Ones to Watch: Brooklyn Farms

Dear old friend to Better Farm Marco Centola is part of an exciting initiative in Brooklyn to encourage people to grow their own food, compost, and eat locally.

Brooklyn Farms, a hydroponic superstore in Cobble Hill, is expanding to include a consulting and installation firm, a learning center where they'll teach less-fortunate city kids how to grow food, and a hydroponic community garden where people can rent a small plot and come garden year-round.

"Being a sustainability center," says Marco, "we plan on running most of our electricity off solar and wind power and we want to offer composting for the community. The business model is being put together as we speak."

Marco recently launched an installation at his other place of business,

The Brooklyn Kitchen

, so the restaurant can grow its own herbs for its recipes:

From our herb garden, you can pick up hydroponically grown basil, mint, sage or thyme: cut to order and sold by weight. Buy just what you need, so you don’t have to store or toss unused herbs! And watch as we expand our selection to include lovage, thai basil and more! Long associated with the more (ahem) illicit side of agriculture, hydroponic gardening is also a fairly practical way to grow your own food, a very gratifying activity too often unavailable to city folk. There are so many crops you can grow hydroponically, even exotic edibles that aren’t normally native to our region, that your garden will quickly pay for itself in saved grocery store costs.

Stay tuned for partnership information between Brooklyn Farms and Better Farm including workshops, free tips, information on building your own hydroponic garden, community outreach initiatives, and more. And feel free to e-mail

Marco

with any questions you have about hydroponics.

Warm Welcome to Better Farm Intern Elizabeth Musoke

Better Farm

Elizabeth Musoke grew up in Kenya and moved to the United States to study at the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She'll finish up her masters of regional and community planning in May of 2012; but in the meantime, we are fortunate enough to have her as an intern in Better Farm's sustainability program.

Elizabeth worked in Kansas State University's sustainability internship program as well from September 2010 to March 2011, researching sustainability programs in higher education institutions, synthesizing data into summaries and reports, and gathering data for Kansas State University's greenhouse gas inventory.

"I spent a semester and a half analyzing my university’s sustainability level and finding ways to grade and aid its progress to a more sustainable future," Elizabeth wrote to us. "I was enrolled in an independent study analyzing the past, present and future developments of an informal settlement, Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the Fall 2010 semester, I proposed a qualitative study exploring the water supply system and how it affects the quality of life of residents living in Kibera. I am really interested in innovative ways that encourage water reuse and conservation."

Convinced that traditional schooling can't teach her all things, Elizabeth sought actual work experience. In her time at Better Farm, she'll be continuing her studies with water systems by helping to initiate water catchment and irrigation systems at the Farm, as well as working with various organic and permaculture gardening methods, green building, local food distribution, and much much more.

To learn more about Better Farm's sustainability internship program, click here.

Introducing Better Farm Intern Soon Kai Poh

Carleton College student Soon Kai Poh spent 22 months after high school in the Singapore military, 6 months working in a bakery, and volunteer farming in Singapore and Japan. Then he enrolled in a liberal arts college in the States, and, a few months later, got in touch with Better Farm.

Talk about well-rounded.

"In my time away from full-time academic study," he wrote to us, "I have realized the importance of gaining a better insight into the relationships that connect us to other people and to the world around us."

Soon Kai's interests in organic small-scale farming, cooking, and outdoor survival skills sent him in Better Farm's direction; where he's interested in using the Farm's community-based framework to share and exchange ideas with others and to make his learning experiences more meaningful and less self-directed.

He's already busied himself in the garden with the three other interns, and is abuzz with ideas for bee houses, winemaking, and green building. We're fortunate enough to have him with us through Sept. 4; stay tuned for updates on all the amazing projects he embarks on at Better Farm!

For more information about Better Farm's sustainability internship program, click here.

better days

by Erica Hauser
Occasionally my dad would say to me, when I'd be going through tough times, "Better days is comin'."

Probably it was his particular delivery, but it often helped: imagining these better days somewhere down the road, just waiting for me to get there. I've been having a lot of better days lately. In fact, this year has been going pretty well altogether, for the most part. One of the running jokes at the Farm is that here, everything is "better." Best is good, but better is... better.

