Better Bee Update

Each Tuesday, we have been checking on Better Farm's new bee hive to see if they are filling up the frames that are in the bee box.

 
While most experienced beekeepers check on hives every other week, when learning about bees it's good to check regularly while trying not to be overly disruptive with smokers and such. So, we've been going out on a weekly basis and pulling a few trays out to see how the hive has grown, keep track of the queen, and keep up with how much honey is being produced.

This Tuesday around 9 a.m. our friend Eileen and her son Kane stopped by to learn about beekeeping. Kane and I suited up in your bee suits—his was a big for him:

Because we are doing it 9 in the morning while the bees are still sleepy, we did not need to use smoke for the bees. I open up the bee box to see all the bees hard at work. We have 10 frames in the box and from what I saw, the bees have taken over seven of the frames. This is great news: It means the bees have a queen and are now making honey to feed themselves and also to make honey for the winter months. I took out two of the frames to see if there was any honey being made and I saw honey shining in the frame. I showed Kane the frames with all the bees and pointed out the worker bees and the drones to him. After that, the bees started to make a lot more buzzing which I took as a cue to let them get back to work. Everything looked really good in the box; so next Tuesday we will suit up once again to see if they took over the rest of the frames. If so, we will have to add other box to it so they can fill those frames, too.

Youth Poetry Workshop, All-Ages Open Mic Set July 18 at Better Farm

BetterArts' annual Youth Poetry Workshop is slated from 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 18, at Better Farm in Redwood.

Students will be encouraged to bring one to two poems to present to the group for editing and critiquing. Students will also have the opportunity to read, listen to, and analyze work from prominent poets. There are three specific learning objectives in this workshop:

1. Improved poetic prowess
2. knowledge of leaders in the field; and
3.  confidence to read their work aloud.

Following the workshop, the public is invited to bring poems to Better Farm to read aloud in front of an audience. Light refreshments and food will be available for sale; or individuals are welcome to bring a picnic dinner! Pre-registration is requested! To register or for more information, please email noeltague@betterarts.org.

Better Farm is located at 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood NY, 13679. For a full listing of upcoming workshops and events, click here.

Introducing betterArts Resident Kiran Chandra

Kiran Chandra.

BetterArts resident Kiran Chandra joins us from June 25 to July 13 to create a body of work investigating notions of time, place, communication, and dialogue.

"While at Better Farm I am interested in making drawings," Kiran told us, "and writing a text piece about swarm intelligence and non-verbal communication amongst humans. Inspired by a book by the South African naturalist Eugene Marais, who wrote about group behavior and intelligence amongst termites, the piece I am writing aims at making connections between his text and how human beings communicate and live in groups. I really believe the experience of living in a more communal environment such as at the farm, may allow for different ways for thinking about how I can write this piece."

In Marais' book, he came to understand termite colonies as sentient beings unto themselves. The Queen Bee becomes the colony's "nerve center," Kiran explained, "and termitaries capable of communicating telepathically within itself and other colonies. At Better Farm I would like to work on a text which lyrically links Marais' observations of termites behavior to human impulses of forming community, outside of the immediate nuclear family."

Kiran works with paper, water colors, India and colored inks, spoken word, and video. "I write original texts which become recorded audio pieces that are heard alongside drawings or 3-dimensional work," she said. "The sound, drawings and objects come together to create an effect, and often become an immersive environment for the viewer to enter. The materials are in dialogue together, connected by their physical materiality, but also the very structure of the language that informs the work." 

Kiran is very interested in storytelling; specifically, multiple points of telling tales and relating information such as is evidenced in oral, folkloric, mythological, and day-to-day narratives. "I am interested in language: textual and concrete. And I am particularly interested in that place where written language fails, and other forms persist: such as in the caves of Lascaux and Bhimbhetka, or that moment of encounter with a piece of pottery, ages old."

Kiran earned a bachelor's degree from St. Stephen's College at Delhi University in India before moving from Calcutta to Boston to earn a secondary bachelor's in fine art from the Art Institute of Boston. In 2013 she earned an MFA from Hunter College in Manhattan. She now lives in Brooklyn, where she is a teaching artist with various organizations throughout New York City; including the Brooklyn Arts Council, City Lore, Artistic Noise, Studio in aSchool, and the Sadie Nash Leadership Program for Young Women.

