatherstripping any remaining drafts; and making sure all the ducts coming off the furnace are sealed up tight.

Viva Better, everyone.

Drink Your Drainwater!

Many people use eco-friendly shampoos and soaps to ensure nothing harmful is being washed into groundwater. But who'd have thought you could take that runoff spiraling down the shower drain, pour it in a glass, and drink it?

By putting plants such as reeds and rushes in the bottom of a shower prototype, designers Jun Yasumoto, Vincent Vandenbrouck, Olivier Pigasse, and Alban Le Henry found the water, passing through the plant filters and other manmade filters, comes out crystal clear and ready-to-drink.

The Daily Mail has a whole feature piece on this contraption, complete with design plans for some ambitious Better Farmers to try their hands at.

Catching on to Water Catchment

Before I begin: I've been in the process of earning my certificate in Permaculture under the amazing Claudia Joseph, whose intensive knowledge of everything from mulch to maintenance has provided information for posts on this blog as well as on my personal blog on all things green(ish). And this particular knowledge on water catchment came via one of her fascinating guest teachers, Lars Chellberg, who works for the Council on the Environment of NYC and the Water Resources Group. Okay, onward!

As most people have heard by now, the more water we save for reuse, and the less that simply runs straight down our drains, the better. Do you have a roof and storm gutters? Well then you've already started to channel useful rainwater...although having it spill unused onto a random spot on your lawn is not the best finale. Installing a water catchment system may be more complex than placing an open whiskey barrel under the spout...but the construction doesn't have to be hard.

Once the rain comes partway down the downspout, a seasonal plunger (literally a plunger) forces the water into the catchment system's pipes,

There is the issue of leaves and other large debris washing off the roof, which is where the first flush part of the system comes in.

This part essentially forces the particles to accumulate at the bottom of a separate section, so only water eventually makes it into the collection tank. It is important to empty the roof washer area after each major rain to let out all the junk.

And once your collection tank starts to fill up you can hook a hose straight up to it, or transport some of the water to a separate irrigation system, like this bucket kit idea for a veggie garden.

And even after being used to water your veggies (or wash your dog), the excess water can then run naturally downhill to a rain garden:

And if you're worried that a water catchment system on your property will be unsightly, feel free to disguise it with shrubs...or some creative flair like paint!

So there's the majorly abridged version. But lucky lucky, the entire 54-page, in-depth, how-to booklet is available as a free download. So get to it!

Redwood Field Days

The Redwood Volunteer Fire Department this weekend hosted the latest installment of Redwood Field Days, an annual, all-out carnival/beer bash complete with rides, games, concession stands, a junk auction, parade, raffle, and several live bands.


The debauchery kicked off Thursday, Aug. 20, with a junk auction. Here's the scene:







We came away with a stinky, faux bear rug that the doggies truly love (to chew).


That evening was filled with a general sense of merriment and excitement as locals and tourists descended on the fairgrounds.




Redwood has probably never been so packed:


The Better Farm contingency was obviously in full force all three nights:








This participatory gesture on our parts culminated in a "grand finale" when Staciemae and I weaseled our way into the parade Saturday evening. Yes, seriously.


We marched "on behalf of Better Farm for peace, love, and happiness." Awww.




Didn't matter what we told the lady with the clipboard, however: When we passed the judge's booth where they announced each participant, the head judge simply cried out, "You two are lovely, but I have no idea who you are!" So it goes.





Next year we'll come out with a real presence for the 40th anniversary of Better Farm—expect to see the bus in working order, dozens of old communards hanging out of it, beads, candy, and Super Soakers. Let the planning begin—we only have 362 days before the next Field Days starts.

The Barn: Before

We have a lot of big ideas here at Better Farm.

Workshops. Artist residencies. Recording studio. Green building. Workshares.

But for these things to happen and be successful, we need to look beyond the walls of the main house on the property. And when we do that, we see something large and looming just across the street: the barn.

