DIY Topsoil, Potting Soil, Fertilizer, and Cardio Workout

The real heroes of Better Farm's dirt mission: Rocky Top Dairy Farm's beautiful cows.

The interns at Better Farm said they needed more dirt. Figures—with twice as many garden rows as last year, oodles of tires to be converted into tomato homes, rotating planting schedules for herbs and salad greens, and flowers such as morning glories seeking big planters from which they'll do their bidding, the main ingredient was in high demand.

We've  already used regular ol' bagged topsoil, dug-out and lovely fresh compost, worm dirt from the Thousand Islands Bait Store, and donated compost manure from friends. So how could we do something educational and new while accessing some black gold for Better Farm's garden?

Simple: shovel it ourselves.

So the other day three vehicles packed to the gills with humans, shovels, and bags headed out to Rocky Top Dairy Farm, a local venue in Redwood owned by the wonderful Eric and Linda Walts.

 

The farm boasts 30+ cows, more chickens than I can count, and ducks galore (it's a great place to buy local milk and eggs). It also, inevitably, has a lot of manure. Where that stuff's been sitting a while is the richest, blackest earth you can imagine, chock-full of nutrients. Eric was gracious enough to point us in the right direction and we set to work:

Soon Kai Poh (far left) and Jaci Collins (far right)

Soon Kai Poh

 

After about an hour we had what I think will be more than enough to get us through the rest of the season:

Elizabeth Musoke, left, and Natasha Pietila with the day's bounty.

 So back we went to Better Farm, where we unloaded the dirt just in time: As the last shovelful left the back of Karl's truck, the rains came. Stay tuned for updates on the garden!

 

Special thanks to Eric and Linda Walts at Rocky Top Dairy Farm, Karl Frizzell for the use of his truck, interns Natasha Pietila, Jaci Collins, Elizabeth Musoke, and Soon Kai Poh; and Sarah Herold, Nicole Caldwell, Fred Ciliberti, and Greg Ciliberti for shoveling. Rocky Top Dairy Farm is located at 45972 Olney Road in Redwood, N.Y.

First Week as an Intern

Elizabeth Musoke stands with Better Farm's garden mascot.

By Elizabeth Musoke

So in my goal to find sustainable solutions for informal settlements and promote sustainability, getting an internship at Better Farm is my way to fulfill my quest! I'm hoping to focus on rainwater catchment and learn numerous other things as well.

It was a long day of traveling: from staying up late to pack (and not really sleeping-my fault), catching my flight at 6 a.m. to Chicago, then Chicago to Syracuse. I then waited at the airport in Syracuse for another 5 hours (but there was free Wi-Fi, so yay!). I caught the bus to Watertown and finally arrived in Redwood.

It was great to finally get here. It is awesome up here! Redwood is idyllic and charming. I love the trees and fields…not to mention all the surrounding bodies of water! Meeting everyone has been great! As soon as I arrived the other interns, Jaci and Natasha, helped me carry my stuff and got me settled in. Everyone has really been amazing and friendly. The people here at Better Farm are incredibly multifaceted and talented. It is honestly quite amazing! The locals I have met have also been very welcoming.

I have already learned a great deal since I have been here: from the types of vegetables that grow in certain months, how to make clay earth more conducive to planting, trellis construction, mulch gardening and much more. I have started looking into a rainwater catchment system...and I shall put more information up as we go along. We are going to try and install rainwater catchment systems on the birdhouse and possibly other structures. Painting or decorating the rainwater basins could be a fun activity that could involve collaborating with artists (and anyone else!).

The past week has been awesome. I have not done this much work outdoors…ever! But it feels great and satisfying! I look forward to working with a fantastic group of interns and everyone here at Better Farm!

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

Interns Volunteer at the Redwood Historical Society

Natasha Pietila, left, and Jaci Collins at the Redwood Historical Society.

During a bike ride a few weeks ago, interns Natasha and Jaci discovered the Redwood Historical Society, a community group housed in the former Redwood National Bank.

The ladies toured the building, learning about Redwood's history and local lore. They also tried on some vintage regalia:


They were so enthused about the whole operation, Natasha and Jaci returned the following week to volunteer alongside other Redwood residents and help to clean the building. Dusting, sweeping, organizing—Better Farm's interns brought their enthusiasm and shared their hard work with the community.

Many thanks to Natasha and Jaci for lending their help and support!

Intern-minator

The interns are about to walk into a water balloon ambush. It's a great day.

Building a Better (Raised) Bed

Better Farm's raised herb beds lining the back of the house. At far left is the newest bed, built last week by interns and an artist-in-residence.

Better Farm is growing!

Every room is occupied with interns and artists from all over the country and world, with more applications to our artist residency and sustainability internship programs coming in daily. In the last month we've hosted an open house and fundraiser, appeared on the local news, and worked with the Redwood community to get trees planted downtown, clean up the Redwood Historical Society, and create a group art project to be displayed in downtown Redwood.

To accommodate all these goings-on, some changes have been underway at Better Farm to better serve the people living here and those living locally.

The interns and artists-in-residence have worked to double the size of our garden in the last couple of weeks. Similarly, our raised herb beds needed an addition to house all the spices and greens we've been growing like crazy in the greenhouse.

So last week interns Natasha and Jaci, along with painter-in-residence Erica, set to work. They grabbed some old wood from one of the sheds across the street, a bunch of nails, and some hammers. Here they are, putting the raised bed together.


