The Wonderful World of Compost

"Anyone can have dirt. Gardeners have soil."

- Unknown

People have been growing food in unforgiving locations since the dawn of time. Here at Better Farm we're faced with the problem of wanting to be self-sustainable and grow our own veggies, but the "soil" we want to grow in is essentially useless clay. Besides cozying up to local farmers so we can relieve them of their extra cow manure, the most obvious thing to do is take our excess food scraps, leaves, and lawn cuttings and turn them into useful compost.

Our methods run on the primitive side – a

Gaiam Kitchen Compost Bucket

that periodically gets dumped into a chicken-wire surrounded pile outside. This is how my family did it while I was growing up in Maine, and for a while I just assumed that was how it was done. But like everything else, composting has become a niche market, with backyard

compost tumblers

luring consumers to better-faster-easier results.

I'm not opposed to easier methods – if the plants are getting what they need, then whatever works with someone's schedule is fine with me. But what really interests me is when the composter is not just designed for its fast results, but for its fashionable looks. While visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I noticed they had an exhibit showing a few different compost container options:

So whether you simply punch holes in a trashcan, build a bench, or invest in a high-tech tumbler, just make sure you're saving those food scraps—your garden will thank you!

Remembering Steve Caldwell

Today we commemorate the one-year anniversary of our founder Steve Caldwell's death.

His perspectives on loving well, suspending disbelief, and the Better Theory have changed the lives of all who knew him. He continues to shape and inspire people through the legacy of Better Farm, an initiative designed to be the realization of Steve's highest hopes for this space.

Please visit our "About Us" section to read about Steve's life and influence.

Better be.

Preview: Better Farm photo shoot

Click on the photo to be redirected to a sneak peek of our photo shoot from last week! More pics coming soon!

All photography by ErinCovey

Better Farm Goes Sugaring

Mix spring weather in with sweet maple syrup, good company, and some outdoor activity, and you've got yourself one bunch of very happy Better Farmers.

Our neighbor, Dale Felder, has a beautiful sugar bush down the road which he maintains for the simple joy of creating his own syrup. Each year he gives away dozens of jugs of the stuff to his family and friends. Amazing, no? This is peak season; so when we heard Dale was busy sugaring out at his family's property down Burns Road, we jumped at the opportunity to lend a hand (and sample some delicious syrup, obviously). 

Four of us paid a visit to Dale's sugar shack, where he and Craig were up to their eyeballs in sap. Dale explained the process of tapping trees (both with buckets and tubing), separating the sap from water, filtering, and bottling. We got a tour of the facilities and the sugar bush. Because we're at peak season out here, you could hear the sap rushing through the tubes and dropping into buckets like an open faucet. Then Dale sent us out into the woods and put us to work!

Special thanks to Chris Menne, Corinne Weiner, and Butch Mockler for helping out with the sugaring process.

Better Farm Makes the Rounds

Wanna say "hi" in person? Over the next two weeks, the Better Crew will have a table set up during the following local events:

Redwood Friends and Family Day
"Health and Wellness"
Saturday, March 6th, 2-5pm

Redwood Volunteer Fire Dept
43874 Stine Road
Redwood, NY 13679
(315) 482-3962



2010 Upstate New York Permaculture Gathering
"Care of People, Care of Planet, Return of Surplus to Both"
Saturday, March 13th, 10am-5pm

The Gear Factory
200 South Geddes St
Syracuse, NY 13204

Summer Workshop Sign-Ups Now Available!

Sign-ups for our summer workshop program are now available! Please visit our main site to see all the goings-on scheduled for Better Farm this summer. Here's a list of all we're offering:

Cob Oven Construction
Step Away from the Grid
Intro to Permaculture for the Rural and Urban Homesteader
Within the Mystery: A Weekend of Yoga and Meditation 
Intro to Tarot Card Reading
Intro to Erotic Photography
Storytelling 101
The Art of Shrine-Building
Intro to Horseback Riding
Embroidery Workshop and Stitching Bee
Rustic Furniture Building

More workshops being added daily!