Kiran keeps a small, fire escape garden in her Buschwick apartment. "Every spring I give a stab at planting a few things I can eat," she told us, including, "potatoes, parsley, chives and a curry leaf tree. I have also attempted composting, with worms and all." She describes herself has having "a commitment to sustainable living in my own small way, and am open to learning any new skills to help maintain the life and community at Better Farm."

In addition to her art, Kiran has been active with chores around the farm, cooking for the people here, swimming, boating, running, and helping in the garden. A gallery exhibit and reading of Kiran's work will be held Friday, July 11, at 6 p.m. in the Art Barn.

The Art Barn is located at Better Farm, 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood NY, 13679. For more information about the betterArts residency program, click here.

Do These DIYs: Cooling the Home with Less Energy

Stills from the 1959 Twilight Zone episode "Midnight Sun".

As the thermometer dial climbs in the North Country this summer, we can only imagine what you city dwellers downstate and across the country are dealing with. But instead of automatically flicking on the AC the next time temperatures hit 80, consider using one of these easy DIY tricks instead—and save the big guns for the next extreme heat wave.

Homemade AC Designs

The folks over at the Good Survivalist have come up with a genius way to make a $454 air conditioner for about $15. Keeping your home cool in the summer can be very expensive if you use your air conditioner. This air conditioner is very simple to make, and can be made in a few minutes if your are handy.

Even if you are not handy you’ll be able to make one of these DIY air conditioners. One of the nice things about this air conditioner is that it will give you up to 6 hours of coolness. This thing works so well you may need to put on a sweatshirt! To make one of these babies you need a few simple tools, a couple of 5 gallon buckets, along with a few other items. Everything is shown in the video:


The crew at Snapguide has an alternative design, this one using a Styrofoam cooler:
Here's a great list of great, cooling life hacks anyone can do at home or work as alternatives to actual air conditioners, as gleaned from Life Hacker:

• Create a Makeshift Air Conditioner—If you don't have an air conditioner, hopefully you have a fan. On its own, however, a fan isn't always sufficiently cooling. If your home is a hot air trap, blowing that hot air around isn't going to help much. Instead of just running the fan and hoping for the best, take a shallow bowl and fill it with ice. Place the bowl in front of the fan and as the ice evaporates, it will cool the air. 
• Cool Your Drapes—If it isn't hotter outside than it is in your home, you've probably cracked a window already to at least cool things down a little bit. If you're finding an open window isn't sufficient, spray a sheet with cold water and use it to cover the window's opening. As the breeze passes through, the cold and damp sheet will cool it bringing in chilled air and further helping to reduce the temperature in your home. 
• Schedule Your Windows—If all you have are windows to work with, you can still use them to your advantage. While the difference is more significant in arid environments, the temperature outdoors cools at night, and that's the air you want to let into your home. If you keep your windows closed while the sun is up and open them while the sun is down, you can trap the cooler air in your home and keep the temperature a few degrees lower. Even better: Set up a couple of inexpensive box fans in windows on opposite sides of a room to create a nice through-breeze. 
• Do Nothing—Much of the heat in your home comes from heat-generating sources within it. If you avoid generating large amounts of heat you won't have as much of a need to cool. Things like air drying your clothes, skipping the dry cycle on your dishwasher, and turning off your computer(s) when they aren't in use are all good ways to keep the temperature down.

Better Festival's Featured Artist, betterArts Resident Mary Negro

Drawings made of Sharpie ink on an index card. Each is approximately 3 x 2.5 inches.

BetterArts resident Mary Negro will be Better Festival's featured artist in the Art Barn this Saturday, June 21, from 12-8 p.m.

Mary is a born-and-bred Connecticut girl living and working in New York City. She has degrees from Fordham University's College of Rose Hill and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Her chief artistic pursuits involve drawings and collage; both focusing primarily on her feelings toward technology, the media, and digital methods of communication. Mary works by day as gallery manager at the Brooklyn Art Space and Trestle Gallery; and though her worked is steeped in art and she has a studio space in Brooklyn that she uses regularly, Mary sought additional time and space to focus on her work.

"For the past few years," she told us, "I have been balancing multiple jobs while receiving a master's degree in art-market studies. These experiences have been extremely rewarding, but it has been difficult to maintain a continual, rigorous practice... I am at a crucial point in my career where I really need to delve into projects that have been brewing in my mind for over a year. Further, I would absolutely love the opportunity to escape New York City and spend time at a rural farm that highlights the arts and sustainability. It will be a welcome change of pace and environment that I really believe will invigorate my practice. I think the betterArts dual-purpose mission is very interesting and I would love to participate in all of the programs you offer."

