Summer Workshops with Better Farm and betterArts

Construction of a basic rainwater catchment system at Better Farm.

Instructor Paul Jennings walks folks through a second fermentation of blueberry wine.

Our summer workshop schedule is taking shape! Whether you're interested in sustainability, building, gardening, art, music, or all of the above, we've got you covered. Here's a list of offerings from betterArts and Better Farm. Be sure to check back at www.betterfarm.org/upcoming-workshops for updates and a completed schedule!

There is a suggested $10 donation for scheduled workshops to cover costs of basic materials, ingredients, and any associated instructor fees. Unless otherwise noted, we will provide all necessary materials at the workshop. Pre-registration is required! Please contact us at info@betterfarm.org with any questions, to pre-register, or to inquire about teaching for us. 

JUNE

Sauna Construction Instructor: Bob Laisdell
Creative Upcycling and the Art of Transforming Junk Each student will bring an old, tired furniture or clothing piece to transform into something else that is functional. From sketches to the final product, instructor Stephanie DeJoseph of La Mia Designs will help students visualize, create, transform, and finalize an upcycled piece. Encouraged materials (anyone without the following is not excluded from attending): one piece to upcycle, sewing machine, fabric scraps, old clothing, small furniture pieces. Ages 15 and up
Drumming Circle
Drum-making
Beneficial Bugs and Insect Hotels Tidy gardens, chemically fertilized lawns, and a lack of dead wood in suburban/urban areas mean less and less habitat for wild bees, spiders, and ladybugs. You can combat this issue by creating an "insect hotel" to attract beneficial insects (read: pollinators and pest controllers) to your yard and garden. Learn how construct an insect hotel utilizing items you can find around your house and in your yard. Students will learn all of the above, and then try their hands at actual construction of an insect hotel. Instructor: Nicole Caldwell
Brewing Beer Instructor: Paul Jennings
 

JULY

Poetry for Children Instructors: The Line Assembly Poetry Group Dates: July 1, 2

Poetry & Open Mic (Adult class) Instructors: The Line Assembly Poetry Group Dates: July 1, 2
Intro to Video Editing Learn the basics of video editing. Those without video cameras may use their iPhones! Instructor: Holly Boname
Winemaking Learn the art of making your own wine. Instructor: Paul Jennings

Yoga for Kids
Intro to Violin

The Art of Boiling Water Learn simple, delicious, and organic recipes anyone can make! Instructor: Nicole Caldwell

AUGUST

Edible Wild Plants Take a nature hike on Better Farm's property and learn about all the edible, wild plants perfect for making salads, teas, and more.

Intro to Canning

Aquaponics for the Home Learn how to turn any home fishtank into an aquaponics design that can provide your whole family with salad greens, herbs, or even tomatoes and peppers year-round. Instructor: Nicole Caldwell

Winemaking Instructor: Paul Jennings

The Ins and Outs of Rainwater Catchment

 

Better Festival May 25!

betterArts and Better Farm present Better Festival, the groups' annual open house and fundraiser, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, May 25. All proceeds from the event will fund arts and sustainability outreach initiatives in the North Country. The event is free and open to the public.

Here's more information about camping, the musical lineup, vendors, artists, food and refreshments, and games at the event. For regular updates, visit our event page by clicking here.

CAMPING
Campsites for the event are available for $10/person/night Friday through Monday. To make a reservation, please contact Better Farm at info@betterfarm.org or (315) 482-2536. Campers are encouraged to bring in their own drinkable water. Restroom facilities will be provided.