In the past few days, among other things, I finished a painting, built (with salvaged wood and nails) and planted a raised bed with the interns, went dancing, hiked in a state park by the river, worked on more paintings, helped prepare food, picked flowers, sank a single pool ball, and lay in the grass listening as a talented wordsmith here played guitar and sang.

I may have said this before, but I feel so fortunate to be able to live like this for a while. It makes me feel like I'd do anything to maintain this creative flow and focus that I've had in the past six weeks. Even when I'm not painting, I feel that I'm living everyday life with a heightened state of awareness, my senses more alert to everything around me.

True, I've always been essentially living this way, in the intensity with which I process sensory, physical, intellectual, or emotional experiences. But I'm seeing that something like a residency allows me easier access to the energy stirred up by my surroundings. Instead of tucking it away, I can follow it through to see where it leads. A couple of mornings here I tried to meditate with a friend. I can't say that I was able to quiet my mind, but I felt relaxed and there was a clarity and connectedness between thoughts I'd previously grappled with. While I still have troubling thoughts, it's like I'm able to tap into that aforementioned energy to strengthen myself and balance out my sensitivity.. well... better.

Arts on the Square Offers Workshops all Summer Long

The North Country Arts Council in Watertown this summer offers a wide range of classes at its facility Arts on the Square. There's something for everyone; from painters to writers to storytellers. Courses offered this summer include:

Printing P.art.ners  Monday, June 13 (four session options)

Writing Sparks       Wednesdays in June, 10-11 a.m.

Foundations in Oil  Wednesdays in July 6-8 p.m.

StoryART                Thursday in July  9-10:30 a.m.

RecyclART              Thursdays in July 12-2 p.m.

Portraits                  Wednesdays in August 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Writing for Children  Tuesdays in August 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Invented Machines (drawing) Aug. 1-3, 1-2 p.m.

Click here for more information. This committee and its work is under construction, and the long-range goal is to eventually offer classes for all ability leves, ages and arts media. The immediate goal is to offer two to three classes per month. With more administrative support, the North Country Arts Council can run more classes, but is limited for the moment by the amount of volunteer hours available to review proposals, market opportunities, track registrations and assist in running classes. If you have interest and ability in these areas and would like to help, contact Kari Robertson at education@nnyart.org. Arts on the Square is located in the Franklin Building on Public Square in Watertown.

The Season Starts at Better Farm

Peas climb a fence in Better Farm's garden.

In the last two weeks, Better Farm's doubled her numbers, celebrated her 41st year in existence, completed another outbuilding, produced beautiful music, paintings, stories and textiles, and really kicked into high gear.

The winterized skeleton crew of Better Farm (Nicole, Mike, Mark, and Brian) in May gained Erin, a photographer from Heath Photography in Redwood; as well as a whole slew of interns and artists. There's Jaci, a recent ASU grad; Natasha, a student at St. Andrews in Scotland; Erica, a painter from Beacon, N.Y.; Matt, a writer out of Jersey City and his dog Persephone; Forbes, a trumpet player from the Boston area; and on Sunday we'll get Soon Kai Poh and Elizabeth Musoke. We were also blessed to have painter Jennifer Elizabeth Crone; visual artist Ruby Amanze, and embroidery extraordinaire Joetta Maue and her son, Tesla, with us for residencies throughout the winter and spring.

Full house! With so many hands, the garden has taken on a life of its own. Natasha and Jaci have been killing it out on the grounds, spotting spiders and birds and frogs, transplanting and planting like crazy, and doubling the size of last year's garden.

Painter-in-residence Erica Hauser layers compost, cardboard, and rich dirt as part of Better Farm's mulch gardening, no-till method of growing food.

New rows are established as Better Farm's garden doubles in size.

Raised herb beds on the property feature sage, basil, spinach, amaranth, chives, mint, summer savory, mustard greens, and more.

Of course, the chickens are in on the action. Acting as mini roto-tillers and producing great compost for us, they hang out with everyone in the garden:

Bedding down in a fresh row of composted dirt.

