Intentional Communities: "Living Labs"

The old saying goes, starting an intentional community is like starting a business and getting married all rolled into one. Living in such close contact with others, 24/7, can really test your comfort levels and bring triggers out into the open you never knew you had. So how do you create a life together with a base stable enough to withstand "Big Brother" style meltdowns?

The most important factors to forming a successful community is to create intimacy/trust within a group through common goals/ideas/worldviews, and to always follow a productive path that is adaptable to change. All the small systems (the people) need to operate smoothly within the larger system (the community) or else everything falls apart. This is not the time for dictatorship, but for "empowered leadership" where each person is acknowledged, encouraged, and included in major decision making meetings.

It may sound like coddling, but after taking a step back and seeing what each persons' taproot (strength) is, specific responsibilities can then be doled out in areas that will make those talents shine, thereby making the entire system run better. Not to mention the load this "leading from behind" will take off your back when you've got a million other things to do by end of day!

So not only do we want involved, happy little campers within the walls of the Better Farmhouse, but forming solid relationships with the outer sphere of Redwood, NY, will also be key, as their full support will be imperative in the success of our ecological adventure. With this strong base of common goals and evenly distributed responsibilities, a long-term commitment to be a more "nature working" community as a whole should run like a well-oiled machine.

The above info is a brief recap from a Permaculture class with

Ariane Burgess

, an expert in regenerative culture, intentional communities and transition towns.

Image from

Center for Community Alternatives

.

Better Bowling (Or, Balls of Fire)

Where to begin?

As mentioned earlier, we are deep in the throes of Better Farm's ever-changing shades. And as with any ragtag mash-up of characters, team-building exercises are essential. Family dinners, trust falls, movie night, basement clean-up, bonfires, and general debauchery all fall under this umbrella. And as the days shrink and the cold expands, the great indoors become an essential component of much group exercise.

Thank goodness for the Theresa Bowling Center, where you can get your bowl on for next-to-nothing with a bunch of your new pals. Which is just what we did, as one-part team-building and two-parts celebration of former Better Farm residents Mike and Lana Babcock's birthdays.

See for yourself.

Here are the birthday kids.


Here are the balls.


Here are the latest residents of the Loft, Tracy and Colden:


And our Iowa transplant, Chris:


And of course the troublemakers, all Fear and Loathing style on Theresa Bowling Center:


We've been toying with plans for a league (bolstered by my most amazing bowling purse, see photo at top (thank you Corinne!)). However, we had some mixed opinions regarding our uniforms (onesies, duh) and team name (see title of post); which when combined with conflicting schedules, may delay our great reveal 'til next season. But so what? Gives us more time to practice our form.

Fire Pits Go Posh

Fire is no elitist. She will burn brightly in any container, whether it be a metal ring, circle of stones, or half-moon of cinder blocks. You can light a match and throw it into a pile of junk, a pyramid of kindling, or a slick of oil, all with the same result. Fire lights where she will, and takes no prisoners. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a sense of style.

I was recently tipped off to California Outdoor Concepts, an outdoor furniture and fire pit company based out of—you guessed it—Trustin, Calif. These guys hand-craft each high-end piece the company sells. But the coolest feature has got to be the interchangeable table centers. You can make your fire pit rise out of Glo-Fire gas logs, a stainless steel grill, or S/B Arctic Flame Glass. Or you can forget all that and throw an umbrella hole in the middle for hot days when you don’t need a fire. Or—get this—just insert the compatible ice bucket into the middle and start cutting up limes for your Tecates and Modelos.

California Outdoor Concepts also thought to include a counter-sized ring around them so you can lean your elbows on something while roasting ‘mallows or heating up some steamers.

Admittedly, the price tags are a little intimidating. Fire pits range from $1,000 to more than $5,000—significantly more than what we paid for our semi-circle of cement. But California Outdoor Concepts offers other guarantees, such as year-long warranties and rustproof materials. And you can also get away with hosting Gatsby-style backyard parties that will make you the envy of your suburban enclave.

If this all sounds like a touch too much, let these fancy flame enclosures be your muse. Free online instruction abounds on how to create your own miniature tabletop fire pit, full-size and decadent outdoor fire ring, or fancy-schmancy fire pit for your yard. There is no longer any excuse to keep that inner pyro hidden.