Mary has been extremely active at the farm since her arrival June 9. In addition to all the art she's producing, she's kept busy by helping to paint siding for a house, planting Brussels sprouts, boating and swimming in local lakes, helping to prepare for the festival this weekend, and helping with the rehabilitation process of our rescue hens.

At Better Festival this weekend, you'll have the opportunity to check out some completed works and works-in-progress to learn more about Mary's creative process.

"The crux of my work lies in an unease of how information is filtered and distributed," Mary told us. "I always use commonplace materials, like crayon, Sharpie and newspaper—and I typically work both sides of the surface. The scale references the size of my cell phone. I aim to visualize a tenuous relationship between the amount of information readily available at our fingertips and the amount of information we encounter that is obscured, censored, or just plain false.

Here's her work station in the Art Barn:

...and a couple works-in-progress:

Learn more about Mary at her website, www.marynegro.com. For more information about the betterArts Residency Program, click here.

Better Festival This Saturday!

Better Festival, the annual open house, fundraiser, and alumni weekend for Better Farm and betterArts, is slated from 12-8 p.m. this Saturday, June 21, 2014. 

All money raised at the annual music, sustainability, and arts festival will directly fund art- and sustainability-related community outreach initiatives in and around Redwood. 

The day-long event features live performances by local and regional bands, a gallery showcasing artwork by painters, sculptors, photographers, and more, booths featuring art and handmade items for sale, tours of the Better Farm campus, information about Better Farm and betterArts 2014 programming, arts 'n' crafts for kids (and adults!), freshly prepared and locally sourced food, a refreshments tent, games, bouncy castle, and more! 

To introduce betterArts' latest endeavor Better Radio, there will be a booth set up for people to create content for that station. Music will also be recorded for live-streaming and podcasts. For complete information, be sure to visit www.betterarts.org/better-festival. Here's what the lineup looks like for Saturday:

Musical Lineup
1 p.m. MIND THE GAP
2 p.m. THE BAD HUSBANDS CLUB
4 p.m. NORTHERN BLEND CHORUS
5 p.m. FOX RICHARDSON
6 p.m. THE MIGHTY HIGH and DRY
8 p.m. OPEN JAM (all musicians invited on-stage to play)  

Confirmed Vendors

• Handy Candy Mittens
• HomemadeHaven
• Peace, Love and Pottery
• Stellar Creations
• WrecordsByMonkey   

Artists

• Mikedelic
• Kristen Caldwell
• Nicole Caldwell
• Catherine Lapointe
• Mary Negro
• Kari Zelson Robertson

Sponsors

• Tunes 92.5
• 4-H Camp Wabasso
• North Country Goes Green Irish Festival 
• Bella's 
• North Country YDIY
• Route 37 Lumber and Hardware
• Farm Family Insurance
• Vapor Divas
• Cheesman's Landscaping 

Camping for the weekend is available for $10/nigh/person. Reserve a spot early by emailing info@betterfarm.org. RSVP to the event here.

Garden Growth Spurts

New, mounded rows are added to the back corner of Better Farm's garden to house pumpkins, melons, and squash.

Exciting partnerships this year with high-end restaurants in the Thousand Islands Region, a burgeoning CSA program, increasingly popular farm stand, and the perennial mouths to feed at Better Farm itself inspired us to add three more rows to Better Farm's main garden.

We put the new rows in the right-back corner of the garden. The first thing we had to do was to turn the clay-rich soil over up the rows and rake the fresh dirt into mounds. After that, we hayed the new rows and started planting pumpkins, squash, and melons.

 

Meanwhile, in the other rows...

Pink Beauty Radishes

From left: King Richard Leeks, Pink Beauty Radishes, and oodles of Sunset Lettuce.

Penelope weeding out the bugs.

 To learn more about Better Farm's CSA program or to sign up, visit www.betterfarm.org/csa.

What Your Unhealthy Food Cravings Mean

Sure, we all have moments in which we crave junk food. But do you know what your body is actually trying to tell you? We found this gem over at Natural News about what your unhealthy food cravings mean. Read on and be amazed!