Henrietta

Sissy

Meanwhile, the artists keep busy producing work. Here's Forbes writing a composition in the side yard:

With all this hubbub, it's important to keep morale high. So we do things like teatime (featuring vegan cucumber sandwiches and tea made with mint from the garden):

Gathering around to watch rainstorms roll in:

And, of course, hikes out to beautiful overlooks and swimming in crystal-clear lakes:

For more information about Better Farm's sustainability internship program, click here. To learn more about the betterArts residency program, click here.

The Bus

Watercolor, 8"x10", of the Better Farm bus. By Erica Hauser

As Oasis

A sneak peek into one former artist-in-residence's return home  

by Joetta Maue

I spent all day yesterday settling back into home. Getting caught up, unpacked, and much more. And it feels good to be home. While I was away I was thinking about all the things that I miss out on by having a NYC lifestyle, but as soon as I saw the skyline off in the distance I was flooded with happiness toward all the things that I get from living a NYC life.

It has been lovely here the last few days and T and I have been soaking in Brooklyn life.

I always love that often when I go somewhere I totally enjoy myself and my experience but more often then not it also confirms that the life that I have chosen is the right one; leaving me even happier to be where I am.

Better Farm was an oasis of grass, bird song, space, and wonderful community and I am so grateful for the experience I had there—and even more grateful to know their door is always open to me and creative folks. I hope to grace their barn and the supper table again.

But here too in my little life in Brooklyn I have my oasis of my family, my friends. my studio, and my bed. So I guess you can make an oasis anywhere.

For more information about betterArts' residency program, click here.

Building a Better Birdhouse

We broke ground on Better Farm's second outbuilding last September during a memorial celebration for two dear old friends of mine,

Em Doran and Emily Richardson

. The memorial, coined "A Better Celebration", served as a launching point for future foundation and scholarship support for young women; and those in attendance at the event

helped us at Better Farm out with several projects

.

Blueberry bushes were planted, doors were painted (part of an ongoing art series led by artist-in-residence

Mike Brown

), and we started the second outbuilding, which we're calling the Birdhouse for very obvious reasons. The design was found by

Corinne

online, and we all fell in love:

The building is obviously amazing, but there were a few kinks we foresaw applying this model to the North Country: keeping the bugs out, having more space, and

frost heave

. This building was intended from the start to house

artists-in-residence

at Better Farm. So, we tweaked the design a bit to make it an 8'x10' building, allowed for four stilts rising up out of the ground, and included a proper door and window. Here are photos from the memorial party last September, when we dug holes and laid the groundwork:

Truly a group effort! After the party, several Better Farmers teamed up again with Craig and Teresa Rice and Jody Szepeski to get three of the four walls up and the roof framed.

And there she sat, as the cold winds came and we were forced indoors to endure the particularly cold North Country winter. As soon as the snow melted, it was back to work. A new crew came onto the job; namely, Joel Zimmer and Mark Huyser. Mark built the steps and put the door on (reclaimed from renovations at the Riveredge Hotel), Scotty Tummons came in to lay the roof down, and then Joel and Mark finished the edging, cut out the window David Garlock helped to draw, insulated and sheetrocked the walls, and (maybe most importantly) put the perch on. And, at long last, the birdhouse is just about finished:

See the full album here

.

Many thanks to the entire Better Celebration crew, Craig Rice for getting the project planned and executed so skillfully, Redwood Lumber for meeting our demands for wood, David Garlock for donating the roof, Mark Huyser, Joel Zimmer, and Scotty Tummons for doing such nice work, and

Erica Hauser

for being the first person to call this birdhouse home.

S-s-s-studio

by Erica Hauser
 

 

This morning I awoke feeling chirpy after my first night sleeping in the birdhouse. I'd slept in the main house the first few nights as it was unexpectedly chilly, but I snuggled under a comforter and fell asleep while looking at the stars through the round window. Shortly after the sun rose I lay in bed listening to the birds singing all around me. Coming up on the longest day of the year, the light stretches leisurely from dawn to dusk like an ear-to-ear grin.

After a few hours of painting, I weeded a couple rows in the garden and planted some brussels sprouts. I decided this'd be my dinner-making day, so I am preparing a baked-bean-&-corn dish, brown rice with red pepper and just-picked chives, and the kale harvested from the garden today. I'm often more of a side-dish-&-dessert-maker, so that's how it goes. Afterwards it will still be light enough to work in the barn a bit longer. I haven't posted photos because I've been working on a few things at once, taking advantage of being able to spread all my stuff out and get messy, it's what I've always wanted to do, and makes me long to rent a separate studio for myself upon my return. That likely won't be possible for a while, though I will have to find some place to use for Beacon Open Studios in late September.