Built for animals and hay several decades ago, the barn is in very sound condition; save for a few broken windows, lots of clutter, and a bullet hole in the ceiling. But to turn the barn into a recording studio, lofted sleep space, and workshop (on the second, third, and first floors, respectively), there is much to be done.

• Clear out the clutter. I'm thinking of having a garage sale in the next few weeks, followed by a nice healthy trip to the dump. Anything that can be salvaged and turned into something else (old shutters into cupboard doors, weird containers into planters, mantel into a bar, wood planks into new flooring for the library), should be assessed and set aside with a cohesive plan.

• Clear out the hay. After this season, there won't be any more hay stored on the second floor of the barn. And once it's gone, we have to get in there with serious broom activity to ensure the mice and snakes go, too.

• Patch the holes in the roof. The bullet hole and another mysterious tear need to be plugged ASAP.
• Insulate the walls and ceiling. There are a few very green ways to do this, including straw bale construction or insulation made from recycled jeans.

• Drop the ceiling. To create a nice sound space for recording on the second level, we have to drop the vaulted ceilings. Bummer, except that we will use the additional ceiling space for lofted bedspace. We're estimating now that it would be easy to have enough room for eight to 12 musicians and artists to cuddle up.
• Organize the first floor. Through a series of hooks to hang bikes on, shelves to store things, and zoned out work stations, the plan on the first floor is to accommodate our need for storage and space for a small wood shop, welding studio, pottery wheels, or anything else we dream up.

• Extend the carport. It would be great to construct an overhang for the darling bus, and extend the carport we already have so two or three vehicles can be stowed away from the elements (and porcupines).

• Install a firepole. Just imagine the magnificence of cruising downstairs in the barn by firepole instead of a cumbersome ladder. If anyone hears of a firehouse getting rid of an old one, please get in touch with us!

• Build a bathroom. But we're not talking any old bathroom. Because this would be started from scratch, we can go all the way up-front with a compost toilet, rainwater shower, moss floormat, the works.
• Go green. And lastly, let's throw some solar panels on the roof so all the energy we'll be using for amplifiers and lights comes direct from the sun. Or, let's run the barn off biodiesel. Or wind. Or anything else we can come up with (suggestions welcome).

We've already hit the ground running, but it's going to take a lot of help to get this place ready for next spring's influx of Better dwellers. So don't be shy! All worker bees are welcome.

No Aching Backs Here: Mulch gardening, care of the wise and wonderful Ruth Stout

In her book How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back, Ruth Stout expounds on the virtues of mulch gardening instead of all the nasty tilling, weeding, composting, and exhaustion involved with most gardening advice.

Here at Better Farm, one of the biggest deterrents to agricultural pursuits is the extremely high level of sand and clay in the dirt (I broke a trowel in half yesterday trying to move a small shovelful). So Stout's perspective—that instead of killing your sweet self to convert your soil, you can throw a bunch of stuff on top of it that will give you better results—resonates. Thank goodness for Corinne, who tipped me off to this lady.

Basically, Stout advises plotting out a square of land where you'll be planting. I did this yesterday, starting small with a plot 20 feet long and 24 feet deep at the edge of our lawn and just inside one of the fields that gets plowed once or twice a year. This is a lot of hard soil and stiff, tall grass. Here I am hard at work, in totally inappropriate farming gear (including flip-flops):



Photos/Eric Drasin

Once you've staked out your plot, it's time to start treating the soil. This can start now, and will continue even long after crops are planted. The idea here is to avoid the cost of buying fresh mulch, and the maintenance of a compost bin that needs regular attention, turning, and so on. What Stout recommends is essentially turning your plot of land into an ongoing compost/mulch pit. That means raked leaves, grass clippings, a little wood ash from a fire, and food scraps can all get dumped directly on the soil and left alone. So long as you don't throw stuff like meat scraps into this ongoing mulch situation, you can rest fairly assured that you won't have too many critters contending for these scraps. I'll keep you posted on that. But for now, we started with some beet scraps, garlic and egg shells.



