While helping last week to stack a ton of wood in a shed across the street, I came across an old see-saw I remember being in the yard when I was just a wee thing. It occured to me how great it would be to get that see-saw back on the lawn in time for
Better Farm's 40th Reunion Party in May
.
Thinking about that reminded me of just how many people we're expecting that weekend; and how we're going to have to organize some sort of seating on the property that extends beyond our picnic table and campfire folding chairs.
There are a million ways to offer seating; from
to floor chairs to hammocks to benches. And with a little ingenuity, you too can have a festival (or lawn party)-ready property in no time.
You can find very basic
and seat plans online (complicated ones, too, if you're partricularly handy). I've always been a huge fan of DIY floor chairs in which you literally take a chair with a back and saw the legs off (see photo at top of this post, circa 1970 at Better Farm). Voila!
are a little trickier to set up on your own, but the good news is that investing in a dependable one this year will guarantee you years of excellent outdoor wining and dining. If you're on a tight budget, consider scouring flea markets, thrift shops, and garage sales for mismatched wrought-iron pieces. Get a table, a a few chairs, and a can or two of black spray paint. Sand down your furniture, lay it outside on some newspaper, and spray it until all the pieces match. The differences in their design will only add to their appeal.
Lots of outdoor furniture stores are also selling what they call "
"—or, outdoor furniture designed to be comfortable enough for you to spend an afternoon holding high court in. From Adirondack chairs to cushioned seats for maxing poolside, this umbrella of outdoor furniture is set up for luxurious afternoons spent with good company. Count us in. We'd also like to suggest that a conversation set should inspire conversation; as in, you explaining how you made it yourself, or having a story to go with the unusual design of the set you purchased.
In other words, make your outdoor seating arrangements sing with personality. Make your own weatherproof cushions; do your own spray painting to tie different pieces together; or come up with a lovely flower arrangement or centerpiece that will have your guests ooh-ing and aah-ing. Please share your ideas with us! And stay tuned to see our seating solutions for the May 30th bash; see-saw and all.
Applications for Better Farm's summer internship program
are now available!
Internships run from June 1 through Sept. 1, 2010, with one-, two-, and three-month programs available. These unpaid internships are available to students interested in a myriad of sustainability issues; with each internship tailored to suit a specific individual's needs and personal goals.
Interns have the option of visiting us during normal business hours Monday through Friday (excepting those interested in participating in farmers' markets, held Saturday mornings), or living on-site in shared rooms for a nominal fee of $250/month. That fee covers unlimited use of wireless Internet, access to laundry, all linens and towels, on-site parking, and a familial atmosphere complete with family-style, sit-down dinners seven days a week, field trips, and movie nights. Other personal costs—including transportation and all other meals—are the responsibility of the intern.
The deadline for internship applications is March 1. All applicants will be contacted in a decision letter by April 1.
There are two amazing things you realize when you start composting.
One, you notice how little garbage you suddenly create. Buying fresh veggies and fruits, composting, and cutting down on packaged food or frozen meals means a full house of Better Farmers only produce one bag of trash every couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the compost pit outside (our homemade version of
) and our little worm friends in the kitchen stay nice and robust.
And two, you become very aware of how much food you waste, what you use, and how the leftovers from said food can actually help to feed you in just a few short months. It's a front-seat view of the circle of life; and it's a foolproof way to cut down on waste.
Composting may seem like a time-consuming project; but the truth is that there are a plethora of composters out there that make turning your food scraps into healthy soil easy as can be. Whether you hate getting your hands dirty, hold down multiple jobs, or just feel grossed out by the thought of worms, we promise: There is a composter out there for you.
for a basic breakdown of how compost works. Then, follow this handy guide to begin sorting out what kind of composting will work best for you.
Style Let's face it, most people think compost is sort of gross. They envision a fruit fly-infested pile of food scraps sitting next to a kitchen sink, stinking up the house. Not so! Before recently picking up a legitimate kitchen composter, we used a jumbo plastic container with lid for food scraps. We took it out once a week, scrubbed it down, and suffered no odor overload. The "worm bin", a large plastic storage container kept under a cabinet in the kitchen, has never created any odor at all; even as the worms gobble up dead houseplants, banana peels, and bagels. So while a composting toilet may not be your top-choice for your foray into turning waste into healthy soil, know that there is a composting system out there to suit every taste.
Location Sixty-five acres mean lots of space for us to spread out. That land also affords us the opportunity to have a fenced-off, moveable "compost cage" of sorts that keeps porcupines—and puppy dogs—out of the compost while allowing the food scraps optimal access to the elements for top-notch decomposition. (This system is an off-shoot of the upcoming, experimental "mulch garden" we've been working on.) We can move the cage around every few months, with a large "rake-out" during planting season. It's not a great system if you've got a tiny fire escape for a yard, or if your small eighth of an acre abuts your neighbor's place. Consider what you've got, and then determine whether you want a small kitchen composter, or whether you'd like a larger bin outside.
Time/Maintenance Commitment Our outdoor compost pit requires womanpower to turn it over every so often for aeration and to aid in decomposition. We also have to keep up with moving the enclosure itself so the most amount of ground beneath the compost gets nourished. If turning it over with a metal rake, having to move it every few months, and coming up with a design plan of your own doesn't appeal to you, you may want to simply pick up an earthmaker composter that's clean, odorless, and streamlined to do the work for you. You can put it in your backyard next to your garden, and only worry about dropping scraps in and taking fresh dirt out.
Size And lastly, get a sense of what you're producing. For us, it makes sense to have a kitchen collection bin of scraps, a worm bin, and an outdoor compost pit. For you, a tiny kitchen compost bucket might do the trick.
We would love to see photos of your compost strategies! Please e-mail us at info@betterfarm.org.