Spotlight On: Better Farm's own Staciemae Brown

I've underserved our readers in the last few months by not profiling the eclectic bunch we have holed up at Better Farm. Since May, we've seen an engineering intern, biologist, bartender studying to be a nutrition expert, fresh Iowan transplant, 20-year-old vet recently back from repairing helicopters in Japan, and a truck driver pass through this house.

And that's just for starters.

In the coming weeks we excitedly anticipate the arrivals of a former diplomat, logistics expert, and carpenter. And in the months ahead we'll be welcoming a permaculture expert and gardener, writer, and a craftsman.

It's natural for you to envy our family dinners.

As summer draws to a close and that cold fall air starts nipping at our ankles, we're also readying for a bittersweet goodbye as our own Staciemae Brown packs her things and makes arrangements for her move to the Czech Republic. Stacie—who joined us at Better Farm in mid-May—will be working as a missionary overseas and teaching English. She's leaving in early November with a group from Word of Life Church in Watertown, and as of now her return date is unknown.

But I'll let her speak for herself. Staciemae recently launched a blog of her own, aptly titled "Czeching in with Stacie." You can learn all about her background and follow her progress as she applies the Better Theory to her missionary work overseas. We'll miss her (this woman really is a force to be reckoned with), but this is one journey that can't be taken from the sidelines.

To help support Staciemae's endeavors, please contact Better Farm for further information.

The Big Deal About the Big Green Egg

I'm a pretty big fan of barbecues, so summertime at Better Farm is basically rife with grilling activity. If you've got it, we'll throw it down and cook the hell out of it.

It was a sad day when the Babcocks moved out last month and took their grill with them. Our quick solution was to look into buying a new one; but those plans were put on hold when we found an old, defunct grill in one of the sheds across the street and made a few minor repairs to get that baby up and running as good as new. One less big hunk of metal for the landfill, and we've extended our grilling season well into fall.

Then I felt the inevitable pang of regret the second I stumbled upon the gem pictured here, called the Big Green Egg. This ridiculous piece of grilling technology is a smoker barbecue, grill, and oven that comes in four sizes to suit any living situation ...or commune.

In fact, people are so stoked over the Big Green Egg that there's an annual festival dedicated to the thing.

Eggtoberfest draws Big Green Egg enthusiasts from all over for a cookout that'll have your taste buds clicked into high gear, maybe permanently.

So, next spring is another season that'll have Better Farm abuzz with activity from renters and a budding workshop itinerary. Will our repaired grill be enough? Here's to hoping not. See you eggheads in a few months.

Dirty Secret Down Under: Better Farm's basement

The basement is the central nervous system of any home. You've got your blood and guts (pipes, wires, and tubes carrying water, sewage, hot air, and electricity), skeleton (foundation), organs (hot water heater, furnace, sump pump), and brain (control box).

Better Farm has, as we all know by now, seen many incarnations. And with each wave of lodgers came varying strengths and weaknesses in regard to keeping the house in tip-top condition. During any given shade of Better Farm, you might have electrical wizardry, carpentry know-how, plumbing prowess, or creative genius.

Or, you might have a bunch of derelicts stringing things together so the house continues breathing and running... just barely. Ah, hippie cob.

In the midst of working on the second floor (stand by for pics!) in the last few weeks, we discovered the electricity up there isn't grounded. And in the ensuing investigation, we found ourselves in the basement, slack-jawed, eyeing a control panel with wires sticking out every which way except the right way. But that's not all we found...

• The furnace cover seems to have wandered a few feet away and sat down for a long nap. The oil filters are filthy.

• The hot water heater is without an insulation skirt and hat. Its levels were also way too high, so we lowered those immediately. The water filter appears to not have been changed in a long time. Old, discarded filters litter the floor.
  

• Old window spaces are "sealed" with some pieces of wood, but they're totally uninsulated. That means you can see sunlight between the pieces of wood. That also means any field mice have a year-round, all-access pass to Better Farm.
  

• Holy septic! What you're seeing in the picture below is an uncapped septic line. To say it stinks is an understatement. We need a female piece to cap that sucker STAT. And speaking of nasty septic gossip, we also discovered a straight-up leak in one of the pipes feeding the septic tank. Gray water (among other substances) is drip-drip-dripping from the pipe directly onto the basement floor. Gross.
  