MUSIC
Inside Gallery Stage

• 11-12  Fox Richardson
• 12-1    Ian Wagner  & Brian Purwin
•   2-3    AmberLee Clement, Erin Fulton, Evan Wormwood
•   4-5    Robert Finch

Outside Amphitheater Stage           

• 1-2  Adam Netto & The Zebra Musselz
• 3-4  Sarah Anne Ada
•     4 Corey Walts, North Country Idol Champion 2013
• 5-6  Open Jam 

VENDORS

• Heath Photography will offer a photo booth where families, friends, or individuals can purchase an instant-portrait for $10, taken by the Heath Photography staff.
• Wrecordsbymonkey is a Brooklyn-based design and lifestyle brand that bridges the worlds of fashion, art and music. The company uses reclaimed vinyl records to create handmade accessories with a low carbon footprint that relate to music lovers of every generation. Wrecordsbymonkey takes the most common records, 33 LPs, that you’re used to listening to and turns them into an unconventional material with a blank slate. 
• Peace, Love and Pottery is a pottery line by Emily Shaughnessy. Her work features everything from mugs and plates to custom frames and nameplates. 
• Stellar Creations/Made By Me Jewelry is a handmade jewelry line based out of Watertown, N.Y. 

ARTISTS

• Joan Applebaum, http://windyhillstudioarts.com Joan Applebaum lives outside of Syracuse but has a camp on Grass Lake she frequents in the summers. Her work is
  primarily in acrylic paint or watercolor. Joan exhibits with the North Country Arts Council in Watertown, the Thousand Island Art Center in Clayton, and the Bay House Artisans in Alexandria Bay. 
• Holly Boname, director of marketing for betterArts, has a 9-5 doing marketing work for Cornell Cooperative Extension out of Watertown. This will be her second year displaying photographs in the betterArts gallery.
• Mike Brown, youtube.com/slipperreal
• Nicole Caldwell, kobiashimaru.blogspot.com
• Erin Fulton, erinfultonphotography.com
• Emily Shaughnessy 

FOOD and REFRESHMENTS
Food and refreshments will be available for purchase. Alcoholic beverage purchases will require wristbands.
Menu

• Pulled pork sandwiches
• Hamburgers
• Glaziers hot dogs
• Veggie burgers
• Sides: salads, chips, small dishes, cotton candy
• Non-alcoholic drinks: water, iced tea, lemonade, soda
• Alcoholic drinks: Beer, wine

GAMES and ACTIVITIES
Some games will require tickets (on sale at the main entrance for $1/each or 6 for $5), others will be free.
Ticketed Games and Activities

• Bouncy Castle
• Face Painting
• Corn Hole, Bottle Toss, Fishing Game

Free Games and Activities

• Arts 'n' crafts stations
• Group mural
• Horseshoes
• Hula hoops

Spring Greens at Better Farm

The season has started at Better Farm

with lots of fresh produce available for sale to the community. Please contact us at (315) 482-2536 or info@betterfarm.org to place an order!

Here's what we've got available so far:

Organic Asparagus

$3/bunch

Our

asparagus

is grown in raised beds on the property. Instead of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, we employ lasagna gardening methods (also called sheet or

mulch gardening

). Because we utilize hay, cardboard, fresh compost, organic manure from our chickens, and other

biodynamic agriculture

methods, our asparagus is free of all chemicals, totally organic, and completely delicious.

Organic Looseleaf Lettuce

$1.50/bunch or $6/6 oz.

This crop of organic, looseleaf lettuce was grown indoors in Better Farm's

aquaponic

setup. Utilizing fish waste to fertilize and nourish our plants, this lettuce is raised in a gravel bed and gets its sun-like rays from a grow light hovering overhead. Because it grows inside, the leaves are never exposed to harsh elements or winds; making for the tenderest lettuce you're likely to ever taste.

Organic Chives

$2/handful

This is the fourth season for our chives, which make a great addition to any recipe. Add fresh to salads, stocks, stir-fries, bakes, or marinades; or dry it out for months of use in your favorite dishes. Our chives are grown alongside the asparagus in raised mulch-garden beds.

Free-Range Eggs From Happy Hens

$3/dozen

Okay, not a "green", but we have lots of karmically balanced eggs available from Better Farm's hens!