Chocolate: magnesium
Chocolate is the most commonly-reported craving in the Western world, so it shouldn't surprise us that it is linked to a nutrient in which a huge number of us are unknowingly deficient: magnesium. According to recent statistics, up to 80 percent of Americans are lacking in this essential macromineral, which is needed for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, including reactions that relate to relaxation. In fact, magnesium is nicknamed the "relaxation mineral," since anxiety, irritability, insomnia and high blood pressure are its main deficiency symptoms. This is the reason why magnesium-deficient people temporarily feel better after eating a chocolate bar: the small amounts of magnesium in it (derived from its cacao content) relaxes them. But, of course, there are far healthier sources of magnesium than processed chocolate. Dark leafy greens, seeds and nuts, fish, beans and blackstrap molasses are all excellent sources of magnesium and will help end chocolate cravings.

Sugary foods: chromium, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur and/or tryptophan
The second most commonly reported craving in the West is high-sugar foods. This is the most complex craving to pin down, since deficiencies in no less than five nutrients could be causing it: chromium (helps to regulate blood sugar levels), carbon (one of the elements from which sugar is made), phosphorus (helps the body produce energy), sulfur (helps remove toxins) and tryptophan (a serotonin regulator). Therefore, the best way to end incessant sugar cravings is to simply improve your diet, which will help remineralize your body in all areas.

Refined carbohydrates: nitrogen
A craving for refined carbs like pasta and bread signals a deficiency in nitrogen. Nitrogen compounds are an essential component of nucleic acids and protein, and deficiencies in them can result in malnutrition due to a related protein deficiency. Therefore, if you find that you're craving a lot of refined carbohydrates, add more nitrogen-rich foods to your diet. Most foods contain nitrogen in organic or non-organic form, but fruits and vegetables are especially rich in it.

Other cravings
The following cravings are less common than those detailed above, but are still regularly reported in today's society:

Oily and fatty foods: You are deficient in calcium. Good sources of calcium include raw milk, cheese, turnip greens and broccoli.

Ice: You are deficient in iron. Eat more iron-rich foods like leafy greens, meat, blackstrap molasses and sea vegetables.

Salty foods: You are deficient in chloride and/or silicon. Try adding more fish, nuts and seeds to your diet.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ruled.me

http://eatwiseteens.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.tandurust.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:

Michael Ravensthorpe is an independent writer whose research interests include nutrition, alternative medicine, and bushcraft. He is the creator of the website,

Spiritfoods

, through which he promotes the world's healthiest foods.

Rescued Chicken Update

Rescued hens!

Two weeks ago, we saved 27 "spent hens"—or, what the egg industry considers spent hens. 

Never having been outside, these girls are enjoying the fresh air and eating green grass every day. The hens are starting to get color back in their crowns, and they also are starting to grow their feathers back (several are now sporting furry butts covered in down). When we first got the hens they were really quiet. But after just a day or two, they started talking to each other and clucking away.

Spent-hen rescue committee.

Right now we have the hens in a big, fenced-in area where we are working on getting the new hens to go up into the coops every night. This is still work in progress, but once they understand to go up in the coop every night we will let them walk around freely. Twelve of the hens will be adopted off once we get them in a bit more rehabilitated—probably in the next week! The birds are so happy to have gotten a new lease on life. Here are few photos of the rescue operation:

Washing one of the hens—a very, very dirty job.

Checking out grass for the first time in her life.

In time, this chicken's crown will turn from this pale pink to a bright red.

We will keep you guys updated on our new hens. In the meantime, you can get involved by sponsoring one—or several—of these lovable girls. Click here for more information.

BetterArts Gets Grand Tour of NCPR Studios

A professional radio broadcast setup in one of NCPR's rooms.

The team at North Country Public Radio last week invited board members from betterArts out to the NCPR studios in Canton, N.Y., for a tour of the facilities, meet 'n' greet, and brainstorm session with some of NCPR's heaviest hitters in order to offer betterArts some insight as it forays into broadcast with its newest project, Better Radio.

Based in Canton, NY, in St. Lawrence County, NCPR informs, enriches and connects the region-on air, online and in local communities. The organization operates a network of 32 transmitters broadcasting to the entire Adirondack North Country, western Vermont and southeastern Ontario. The commercial-free format includes a wide variety of programs from National Public Radio including All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air and more. NCPR's award-winning news team can be heard weekdays at 8:00 am with regional news broadcasts, features and interviews. The station also airs an eclectic mix of locally-hosted music programs.
 

