Spotlight On: Innonatives

A new innovation platform seeks to foster collaborative innovation and design for sustainability projects.

Innonatives, launched by the Sustainability Maker Project, combines open innovation and design, crowd-sourcing, crowd voting, crowd funding, an online shop, and an international expert system. It's free to join and functions by carrying out sustainability-related design and innovation projects covering everything from products to services and communication.

The platform can be used as an educational tool; for instance to ask students to work on the sustainability challenges that are posted on the platform. Or, you can post your own sustainability projects to be carried out by students and other innovators. The platform also acts as an expert system and evaluation tool for sustainability relevance.

Innonatives is currently in its test beta phase, so you can hop over to the website and take a look at all the exciting stuff to come. The first three open innovation for sustainability challenges are:

•       Communication/ Animation Challenge: to create a video clip that explains in an inspiring way how Sustainability and open innovation are connected and how innonatives works. There is prize money of 3000, 1500 and 750 Euros for this project (click here).
•       Product/Brand Design Challenge: Sustainable Design with Coconut Soil! Design a sustainable product system for European gardening and horticultural markets using waste material from the coconut industry. Click here.   
•  Product-Service Design Challenge for low-income communities: Sustainable Kitchen Challenge is spearheading a project for low-income housing in Brazil. Click here.

Innonatives Crowd Funding and the Online Shop will be available for use by the end of 2014.

The Sustainability Maker project is carried out by:

• econcept, Agency for Sustainable Design
• ecosense media and communication 
• WEBclusive
• Politecnico di Milano
• Forum soziale Technikgestaltung

Tea-Party Tree Trunk

What's a girl to do when National Grid swoops through the yard and takes down a dead tree blocking the power line?

Stack that wood for next winter, turn that trunk into a table, and start planning an epic tea party.

Not every trunk has to be removed from its place in your yard—a simple plywood circle attached to the trunk with galvanized decking screws and a coat of exterior paint is enough to equip you with the most perfect table for an outdoor checkers match, picnic, or Mad Hatter tea party complete with log seats.

Do you not LOVE this?! Stay tuned for pics from the obviously impending matches of bocce ball and croquet with sides of tea and cucumber sandwiches in all the seersucker, linen, and party-dress fare we can get our hands on.

Eat Your Enemies: Spotlight on Invasivore

In a world of international shipping, plane travel, criss-crossing railroad tracks, and roads, invasive species have become par for the course. In any ecosystem, you're likely to find a number of species that have immigrated from elsewhere; often with detrimental effects to the native population.

Invasivore, a group of people taking advantage of this invasion, promotes the consumption of invasive species as a means of controlling those populations and essentially turning proverbial lemons into delicious lemonade.

From prehistoric times, humans have had an amazing track-record of severely reducing the populations of species we eat.  Indeed, it seems that much of the time we can’t stop ourselves.  The folks at Invasivore believe we can tap that hunger to reduce the impacts of harmful invasive species.

The mission at Invasivore is to be a one-stop guide for devouring

Invasive Species

, those organisms which have been moved around the world, damaging their new surroundings.  Think of it as reasonable revenge for the harm these species cause.  The word “invasivore” comes from combining “

Invasi

ve Species” with the latin for “devour” as in “carni

vore

”.  Thus invasivore = one who eats invasive species.

Over at the group's website, you can peruse recipes for preparing invasive species (

ahem,

burdock

), as well as exposition and commentary on related topics such as species’ profiles, histories and cultural significance, harvesting tips, interviews with Invasivores-at-large, and summaries of relevant scientific research.

Material for the Invasivore project is based upon work supported by the

National Science Foundation

under Grant # NSF-DGE-0504495 to the

GLOBES

interdisciplinary training program at the

University of Notre Dame

.

Inspiration Station: Modern Art by Preschoolers

In the spirit of Picasso—by Riley Caldwell, Age 3.