Scarlet, Bernadette, Delores, Destiny's Child, the

Rapunzels

, and all the

Barred Rock ladies

enjoy fresh grass, organic leftovers, and yummy feed (not to mention endless pounds of all the centipedes, spiders, ticks, mosquitoes, bees, and worms they can find!) all day long as they have free range of Better Farm's entire property. These hens are spoiled to the Nth degree; and it shows in their amazing eggs. Variety of colors (brown, pale blue/green, and white) available.

Stay tuned as more and more crops come to bloom!

Better Farm Pitches in for Redwood Cleanup

From left are Jeremy DiCaprio, Holly Boname, Laurie Petersen, Rick Lopez, Adam McBath, Jackson Pittman, and Aaron Youngs.

Better Farm teamed up with the Redwood Neighborhood Association this year to pick up trash along Redwood's main thoroughfare in an annual effort to beautify the hamlet.

Participants bagged and sorted garbage and recyclables found along the main thoroughfare of the hamlet's downtown. This year marked the lowest amount of trash picked up—meaning there were fewer people littering throughout the year, and a bigger ongoing effort among residents to keep things looking great.

Returnable plastic, glass, and aluminum cans will benefit the Redwood Neighborhood Association's ongoing community efforts. To get involved, stop in at group's next meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at the St. Francis Xavier Parish on Route 37 in downtown Redwood.

To read about past years' trash pick-ups, click here and here.

Better Farm Partners with Natural Market for Earth Day Festivitiies

Children paint trees at the betterArts booth during Mustard Seed's annual Earth day event.

Better Farm and betterArts on Saturday shared information about upcoming programming, sustainability education, and arts outreach with the community—while doing arts 'n' crafts with children—at the Mustard Seed Natural Market's Seventh Annual Earth Day Event.

The event featured free samples, eco-friendly and handmade items for sale, product giveaways, fresh food, and local exhibitors. Better Farm had a table set up at the event all day, with activities for kids sponsored by betterArts. 

In addition, the Mustard Seed ran a Recycling for Charities drive to benefit betterArts. Electronics donated will be recycled—and will support betterArts initiatives in the community.

Many thanks to Katie Youngs for setting up the event! Here are a few photos from the day: 

Nicole Caldwell helping one child press cherry blossoms with a plastic bottle. Photo/Holly Boname

Better Farm's table at the event. Photo/Nicole Caldwell

Photo/Holly Boname

Want to get in on all the fun? Be sure to check out our open house May 25!

On Behalf of Lady Farmers Everywhere

Since moving up here almost four years ago, I've resisted the urge to discuss feminism insofar as it relates to farming and gardening. I realize that farming has traditionally been a man's undertaking (and gardening a woman's); I get the social context, the history of farming and how it turned us from roving scavengers to land-owners.

But it's the 21st Century, right? 

So guys and gals alike are free to garden, till, hoe, weed, crop, plant, and harvest until the proverbial cows come home, all things being equal. And while I don't have a huge, commercial farm or anything, I do indeed consider myself more and more of a "farm girl" with each passing day.

Now, any practical farmer-gardener will tell you that to get your hands (and feet, and knees, and everything else) dirty, you need to have the appropriate gear. That can mean, a hat to keep your head protected from the sun, Carhartt bibs for durability, the right tools for the job, a functional pair of rubber boots, practical things. Good things.

None of these things is particularly gender-specific, and one of the things I like about gardening in general is that you check your ego, your gender, and everything else at the door in order to focus totally on the job at hand: growing.

I didn't move up here to make some point about the power of women, or to show that women can be independent, or any other such thing. So when people tell me this is proof that I'm a strong woman, I say thanks but people are people—this isn't about me being a woman. I mean, would it really be that different if a man ditched his Manhattan cubicle and settled in Redwood?

So I live like a person first and foremost; not however it is a woman is "supposed to". I sort of ignore gender roles and just do what feels right—and if that makes me feminine, great. If it makes me masculine, so be it. Go ahead and label it however you want.