If you live in a place like Better Farm, you likely find yourself saddled with a bunch of wonderful guests on very short notice who need places to lay their heads. Extra rooms and fold-out couches are sweet, but sometimes you have more bodies than beds and need a real quick fix.
That's where hammocks come in. They're multi-functional (lazing around outside on a beautiful spring or summer day, sleeping, cuddling, even sitting upright in hammock chairs
to read books); they fold up and can be stored extremely easily; and they're lightweight (so you can hang them outside, then bring them inside at night to sleep).
They also won't leave you broke:
can be achieved quickly and for less than $10. If you're not planning to bring your hammock inside, then you can spring for outdoor hammocks; which are durable, weatherproof, and will last for years. (Just remember to bring them in at the end of the season!)
If you've got the time—and a lot of patience—you can weave your own spectacular rope hammock or net hammock. You can use thin or thick rope, come up with your own color pallette, and have a portable bed the next time you're camping in Florida, romping along South America's coastline, or stopping in for an impromptu overnight at Better Farm.
If you're planning to hang a hammock or two inside when your home is at full capacity, please please please be sure to locate studs in your wall against which to affix hooks for the hammock's ends. This will avoid nasty damage to your living space, and potentially catastrophic injuries if you're floating in the air above anything that might hurt you on impact should you suddenly drop earthward. The hooks can stay in the wall all the time to take out future guess work, and will hardly be noticeable if you place them in clever spots. Happy hanging!
betterArt, a new art residency program at Better Farm starting this summer, is now accepting applications!Or, Why Starting with an Existing House is Better:
A lot of attention is given to building with green/reclaimed materials - and shows like Building Green and HGTV's Red Hot & Green offer viewers tips and resources on starting from the (respected) ground up. Don't get me wrong, potential home builders should definitely do their research when it comes to the materials they choose, but existing houses are an automatically greener solutions...mainly because, well, they already exist.
Many people curse the urban sprawl of the cities and suburbs, and react by buying some secluded piece of (usually forested) acreage, razing it, and then "building responsibly" with materials bought off another perfectly good house that was demolished to make way for some other person's environmental guilt. Due to this lovely recession we've been in, there are a number of existing houses available. These houses sit on parcels of land that have already been developed, and are made out of materials that have already been used. Shouldn't we start from there?
The idea of building on the least amount of land as possible is not a new idea.
Ian McHarg "pioneered the idea of ecological planning" and his 1969 book,
Design with Nature
, addressed humans' need for living space, but suggested we start by recognizing Nature's space as well. He referred to Man as a "Planetary Disease" and suggested an "ecological sensibility that accepted the interwoven worlds of the human and the natural, and sought to more fully and intelligently design human environments in concert with the conditions of setting, climate and environment."
Not bad advice, and with the renovation of Better Farm we are trying our best to keep in line with the ecological system that we're in. Besides continuing to spatially reconstruct our lil' old farmhouse, eventually the existing barn across the street will be re-purposed while some additional living structures are built around the property - either on already developed land or respectfully within the surrounding forest (think: tree houses). Stay tuned!
"Before" photo of Old Kopp Farmhouse from
. A perfect example of starting with what's there. And to get yourself in the green remodeling mindset, check out some tips from
.
Picnic baskets conjure up images of wholesome family fun and romantic lunch dates set on a provincial countryside. But just as backpacks and luggage have been morphed and streamlined throughout the years, so too has the classic picnic basket. Manly men who like to pack food and drink on their outings, rejoice!
In the summer months, the Better Farm crowd rarely goes anywhere without packing a cooler. It's convenient, if not wholly practical or fashionable. Coolers can be cumbersome when you're packing a kayak; they can be awkward to carry on a hike; and they can be downright annoying when you're trying to tailgate or look cool at
or
. So I was thrilled to discover the release of
, which leave your hands free as you get to your picnicking destination. You can go as basic or lavish as you like; whether you're packing some Busch beer for cliff-jumping or wine and cheese for a romantic getaway.
Our favorite picnic basket we found was the
;
which dazzled us by coming with all the components of a gourmet picnic basket without the frills. We like that very much (this is sort of a no-frills kind of crowd). As we wait for the weather to warm up, don't be surprised if we report live from an indoor picnic held in none other than Better Farm's library. Actually, that's not such a bad idea. Check
for some tips on having your own indoor picnic, ants and all.
(Is it completely obvious that this strangely balmy January weather has us chomping at the bit for spring? Thought so.)
Please remember to pack your
biodegradable disposable place settings
, to respect your surroundings, and to carry out what you carry in. Happy picnicking!
No
would be complete without a handsome weather vane set high atop a barn or shed to direct the gardener or pioneering meteorologist which way the wind blows.
But most people keep weather vanes around for purely ornamental reasons; dating way way back to the Triton figure built in 48 B.C. to adorn the Tower of the Winds in Greece. And today's
are throwbacks to the ninth century A.D., when the pope allegedly ordered every church in Europe to put a figure of a rooster on its dome or steeple as a daily reminder of Jesus' prophecy to Peter: ""I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." (
).
Learn something new every day.
We've been eyeing the
and thinking about contracting a welder to create a nice weather vane for the very top of the building (maybe of the late
dog?). But simpler and more to the point might be a
situated out by our raspberry bushes, compost, raised beds, and permaculture herb garden (I know—those over-ambitious Better Farmers. You'll thank us come summertime, we promise). Yes, that does sound nice. Then we could lie on a couch in the library or gaze wistfully off the back porch and mutter softly Dylan's famous words: "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
Don't have a friend who welds? You can make your own weather vane with some copper pipe, sheet steel, hack saw, and a few other choice ingredients. The Web site
has some very
that'll have you up on wind patterns in no time. There are also some very lovely weather vanes available
sure to please any fancy.