Now, we also have a small compost bin that we keep stocked with worms. This is great for making topsoil for houseplants, and will be a fabulous, nutrient-rich supplement for our crops next spring. Yesterday I sifted some fresh compost and added that to the mix as well.



If you keep adding to your plot until the first frost, by springtime you will have some serious mulching/decomposition to celebrate. Rule of thumb at that point is to head outside with your seeds in hand and turn some of that rich mash-up over. And, Stout promises, you'll be presented with unbelievably healthy, wonderful soil that will send your plants soaring sunward. You can also choose at that point to bring in some additional topsoil if needed. As the plants begin to grow, Stout advises continuing with the mulching process (adding lime and other supplements to plants requiring a little extra kick). If you feel like leftover noodles and apple skins are unsightly spread around the base of your tomato plant, go ahead and put a light cover of soil over your pile.

Stay tuned to see how we do...

And it Begins: Barn repair

We have a lot of big ideas for the barn at Better Farm: recording studio, lofted sleeping quarters, shop space on the first floor for potters, welders, carpenters, and the like; car ports, and maybe even a fire pole.

But first things first.

There are a few minor quirks with the barn, such as a door that's been broken for years. There are also broken windows on the first floor, a bullet hole in the roof (still a mystery), a second floor full of hay (some good, some rotten), a first floor full of debris and junk, and a structure that requires sealing, insulation, soundproofing, and more. But hey—the folks at Better Farm have never balked at a challenge.

It seemed appropriate that for our first foray into getting the barn in tip-top shape, we'd tackle the issue with the front door and main entrance. Hunter Ciliberti headed out there yesterday with a hammer, a few reclaimed nails (he hammered some bent nails into straightness, and we found a little container of old nails once used for something else), a beer, and some brut strength; and in about five minutes undid five years of disrepair.





And, behold:

Inspiration Station: Railings

While in Western Massachusetts last week, I finally took the time to document the Enzer-Mahlers' gorgeous stairwell railings and towel racks, made from local trees (they live in Montague, Mass.).

The bark is stripped from the tree, which can then be treated—or not, as the Enzer-Mahlers demonstrate with these towel racks and railing leading downstairs:




Totally amazing and beautiful, no? Better Farm's staircase to the second floor would look particularly lovely with a nice black cherry tree or big maple tree branch.

Galvalume-vavoom

Luckily, Better Farm came to us with the bones of the house in fairly good shape. There are a couple boring, but necessary, tasks that need doin', including the installation (finally) of rain gutters.

I was zoning out to a "green/eco-friendly" home decorating show recently, and they suggested Galvalume gutters

, due to their strength and long-term durability. The coating is made from 55 percent aluminum and 45 percent zinc; and is applied with a continuous hot dipping process (HOT!). The result is a coating that protects the steel from moisture, contaminants, and scratches. The shine weathers evenly and has approximately nine times the longevity of plain ol' galvanized gutters. No straight-to-landfill for these babies.

Since that'll also take care of the flooding basement situation, we can then focus on other stylish add-ons, like the plethora of options for eco-friendly roofing. Or, forget roofing altogether—let's just lease some solar panels!

RIP Sadie Dog: 2001-2009

Sadie Babcock, a chocolate lab brought to Better Farm almost a decade ago as a rescue, died Saturday. She was 8 years old.

Lana Babcock sent her husband Mike out on her birthday about seven years ago for steaks. He came back after a stop at Jefferson County Dog Control's shelter with Sadie. Steaks could wait, Mike figured. Meanwhile, Sadie—hardly the lap dog Lana talked about one day getting—quickly established herself as the darling of Better Farm.



Sadie was a really good dog. She was independent, gentle, fiercely loyal, and fearless. She took chances, and had a wonderful sense of humor.



Sadie was a fixture in Redwood; which she traversed thousands of times alongside the farm's founder Steve Caldwell's wheelchair during his cruises around town. She never left his side, often continuing to walk with him even after 12 miles and bloodied paws. She famously stood by his side one chilly March day when Steve's wheelchair got stuck in mud. She did not leave him for the 5+ hours it took for them to be found; barking intermittently to draw attention to them.