Anyway, living like a human being is super until you're sitting in the doctor's office waiting for your appointment and you pick up a

Martha Stewart Living

magazine and open it up to this:

Yup, you read it right: "Garden Getups". Which is to say, "Hey ladies, never miss an opportunity to look your best!" I mean after all, you never know when Prince Charming might stroll through on his white horse. God forbid he should catch you in a stained tank top and ripped shorts, barefoot.

Let's read the fine print:

Maybe I'm overly sensitive, maybe I don't understand the entire feminine mystique thing, and maybe Martha Stewart is the antichrist, I really can't say. But here's a purportedly independent, self-made woman advising lady gardeners the world over to throw on a $315 silk scarf, $199 boots, and an $88 hat to go dig in cow manure, clean out chicken coops, and pull weeds. Since when did the garden become a runway show? Is there

anywhere

a woman can be without having to primp; without having it jammed in her head that people will judge her on how she appears?

Even in this most basic act—digging in the dirt—we have Martha Stewart tapping our shoulders, reminding us to cross our legs and say please and thank you. 

"While gardening clothes should be comfortable and washable and, ideally, protect you from sun and insects, they shouldn't prevent you from inviting a friend to lunch to admire the fruits of your labor."

Which I guess they wouldn't do if you looked like a slob; all covered in, say, dirt.

Stay tuned for our photographic response to the Martha Stewart Living article!

Speaking for the Trees

Baby white spruce trees.

We planted 50 white spruce trees yesterday at Better Farm, which will allow us to teach land stewardship to children and adults for many years to come. The trees came courtesy of the Department of Environmental Conservation's School Seedling Program, which seeks to encourage young people to learn about the natural world and the value of trees in it.

Our trees will be tended by children and adults living, working, and volunteering at Better Farm throughout the coming months and years; performing soil tests, learning hands-on the value of repopulating trees throughout a region, researching the air and soil purification trees provide, and more.

A bit about white spruces (gleaned from Hidden Springs Tree Farm):

Picea glauca (Moench) Voss

Description:

White spruce is a medium-sized conifer found in northeastern United States and throughout Canada. It is the state tree of South Dakota. White spruce has a cone-shaped crown, and when grown in the open develops a conical crown which extends nearly to the ground. This habit along with the spreading branches give it a nice appearance for use as an ornamental. Trees often reach 80-140 feet in height and 1.5 to 3 feet in diameter. The oldest white spruce may reach 300 years of age.

Leaves (needles) are needle-shaped, and are often somewhat crowded on the upper half of the branchlets. Needles are usually 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, blunt at the tip and green to bluish-green in color. Typically, needles are 4 angled (4-sided) and are present on short twig-like structures on the stem (sterigmata). When crushed, needles have a disagreeable odor, thus, the common name of "skunk spruce" or "cat spruce" is often used by those familiar with the species. The bark is thin, light grayish-brown and is produced in irregular, thin, scaly plates.

The species is monecious, meaning both male and female flowers (strobili) are found on the same tree. Pollination occurs in the spring and cones mature in one season. Cones are slender about 1 1/4 to 2 inches long and ripen in early fall. Cones are pale brown at maturity with scales that are thin, flexible, and rounded. Cones usually fall from the tree shortly after seeds are shed.

White spruce is tolerant of a considerable amount of shade. Its best growth is on moist, acidic, loamy soils and is often found on stream banks, lake shores and adjacent slopes. The species seldom occurs in pure stands but grows in association with balsam fir, black spruce, eastern hemlock, trembling aspen, and other northern hardwoods.

Leaves of white spruce are often infected by rust diseases resulting in premature shedding of needles. The two most important insect pests are spruce budworm and spruce sawfly.

As a Christmas tree, white spruce has excellent foliage color, short stiff needles and a good natural shape. Needle retention is better than some of other spruce species.