Last Thursday several betterArts board members were treated to a sit-down meeting with several station hosts, reporters, producers, and managers to go over Better Radio plans. We discussed funding options, content, FCC rules and licensing arrangements, and even the potential to work together on future projects involving content-shares and more. BetterArts also got the grand tour of a variety of broadcast rooms to get some design ideas for Better Radio's main station at Better Farm.

Many thanks to everyone at NCPR, including Jackie, Natasha, Radio Bob, Sarah, Ellen, and Martha for being so supportive, informative, and helpful! For more information on how you can get involved with or support Better Radio, click here.

BetterArts Adds Pavilion to Festival Grounds

BetterArts' new pavilion is taking shape!

In time for this year's Better Festival June 21, betterArts volunteers and board members have been working hard to improve festival grounds and add a pavilion.


The project involved ripping down an old shed:

...using an excavator to rip out old cement from a 19th-century barn that was torn down in the 70s:

...and of course, to construct the gazebo:

For all the latest on the Better Festival and information on reserving your campsite, visit www.betterarts.org/better-festival.

Cold-Hardy Hatchlings Arrive at Better Farm

We wrote back in March about the incoming flock of Better Farm babies: a batch of cold-hearty birds designed to improve and diversify the gene pool back at the ranch. In short order, here's a Who's-Who of our newest feathered roomies:

Read-Shouldered Yokohamas:

German Spitzhaubens:

Buff Orpingtons:

Light Brahmas:

These birds will be integrated into the larger, Better flock: a couple dozen rescued Leghorns, a crew of Barred Rocks, last year's Ameraucana/Leghorn/Barred Rock hybrids, and a couple Ameraucanas. You can get in on the chicken fever by sponsoring one of our rescue hens, stopping in to pick up a fresh dozen eggs ($3/dozen), or simply coming by to visit and see these wonderful birds and interact with them.

Gallery Opening of Works by betterArts Resident Lilli Fisher May 31

This larger-than-life burdock sculpture by visiting artist Lilli Fisher utilizes on of North Country's most notorious invasive species to become a giant, interactive piece of art. Fisher's work will be on display in Better Farm's Art Barn in Redwood Saturday, May 31.

BetterArts resident Lilli Fisher will show her ongoing series of three-dimensional pieces made from flora and fauna in the North Country at a gallery opening 6 p.m. Saturday, May 31, at Better Farm in Redwood.

Fisher, a Durham, N.C., native, in 2012 earned her BFA in painting and creative writing from Maryland Institute College of Art. Her sculptures, drawings, paintings, and writing have been featured in multiple galleries along the east coast and in São Tomé and Príncipe. Fisher has worked behind-the-scenes for studios and graphic designers; and participated in several community art projects.

She has been staying in Redwood for the month of May through a betterArts residency held at Better Farm. Her residency has focused on temporary installations featuring living and decaying works that may create habitats, be consumed, or be built by organisms in the ecosystem. The intent of her work has been to question human-environmental relationships.

"My work is a physical process of searching,” Fisher said, “in which I investigate my existence in the context of contemporary life. I collect discarded human-made objects before they are swallowed back into the earth.” At Better Farm, Fisher focused on gathering invasive plants to make book works and larger sculptural pieces. She made pigments and dyes out of spices, herbs, and dirt.

“I interpret these culturally disparate substances as part of a globally interconnected ecological system in which we are all participants,” Fisher said. “My aim is to provide a sensual experience, removed from the boundaries of language, which encourages the viewer to question their paradigms.”

The betterArts Residency Program offers lodging, studio, and gallery space to artists, writers, performers, and musicians at Better Farm, a 65-acre sustainability campus in Redwood. Residencies are designed to offer artists of every discipline space and time to work on specific projects; whether a series of paintings, a composition, book, set of sculptures, or album. Artists are encouraged to interact and participate in the goings-on around the property, and to help out with chores and farm-related responsibilities during their residency. At the conclusion of each residency, artists present completed and ongoing works to the public in gallery shows, readings, and performances.

"BetterArts is unique among residencies in that it provides not only an artistic community but also a community of people devoted to living sustainably,” Fisher said. “This type of community is an invaluable resource for me because of the mode of artistic experimentation I want to explore. The feedback I receive has helped me make the work I really want to make, and to gauge the reaction it receives against a diverse group of perspectives and backgrounds.”

Lilli Fisher's work will be on display in Better Farm's Art Barn at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 31. The event is free and open to the public. Better Farm is located at 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood. To see more of Lilli Fisher's work, visit lillifisher.com. For more information about betterArts residencies, visit www.betterarts.org.