While writing this paragraph I've shooed the big snake away twice already, it seems to like my canvases, but maybe I'm projecting. I guess we'll just have to share the space.

Photos: The license plate is an installation piece I just did. Below that is the lovely Better bus, part of the history of the farm, not currently operational but perhaps soon. Then we have my snake pal and the birdhouse. 

For more information about the betterArts residency program, click here.

Introducing betterArts Resident Forbes Graham

Forbes Graham is a trumpet player, electronic musician, and composer based in the Boston area. He grew up in Silver Springs, MD, studying and performing jazz, classical, and concert band music. As a teenager he discovered heavy metal and hardcore punk, genres which influence his pursuit of extreme sound to this day. His music is also influenced by numerology, poetry, cinema, marching bands, and the 1980s in general. He has performed at Festival of New Trumpet, Vision Festival, and High Zero, among others.

He also runs Blaq Lghtn, an organization that brings valuable music and art to appreciative audiences. Blaq Lghtn has brought Cooper-Moore, Sabir Mateen, Peter Evans, Stephen Haynes, Shayna Dulberger, and more to the Boston area to perform. The organization also produces CDs, with upcoming releases featuring Jim Hobbs, Laurence Cook, and other visionary musicians and sound artists.

For his time at Better Farm, this betterArts resident will be composing music inspired by Magic Hypercubes:

In the past I have composed music inspired by magic squares. Magic squares are of size n in which the sum total of n elements along a row, column, or diagonal add up to the same number. Magic squares have a long history in recreational mathematics. I have composed a number of quartets based on the Lo Shu and Chautisa Yantra magic squares. What I have recently become interested in are magic hypercubes. Magic hypercubes are of size n such that the sum total of n elements along any axis equal the same number. I have begun to explore a five dimensional magic hypercube. I will be participating in the betterArts residency program at Better Farm in Redwood, NY from June 5-12. During this time I will be composing a trio for piccolo trumpet/trumpet, clarinet, and cello.

 Stay tuned for updates on Forbes' progress! We're thrilled to have him on board.

For more information about the betterArts residency program, click here.

Introducing Better Farm Intern Natasha Pietila

Better Farm's latest arrival, Natasha Pietila, is a 22-year-old student at University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Originally from the Bay Area, this California girl is interested in all things green and sustainable; including organic small-scale farming and gardening, general farm management, alternative building, rainwater catchment, community outreach, outdoor survival and environmental public policy.


Good thing we've got her involved in our sustainability internship program for all of June and July.


Natasha's only been here since Friday and has already proven herself to be a powerhouse; bonding with the people at Better Farm, taking charge, getting the grounds in ship shape... she and Jaci have even established their first community outreach project: volunteering at the Redwood Historical Society this week.

Stay tuned for updates on Natasha's projects at Better Farm, the research she'll be sharing with the world, and the volunteer work she'll be providing for the Redwood area.

For more information about Better Farm's sustainability internships, click here.

Settling in Quite Nicely

By Jaci Collins

Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day! Natasha (the other intern) and I rode bikes down to Redwood’s town to explore and get some ice cream at the infamous Felder’s. The ice cream was amazing, despite the opinion of the Knorr’s ice cream shop across the street. haha. We made our way down the road and came upon the Redwood Historical Society run by a very sweet and welcoming woman named Linda. She showed us around, filling us in on some fascinating details about Redwood and the families that reside in the area. One of the sweetest and thriftiest women I have ever met!  It was a rare occasion for me to go into a business and feel welcomed while walking away with a handful of knowledge about a town’s history and its people-and to be welcomed back to help in a cleaning day! I really like this small town vibe (i’m gasping myself). Despite the downfalls that may come along with it, I admire small town qualities and the close knit communities. This is a huge change from the city I just left where I didn’t meet my neighbors until the day I was moving out. I like it here. It feels really natural to wake up early, tend to the chickens and head to the garden. This lifestyle may just be exactly what I need to get me out of the funk that I have been in.