Range:

White spruce has one of the largest ranges of any North American conifer. It can be found from Newfoundland to Alaska and southward to the United States in New England and the Lake States. It occurs from sea level to 5600 ft. in elevation. A taxonomic variety of white spruce, densata, can be found in the Black Hills of South Dakota and is often sold commercially as "Black Hills spruce". The variety albertiana is sold as "western white spruce" or "Alberta white spruce", although some experts believe it may be a form of densata. A total of over 30 cultivated varieties of white spruce have been identified.

Propagation:

Most propagation is by seed, although both rooting and grafting has been successful. Vegetative propagation by rooting or grafting has been used to increase the number of plants of rarer forms.

Uses:

The wood of white spruce is light, soft, and straight grained. Its primary uses have been for pulpwood, lumber, furniture, and boxes and crates. More elegant uses include sounding boards for pianos and violins. The tough, pliable roots were once used by Indians to lace birchbark canoes and to make woven baskets.

White spruce is important as a source of food for grouse and seed eating birds. Red squirrels often cut cones as they mature and eat the seeds. Porcupines are considered destructive pests as they often eat the bark, particularly of young trees. Black bears may also strip white spruce bark for the sweet sapwood.

The Fruits of Our Labor

3-in-1 citrus tree, three kiwis, and a banana tree gain some ground in pots.

Fruit trees are here! We wrote back in March about all the fruit trees we ordered to create a small orchard on Better Farm's property. A bunch of those trees arrived last week in various shapes and sizes, which means we've been very busy getting trees planted outside, starting some immature trees and vines in pots on the back deck, and preparing the grounds for the rest of our fruity arrivals.

Whether you order very young trees that need to go in pots first, or if you're planting directly into the ground outside, we've got a few basic recommendations.

Upon Arrival
Be sure to give your plants a great watering the second they arrive. They've been in transit a long time, and will be relieved to get some fresh air and a tall drink! If you can't plant your trees or plants as soon as you get them, store them in a cool, dark place for a day or two. If your tree arrives dormant (or in the case of evergreens), soak overnight in a bucket of water.

Planting
Whether starting them off in pots or digging out holes in the ground, make sure you give the roots plenty of room. Dig a hole three times the size of the root ball, or put the plant or tree in a pot that gives the roots full room to stretch out.

Give your plants a lot of yummy things to eat.  In the bottom of your hole or pot, put in some dead leaves, hay or straw, and a hearty scoop of fresh compost. Newspaper scraps, twigs, and even grass clippings are great too: the more stuff that rots, the better!

Lining the bottom of planter pots with cardboard, twigs, and compost.

When you're ready to plant, we recommend a mix of potting soil (aged compost is great for this), mixed in with something your particular tree or plant likes (depending on what kind of plant, you may want to add some lime, or a small handful of sawdust, or an organic fertilizer of your choosing).

Here are some very young trees (paw paws, apricots, cherry, banana, 3-in-1 citrus), vines (kiwis, angel lace, and hummingbird), and bushes ("Mosquito Shoo"—we'll see!) ready to party:

Cold-hearty kiwi vine

Our banana, 3-in-1 citrus, and mosquito-shoo bushes will live in pots permanently, but we'll likely need to transplant them in the next month or so into larger vessels:

Oh that's right, let's not forget 50 strawberry bushes! We're raising these babies on the back decks so the mice can't get to them. Sorry the photo is so blown out, the SUNSHINE on the deck is overwhelming today!

 To learn more information about the cold-hearty fruit trees we got, click here.

DIY Rustic Log Benches

A chainsaw, log, drill, and lag bolts are all you need to make your own rustic, outdoor bench.

Our friend Jamie Parker stopped in at Better Farm on Sunday with a truck bed filled with logs and a chainsaw. Two hours later, we had four benches perfect for campfire-sitting or enjoying music from the top of the hill behind the Art Barn. Here's a great spring project for those of you who are comfortable wielding a chainsaw.