Sadie took other dogs under her wing. She had the ability to draw calm out of nervous puppies; a sense of adventure out of conservative dogs; and rambunctiousness out of pups used to fenced-in yards and docile owners. She was a wild one, too: quilled by a number of porcupines, attacked by muskrats, hit by several schoolbuses while chasing cars down Cottage Hill Road. She could disappear for hours or days, and always found her way home. She had the life other dogs envy.



Sadie passed away Saturday morning after sustaining significant injuries to her stomach and leg the evening before. The source of her wounds is unknown; but we like to think she spent her final healthy moments romping around in her usual way, stirring up the mysterious, sniffing out the unusual, and having the time of her life.



We'll miss you, Sadie. You are probably the best dog ever.

Love,
Your family at Better Farm

Inspiration Station: Asheville, NC

I headed to Asheville, N.C., last weekend for an amazing wedding where I was bombarded with excellent inspiration for Better Farm.

1. Rainwater Collection We've been tinkering around with several different ideas for rainwater collection bins. While at a community garden that is part of the Bountiful Cities Project (and which served as the site for the wedding's ceremony and reception), I came upon this setup. It's a simplistic design with strong hardware (note the gutter attachment at the top and industrial-strength nozzle at the bottom), which can hold several hundred gallons of water:

2. Cob Construction There's something about earth mixed with sand and straw that is very appealing. Cob building is an ancient construction method that produces ovens, saunas, and homes that are extremely durable, with wonderful insulation. The garden in Asheville has this cob oven, in which we cooked several delicious pizzas during the wedding:

3. Compost Toilet Lest we lose sight of the value of alternative restroom facilities, behold this outhouse, complete with compost toilet ("Sprinkle 1 to 2 cups of sawdust over your deposit!" a sign inside explains) and green roof:

4. Raised Flower Beds Back at the carriage house where many of the kidddies stayed, we had some raised beds in the backyard. Not a bad idea for planting - especially with the clay- and sand-based soil of the Farm:

The brain races.

Better Compost

Worm composting is one of the easiest and quickest ways to convert your table scraps into rich, healthy, organic soil for your garden. Carina Molnar was kind enough to pass along to Better Farm a big bin already in the throes of what we call vermicomposting.

Inside the bin are hundreds of what I believe to be red wigglers; one of the best worms around when it comes to compost. They eat fast, and provide some of the darkest, densest, nutrient-rich soil there is.

Into the bin go coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit rinds, unfinished salad scraps, and the like (no bones or meat). If the bin starts to smell, wet some strips of newspaper in the sink, ring them out like a sponge, and put those in the bin. The pH level will right itself in no time. You can also ensure a smell-less bin by not overpowering your worms. Only put in as much as gets gobbled up. It doesn't do anyone any good to fill the whole bin at once with table scraps only to suffer through the rot process. Always err on the less-is-more side of things.

I've been turning the compost (which, if you have sealed in a heavy-duty plastic bin like ours, you can keep right under your kitchen sink) over with a trowel every week or so; and have already used it to bring several houseplants back to life. In a few weeks I'll start adding it little by little to the acre we've plotted outside for next year's crops.

Redwood Farmers Market

The Redwood Farmers Market starts in mid-July every year and runs until all the produce is gone from the fields and greenhouses (usually late September). We couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet and greet with some locals, bake a few pies, and make several bouquets of wildflowers. Here are Staciemae and Josh readying some bundles the night before:

For the second week of this year's market, we had some special guests up from Manhattan; Alana and Pablo. They came out bright and early Saturday morning to help out.

Josh took it upon himself to study some parlor tricks, then set up a magic tricks booth. He stayed in the box for most of the morning in spite of the 85+ degree heat.

Josh only took one break; and that was to hold a pies sign out on the side of Route 37.

What a guy.

Many thanks to all the folks who came out to support local agriculture. See you next Saturday!