Better Renovations: The library, halfway

The library is one of the most daunting of rooms to revamp, on account of the sheer size of the space and the tedious chore of moving books to compensate for each adjustment so said books stay in alphabetical order. The last time we checked in with this space was in May. Here's where we started:

  

Here's what we did:

 

Tasks: Consolidation of books (all unused books were donated to individuals and libraries); the construction of additional shelving (utilizing reclaimed barn wood and reused nails); doing away with the dirty old carpet and decades-old couch unsuitable for human inhabitants; touching up the walls with spackle and eco-friendly paint; getting rid of the outdated TV and sound system (replaced with a large flatscreen, surround sound, and entertainment center with turntable); introducing some new houseplants transplanted from Brooklyn, and redecorating with already-owned items.

And here's where we are:

 Special thanks to worker bees Alec Gross, Mike Brown, Nils Horning, Tyler Howe, Dev Doobay, and Josh Babcock for reorganizing the intimidating array of books. Shout-outs to Tom and Beth Marturano for the floral couch; Mike and Lana Babcock for the armchair; Laura Caldwell for the lace curtains (Corinne Weiner for cutting and sewing them to fit); an assortment of wonderful people for the wall art and photographs; Alex Necochea for the Oriental rug; and Camp Tamarack for the "Scout is Reverent" sign.

St. Lawrence River Rustic Show: Applications now being accepted!

Hey all you artisans, carpenters, painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers, and metalworkers!

The

St. Lawrence River Rustic Show

is slated for Aug. 6-8, 2010, and showcases the work of artisans who create with natural materials; and fine artists who capture natural landscapes and scenes. All work presented at the event is original and one-of-a-kind! The event, sponsored by Redwood's own

Creations in Wood

, will be held at the

Bonnie Castle Recreation Center

in Alexandria Bay.

This year's theme is "From the Mountain and the River". All makers of rustic furniture, sculpture, skiffs/canoes, art, pottery, ceramics, jewelry, and home and cabin decor reflecting this theme are encouraged to book a space at the show.

 For this year's event, there is an additional "

Mermaid Challenge

" for rustic show participants. All creators attending the event are encouraged to create a 3-D piece inspired by mermaids. The winner gets a free space at next year's show! Get more information on that challenge

here

.

Sign-up forms for the rustic show are available

here

. Better Farm has accommodations available for attending artists—please contact us at info@betterfarm.org

.

Find Yourself

Whether establishing your first home, creating a farm, or

transforming a commune into a sustainability center

, it's all about location, location, location. So why not make yours known?

Over at Better Farm, we're in cahoots with a welder who may create a metal logo for over our front door. We're also looking into a "Better Farm" driveway arch. And with all the generous donations coming through, we're doing a lot of research into different styles of

commemorative plaque

so we can remind everyone entering this space how we did what we did; and who contributed to making the Little Commune that Could

just so

.

A good starting point is an

address plaque

so your dinner-party guests can find their way to your place before the first glass of wine is poured. You can also get plaques with the year your house was built, or your family name. On a shoestring budget? Try finding a few smooth, large rocks in your yard or on your next hike. Clean them off and paint a number on each one. Put them in a row on the ground next to your mailbox or on your front porch.

Lighted address plaques

take this idea a step further; and can be done on your own by buying a lighted "Exit" sign from a hardware store, taking the sign off the case, and replacing it with your address (cut your address out of thin plastic sheets or heavy foil with a razor).

With all the experimental projects coming through—including but not limited to compost toilets, bee houses, bird houses, chicken coops, lofts, solar showers and Permaculture—we're planning to utilize many of the above-mentioned ideas to create informative plaques; so the next time you're admiring the cool style of passive solar we're utilizing, you can learn a thing or two as well. So go ahead, join the trend, and make yourself easy to find.

Friends and Family Day: March 6

Redwood's Second Annual Friends and Family Day is coming up March 6. Be sure to stop in at the Better Farm table for information on our upcoming Earth Day cleanup and pot-luck dinner, and for our summer workshop schedule!

Lawn Seats

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

outdoor patio furniture

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

DIY bench

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!

Patio dining sets

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 "

conversation sets

"—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.

Internship Applications now Available!

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.

Please visit Better Farm's summer internship page for more information and to download an application.

Guide: Getting started with compost

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

garden composters

) 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.

Click here

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.