Supplies
Logs
Chainsaw
Lag Bolts (at least 6 inches long)
Drill with 3/4 inch drill bit
Socket set

Directions

1. Cut legs for your benches. Our legs are 20 inches high, but make yours as high as you like. First cut the logs at the length, then halve the chunks.
2. Cut the length of your bench by halving a longer log.

3. Notch out for your seat to sit flat on the legs.

4. Pre-drill two holes over each leg and use your socket set to screw in your lag bolts. You're all done! A coat of poly will protect your benches against inclement weather and rot.

Got a DIY project you'd like to share? E-mail us at info@betterfarm.org.

Birdland

Thanks to some gifts of birdhouses from Local friends, we're sporting a serious bird village at BetterFarm after the weekend.

Each spring, we do an annual clean-up and repair session of birdhouses throughout the property. We have almost a dozen birdhouses we keep up and manage for our feathered tenants—including a gorgeous bluebird house given to us last year by the New York State Bluebird Society. Last week, our friend Carl stopped by with two gorgeous, large houses made from slab wood by a craftsman in Goveurneur, N.Y., and our friend Shirley Kimberley out in Plessis gave us four bluebird houses her husband Greg had made. So yesterday we took advantage of all the sunshine to hang the houses throughout the backyard. Here are the bluebird houses all in a row:

 The houses Carl brought us are too large for a simple mounting, so some stabilizers were in order:

For the other house from Carl, we mounted it on a post that used to hold a bird feeder that has since fallen apart:

Birdwatching off the back deck is going to be pretty extreme this summer: four bluebird houses to right along a row of trees, two giant houses in plain sight, a small bluebird house on a small mount in the middle of the yard, plus a purple martin bird complex on the tall post way in the back.

Regular birdhouses should be placed in safe locations away from predators where birds will feel secure. Bluebirds need a few extra amenities, outlined here courtesy of the New York State Bluebird Society:

• Bluebirds nest in open fields or orchards. They don't generally nest in cities or suburbs.
• Place the box in an open an area as possible, do not mount on trees or buildings. Keep away from the edge of woods as house wrens will fill them up with sticks.
• mount the box 4 to 6 feet up a pole, tree, or board
• put a guard on the pole to keep out raccoons, snakes and other potential predators.
• Try to face the box opening towards a tree or bush to give thefledglings something to fledge to
• Do not face the box opening INTO the prevailing wind direction
• Place boxes 100 yards from each other to minimize bluebird territory overlap. This distance can be reduced if there are trees/shrubs/landscape that break up the line of sight between the boxes.
• Consider placing boxes in pairs, either back to back or within 4-6 feet of each other to encourage tree swallows and bluebirds to both nest. They will tolerate each other but not pairs of their same species.
• If you don't get bluebirds in some boxes (or too many house wrens) after a couple seasons, consider moving them to another location.

Photos from Thompson Park Zoo's Earth Day Event

Making cherry blossom trees with old plastic bottles.

New York State's Thompson Park Zoo on Saturday hosted an Earth Day event that brought together several North Country organizations to deliver an eco-friendly message to zoo visitors throughout the day.

The Better Farm and betterArts crew braved the absurdly winter-like day (hail and all) for a few hours to work on an arts 'n' crafts project with kids, distribute information about our upcoming open house and fundraiser, and educate the public about the sustainability outreach we're doing in the community.

Here are some shots from the day:

The arts 'n' crafts project we did was gleaned from an Alphamom blog, excerpted here:

Start by using dark paint to paint a branch on poster board. Branches are easy to paint. If you can’t paint in a straight line, it looks even better. Once the branch is painted, let it dry before continuing with the stamping. Pour some paint on a paper plate and dip the plastic bottle. The bottom of 2-liter soda bottle has five points like the five petals of a cherry blossom. Press the plastic bottle on the poster board, then lift up. Dip the bottle in more paint each time you repeat the stamp.

Big thanks to the zoo for inviting us out to participate! See you all next Saturday, May 4, for the Mustard Seed's Earth Day celebration!