Erica Hauser



Erica (left) and Natasha Pietila

Once the wood was together, it was time to grab some dirt. The ladies utilized aged compost manure donated to the Farm by Steve Shoullette.

Teamwork! Erica (front) and Jaci Collins

 Only two things left to do: plant and water. Here's Intern Jaci doing the latter:

For tips on building your own raised bed, contact us at info@betterfarm.org.

Intern Life at the Farm

by Jaclyn Collins
I’ve been an intern at Better Farm for a little more than two weeks and I can sincerely say that I am having the time of my life.

For one, settling in was quite easy and referring to the place as my home seemed natural early on. I give those around me most of the credit.

I just so happen to live with some of the most supportive, humorous, intelligent, and creative individuals I have ever encountered. Time goes by slowly here, which I consider to be a good thing, as the happy times and laughter never seem to end. I feel as though I have grown in so many ways over this short period of time and have learned so many wonderful and insightful things about gardening and sustainable living.

I’ve learned to love being in the garden around the plants and all the critters that creep by. I’ve also been witness to what a little time and hard work in the garden can accomplish and produce: fresh, organic, local, and delicious food. Outside of getting my hands dirty, I’ve learned some building skills, which have produced a raised bed and a new gate for the garden from repurposed materials. It’s not only gardening and building skills I have picked up, but also the courage to be creative, open and most importantly myself.

Anything is possible here and really any vision can become a reality. I’m very much looking forward to the next week and half and all the learning experiences that are certain to come with it.

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

seeing, freeing, being

Three new paintings! All acrylics: Adding Machine (11"x14", seen in Cerrillos NM), Abiquiu (16"x22") and Rufus Smith Building (36"x36"), the commission that I was working on concurrently with others. When the light was good I dragged my canvas and supplies outside to work, which I like; the grass is soft to kneel or stand on (I found an easel to use), I can hear the birds and sounds of nearby activities (guitar, gardening). I'm happy with this painting; I had guidelines and some freedom to work with. It's based on photos emailed to me, which I made good use of in the basic accuracy, I think, while still employing my slightly skewed sense of perspective. I appreciated having others around to check out the work as it progressed and as I was finishing.

After staring at a piece for a long time I can't always see it clearly anymore, and I received some thoughtful and constructive comments. I've been absorbing a lot from the people around me. This residency has been more socially interactive than the last, where, while I made a couple of great friends who gave me a lot to think about, I was mostly on my own as I went about my days. Both dynamics have been really good for me.

I get to learn more about my own process, where I'm at and what I want to work on, and about living communally in a sociable, creatively supportive place. I also love traipsing barefoot across the grass between the house, the barn and the birdhouse. Making a big salad for everyone with stuff picked from the garden. Piling my friends into the truck bed and driving into town for ice cream, or swimming in the lake, or jumping across hay bales.

Now I plan to get back to some other pieces I'd been messing with, and start more work, I'm a little over halfway through the month and want to fully live every moment of this time I've been granted (granted it to myself as well, and immeasurably glad I did).

Fireside Musings

Campfire photo by Natasha Pietila

Creativity is as rampant here as the mosquitoes, and it makes for quite a rich environment. Even the interns have started thinking lately; it seems as if everyone here is really adjusting well to the demands of farm life.

My first two weeks here have been eventful and relaxing. Though I have not written as much as I would have liked, I have made some good inroads into revising and editing some older pieces that I would eventually like to compile into ... well, a compilation.

The real winner of my time at the B-Farm is my dog, Percy. Running herself ragged every day leads to long naps on my feet, followed by some Frisbee time and possibly some swimming. She keeps busy by begging for food, play-biting the other dogs, or scheming to get attention from all of the people here. She's in heaven.

It's a beautiful day here, and I'm hoping for a Hippie Mike concert at the barn this afternoon. Maybe a quick trip down to Milsite Lake for a cliff jump or two, who knows.

My favorite part of every day is the nightly campfire. Collecting an assortment of wood during the day and watching it burn by night is the most tangible thing that I have provided in my time here. The smoke keeps the fist-sized 'skeeters at bay and warms chilly limbs after the sun has gone down. I'm already excited for tonight's fire, and it's still 8 hours away.

Matt builds a fire. Photo/Natasha Pietila

Hanging Out at Better Farm

From dodging mosquitoes to hopping hay bales to throwing horseshoes, there's no limit to interesting adventures being had at Better Farm...

I've Got Quite the Green Thumb

by Jaci Collins

Today was a very productive day in the garden and the weather was stunning! We were able to get a lot of weeds cleared out and a few things planted: tomatoes, onions, brussels sprouts and spinach. We are trying to get the rows cleared out and fresh hay laid down and spent much of the day doing this. There are quite a few things to be planted and I imagine most of tomorrow will be spent doing that. It’s a great feeling to get things accomplished each day. A few project ideas are flowing for the week: research an alternative building structure and draw up a design for a garden gate.  There are some items on the side as well: mixing up a batch of natural week killer (jalapeno’s and water) and getting some recipes together for homemade hair conditioner. So many wonderful things going on and it’s so wonderful to have people around that are motivated and positive! It’s a real joy being at the house and I couldn’t be happier. Tonight is a house dinner and bonfire. At last night’s bonfire we had the pleasure of being in the company of some of the locals who were some true characters! There are always people stopping by the house, dropping things off, coming to say hello, eat or hang out by the fire. What a strange experience it has been living in a such a small town were everyone really knows your name.

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.