• In better news, we also discovered this water catchment system used 100 years ago by Better Farm's original tenants. Long-since defunct, we're thinking of turning it into a sauna. Yes, please.
  

So, to review: Here's what we've got cooking in the basement...

• Insulate hot water pipes and hot water heater
• Change water and oil filters
• Get some duct tape involved on leaky pipes running out of the furnace
• Seal leaks in septic piping, get a female piece fitted on that open-air pipe
• Do a deep clean (rubber gloves, a bucket of hot soapy water, a bunch of contractor bags, and a face mask)
• Haul the trash—years of dirty filters, empty water jugs, mice nests, random articles of clothing, old appliances, broken sump pump—to the junkyard or burn pile
• Get the cover back on the furnace
• Reconnoiter the control panel's electrical wire mash-up
• Seal and insulate the basement windows
• Install ventilation so we can finally create our basement darkroom
• Turn the old rainwater catchment system into a sauna
  

Outdoor Gazebos: Not just for summer fun

At a big farmhouse destined for summer concerts, workshops, parties, and rousing matches of croquet and horseshoes, it makes sense to have a self-standing outdoor structure for dining, dancing, and rocking in hammocks and swings.

While in Asheville, N.C., last month, I visited a community garden with the sweetest gazebo. The structure is open air, with waist-high walls that doubled as flower planters and benches; and a very nice two-person swing hanging from the ceiling. The floor was made of poured concrete.

It is very doable to have some of the Jefferson County Amish swing on over and construct this thing in no time at Better Farm, but it would be a shame to only have access to this amazing space in warm months.

This got me thinking.

Outdoor heaters are popping up in cities all over the world as smoking bans take effect in bars and nightclubs. Ranging in strength and style, they can give you an extra boost on a cool summer night or warm up you and your friends as you sip hot cocoa against a backdrop of fluffy white snow. Best part—most outdoor heaters on the market are infrared, meaning they heat people and objects (you and the seat you're on) and not the air in between.

Buying an outdoor heater will set you back between $200 and $600, plus energy costs. But what you pay for up-front will give you countless more hours of use out of your sweet new gazebo, patio, or deck. And what's better than that?

Better Renovations: Kitchen lighting fixture

Lighting changes everything. And at Better Farm, there's been an ongoing issue with really ugly lighting fixtures; from exposed bulbs in the front hallway and bathroom to the hideous "chandelier" that's been hanging in the kitchen for who-knows-how-long (see above photo). The aesthetic nastiness of that chandelier was incentive enough for us to start shopping around for something more lovely.

Then, I discovered that the government is offering tax credits for up to 30 percent of the cost of energy-efficient home appliances, insulation, doors, roofs, and windows. Hot damn.

So, off we went to Home Depot to check out the selection. Key factors we sought: reversible directions, various speeds, farmhouse chic, and Energy Star certified. After much browsing, we settled on Hampton Bay's 52-inch ceiling fan. Here's Fred doing the installation:



The whole process was started and finished within an hour. Now we're enjoying late summer breezes in style.

I’m on Fire

Wood ash—that leftover pile of soot in your fireplace—has a myriad of uses you might want to consider before sweeping it up and throwing it in the garbage. One cord of firewood leaves behind up to 50 pounds of ashes, which can be used for everything from repelling slugs and snails from your flowers and produce to de-icing driveways and backyards without damaging cement or dirt underneath.

Here at Better Farm, we’re suckers for bonfires. Any excuse we can dream up to build a blaze, we will—and do. The ash we produce gets mixed in with our compost, and will help give our tomato plantings a boost in the spring. But with the seasons changing every-so-rapidly, we’ve started thinking more about creative and sensible ways to have an outdoor fire pit without the hassle of making our way across the street to our ragtag circle of cinder blocks every time.

Outdoor fire pits may hold the key to year-round blazes of glory for us—and for any of you who don’t have the luxury of starting huge fires willy-nilly on your property. In addition to providing you with plenty of ash for making soap and shining silver, outdoor fire pits offer year-round outdoor cooking options, an alternative to watching television, and a really nice accent for your property. If you decide to buy one new instead of cobbing one together, make sure it’s constructed of a material that is undoubtedly going to stand the test of time, such as wrought iron. As for all that wood ash you’ll be creating—store it in a fireproof container with a strong, airtight seal so you can keep coming back to it.

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.