Turn Plastic Barrels into Decorated Planters

Why spend hundreds of dollars at a garden store buying painted clay planters when you can make your own with discarded plastic barrels? Cutting a few 50-gallon drums in half and utilizing your mismatched, extra paint from previous projects around the house can yield large planters that will look like the real thing once you're done and have established plants, vines, or even edibles in them.

DIY Decorated Planters

Materials
50-gallon drums
Jigsaw
Drill with 1/2-inch drill bit
Dirt
Small amounts of paint (any kind will do, as you can always seal the paint with outdoor poly coating)
Paintbrushes
Rags

Instructions

• Using your jigsaw, cut the 50-gallon drums in half and clean well (inside and out) with your rags. Allow to dry.
• Drill holes every 8-12 inches around the base of your bins for drainage.
• Decorate! We used a Southwestern theme, but be as creative as you like.
• Place your planter where you'd like it.
• Fill with dirt.
• Plant!

Got a great upcycling project you'd like to share? E-mail us at info@betterfarm.org.

Gallery Ceiling Will be Picture-Perfect

This photo from the New York Times is of a ceiling created out of discarded picture frames by Dan Phillips of Phoenix Commotion. The image became our inspiration for the gallery ceiling in Better Farm's Art Barn.

Thanks to donations from Focal Point Custom Framing and Fort Drum, Better Farm's Art Barn is about to have a gallery ceiling fittingly made entirely out of upcycled picture frames. It's a lesson in upcycling, but more than that we like to think of it as a very literal intersection between art and sustainability. In return for keeping hundreds of old picture frames out of burn pits or landfills, we get to use them to create a thing of beauty—and a thought-provoking thing at that.

The gallery space in Better Farm's Art Barn.

Since I moved to Better Farm in 2009, the Art Barn overhaul has been one of our biggest and ongoing projects. We've cleared out years' worth of hay from the second story, added bank after bank of windows, rented dumpsters to haul out all the old and broken stuff that had been piled up over the course of decades, added track lighting and gallery walls, and turned the whole space into a studio and art and performance gallery. In the fall of 2011 we added recycled soy sprayfoam insulation on the first level, and in the spring of 2012 added a second-story deck overlooking a natural amphitheater (to check out the unreal sound quality for yourself, be sure to visit us at this year's betterArts/Better Farm Open House & Fundraiser.

I've been kicking around a bunch of ideas for the ceiling on the first floor of the Art Barn, which betterArts uses as its gallery space:

I considered using old barn wood, then wondered about using some old siding we have in the wood shed. Many people suggested sheet-rocking it, or zipping down some slab wood to use. Then, Fort Drum donated a bunch of old, broken picture frames to us. I recalled an article in the New York Times about Dan Phillips of Phoenix Commotion, a man who builds recycled houses—which is to say, he takes building materials destined for the dump and builds homes with them for next-to-nothing.

In one of the images from that article (see above), he took picture frame corners to create a zig-zag pattern across the ceiling of a house. This was the perfect solution for our Art Barn ceiling! I set about finding a frame shop locally that might be willing to donate more frames to betterArts to use in the non-profit's gallery space.

Tracy Spencer from Focal Point Custom Framing in Watertown was extremely gracious and said that while the company seldom has broken frames, they do have some small frames with defects and discarded moulding. I met with Tracy Saturday morning and picked up the bounty—we're hoping to continue working with Focal Point in the future to get the project completed (many frame pieces are required!). Tracy also through in some beautiful suede matboard that we can use for arts & crafts projects in the community.

Here's Focal Point's display wall, also indicative of what our ceiling will look like:

 My car, stuffed to the gills:
Back at the Farm, I got the Ryobi chop saw out and ready to make 45-degree cuts on the frames:

Then began the extremely tedious process of piecing all the frames together:

We will get chopping this week and should be able to get a quarter to a full half of the ceiling completed before the open house in May. Stay tuned for updates!