Now Through Saturday: Redwood Volunteer Fire Department's 57th Annual Firemen's Field Days
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Are you ready, are you ready, are you ready?! The 57th Annual Firemen's Field Days kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. in Redwood!
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betterArts Presents: Poetry Reading, Photography Exhibit at Better Farm Friday, Aug. 21
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betterArts' Poet-in-Residence Judah Levenson and Photographer-in-Residence Stevie Rosenfeld will present a combined arts event at 5 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 21, at Better Farm in Redwood.
Read MoreTiny Home Construction Workshop Part I: Aug. 8-9
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Have you been daydreaming about having your very own tiny home, but aren't sure where to start? Learn all about materials, construction, different alt-energy systems and much more at Better Farm's Tiny Home Construction Workshop Part I during two days, Aug. 8 and 9.
Read MoreTwo-Day Mask-Making Workshop Aug. 10, 11
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betterArts has scheduled a two-day workshop for children and adults of all ages interested in the art of paper mache mask making from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10 and Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Read MoreBetter Farm Partners with Local Businesses for Children's 'Explorers Passport' Program
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A new program put on by local businesses offers Explorers Passports to children living in and visiting the Thousand Islands Region of New York State.
In the Explorers Passport, children have the opportunity to answer trivia questions, have their "passports" stamped by various local businesses in and around Alexandria Bay, and create their own keepsakes to bring home.
Participating businesses throughout the town of Alexandria (including Redwood!) designate themselves with "Explorers Passport Participating Partner" signs on front entranceways. Passports are available at these stops along the trail.
Those visiting Better Farm are invited to visit our farm stand, take a tour of the grounds, hang out with the chickens, and even do some arts 'n' crafts in our studios.
Does Dulse Seaweed Really Taste Like Bacon?
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Dulse seaweed: bacon-flavored deliciousness, or grimy sea food?
There's been a lot of hype lately about the nutritionally dense dulse seaweed and claims that it tastes like bacon. As a community of veggie-loving foodies, this piqued our interest so today I challenged some Better Farmers to a taste test.
First, the claims:
- Dulse is a superfood with twice the nutritional value of kale
- "This stuff is pretty amazing,” said chief researcher Chris Langdon. “When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it’s a pretty strong bacon flavor.” (TIME)
- "Food lovers might no longer have to choose between tastiness and healthiness." (CNN)
The expert panel I brought in for this challenge was comprised of people who know what bacon tastes like—but who also enjoy vegetarian and vegan substitutes. Here are their findings.
RAW, UNCUT FOOTAGE:
While the seaweed fried up nicely and needs no salting, it just didn't have the flavor to warrant a bacon-substitute claim. And even those who enjoyed the initial taste of the crunchy snack didn't have anything nice to say about the aftertaste.
The results? Stick with the tempeh bacon and save the seaweed for veggie rolls, miso soup and baked into other dishes. Dulse just didn't come close.
Don't cry just yet—here are a bunch of totally amazing resources for delicious, vegan bacon everyone can enjoy:
- Delicious homemade vegan bacon strips over at the Free From Harm blog
- Upton Naturals Seitan Bacon
- Sweet Earth Hickory & Sage Smoked Seitan Bacon
- Smart Bacon Veggie Strips
Better Buckets 2015
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“Better Buckets” allows individuals and families in the Redwood area to isolate food scraps from the waste stream in order to benefit their community.
Read MoreAll-Ages Upcycling Workshop July 25
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An upcycling workshop for all ages is being presented by betterArts at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 25, on the Better Farm campus.
Read MoreA Natural Remedy for Those Who Are Fed Up With Flies - Part One
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By Emily Lauzon, Better Farm Sustainability Student & Intern
Up here in the North Country, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of flies! You take a step outside and there they are ready to bite and it doesn’t stop there—you come in from a hard day's work only to find that houseflies have invaded your living space as well! After a while, the buzzing can drive even the most balanced person clinically insane. So in order to stop the madness I have employed the fallowing methods in fly eradication. I hope that these also work for you!
Read MoreHarvesting Rain: How to Collect Gallons of Water for Your Garden
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Originally published by Martha Stewart Living
With just a few basic materials and a roofline, you can collect rainwater for garden irrigation. This gravity-fed system uses no pumps or electricity and can be installed in minutes. Dress up your rain barrel however you like for a real conversation piece!
Read MoreBetter Radio to Launch at Better Festival this Saturday!
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Better Radio launches this Saturday at Better Festival with live broadcasts of musical acts, interviews with festival attendees, and commentary from some of our new show hosts.
Read MoreJune 2015 Newsletter
/Better Farm News - June 2015:
• Better Festival this Saturday!
• News: All the Latest Buzz Around the Farm
• This Month's Cast of Characters
• Upcoming Events
Hello, Friends of Better Farm!
May and June are easily the busiest two months at Better Farm, as we get the grounds ready for summer, plant and deeply mulch the gardens, expand our landscape design, and this year prepare for Saturday's Better Festival—followed the next weekend by a wedding!
This has been a landmark year for Better Farm; fitting, since it was 45 years ago that our founder Steve Caldwell signed paperwork turning a quiet, unassuming farm along the Canadian border into a technicolor dreamscape that would push boundaries, facilitate change, question authority and reinvent the world with each person who crossed its threshold.
Numbers at the farm have climbed as we welcome students in the Sustainability Education Program, betterArts residents, overnight guests, WWOOFers, volunteers and visitors. This newsletter will outline the projects we've undertaken and the outreach we've done and are continuing to do in the North Country.
Chronicles of Better Farm adventures, along with crafty DIY projects to make you more self sufficient, green and creative—along with practical environmental theory and a little nudge to get you living more sustainably, are all jam-packed into my book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living. It hits bookshelves at the end of July; in the meantime, click here to pre-order your copy at Amazon now! Stay tuned for information on an impending book tour!
I encourage you to check in at our blog to follow all of Better Farm's daily adventures. And do join us this Saturday at the Better Festival to see all we have to offer.
Until next time, better be.
Nicole Caldwell
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Better Farm
All-Ages Paper Bag Notebook Workshop with Alyssa Curley This Saturday!
/Instructor Alyssa Curley of AlternARTive will kick off this year's Better Festival at 12 p.m. this Saturday, June 20, with an all-ages workshop (5+) that will walk students through the creation of a notebook made entirely out of paper products.
Participants may bring any special paper they may have to make the project more personal. The workshop is held at Better Farm, 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood. To pre-register, email info@betterarts.org.
12 p.m. Free. All Ages (5+). Hosted by betterArts. For more information about the ensuing festival, click here. Better Farm is located at 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood.