While visiting family in New Jersey over the weekend, I received an invitation from my nieces' nursery school to a modern art show the girls, ages 2 and 3, would be participating in:

The inspiring lesson plan and subsequent art show was too genius not to share. This would make a great class project at any nursery school, summer camp, or workshop.

The "gallery" was set up in the school's classroom. Artwork by famous creators was displayed alongside brief biographies and explanations of the assignments and classwork given to the students. With Pablo Picasso, kids were told about his life, then shown work by the artist. Children were then encouraged to think about their profiles. "When the older children looked at their profiles, we talked about the curve of the nose and that they could see only one eye. They then drew the line of their profile in the middle of the paper and chose two colors to paint each side of the face." Students were encouraged to glue eyes and mouths anywhere they would like on the paper.

Shameless niece promotion: Riley rocks Picasso.

Here are their interpretations of Frida Kahlo's work:

...Cy Twombly:

 

Niece Ella shows off her Cy Twombly-esque piece.

...and just a couple other really awesome pieces of work by pre-schoolers; circus sculptures, and spin art:

Got a great, creative lesson plan you'd like to share? Email us at info@betterfarm.org.

Spotlight On: Grassroots Seed Network

Whether you're looking to get seeds or share seeds you saved from your garden last year, a new start-up called the Grassroots Seed Network is a great resource for the radicals among you with a vested interest in spreading the open-pollinated love.


Many fruits and vegetables sold today in supermarkets are hybrid varieties that will either not reproduce from seed, or will revert back to an earlier variety of that plant. Open pollination refers to plants that are pollinated by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms—in other words, the opposite of controlled hybrids, self-pollinators, or chemically treated plants that can not reproduce at all. Open pollination is great because it increases biodiversity and produces new generations of plants—however, open pollination may produce offspring that varies greatly in size, quality, and coloration breeding is uncontrolled.

As you can probably already guess, the crew at Better Farm is in serious favor of open pollination. Who needs generic peppers or tomatoes that all look the same? We'd rather have an eclectic assortment that promotes diversity among plants. That diversity is what allows you to not lose all your plants to one pest or disease; and what allows for a greater variety of plants in the future. Good all-around for the environment, animals, and plants. For information on how to save your own seeds, be sure to visit the Vegetable Seed-Saving Handbook.

The mission of the Grassroots Seed Network is to provide a participatory, member-governed, democratic network through which those who preserve and maintain the treasured heritage of open-pollinated vegetable seeds can share those seeds with each other and can encourage and help educate the next generation of seed savers.

Here's the skinny on how the Grassroots Seed Network functions:

Grassroots Seed Network is a member-governed organization, and its vitality will grow from the participation of all those dedicated to the preservation of open-pollinated seeds. Here are several ways you can become involved: 

Lister: Listers offer seeds and may request seeds from other Listers through our Source List. Listers have voting rights in all Board of Directors elections if they have offered seed in two of the preceding three years. Listers are also eligible to run for a seat on the Board of Directors. Annual dues for Listers are $15. 

Sustainer: Many of you will not yet have seed to offer, but will want to support the organization by making a contribution toward our daily operating expenses. As a Sustainer you will have access to and be able to request seed from the Source List, but you will not have voting rights. Annual dues for Sustainers are $25. 

Donations: Like any new organization, we have start-up costs, therefore we welcome and are very grateful for donations in any amount that will help us with a
smooth launch and with meeting our financial obligations right from the beginning. 

Hardship Exemption: We want to encourage participation in the Grassroots Seed Network, especially among young gardeners or anyone dedicated to
seed saving, but who may be on a fixed or limited income and for whom the membership dues present a challenge. To those we are offering a hardship exemption. You are, of course, welcome to make any small contribution commensurate with your ability. 

To join, please send a check, made out to Grassroots Seed Network, to 

Yaicha Cowell-Sarofeen 

 2470 Industry Road 

 Starks, ME 04911 

 207-491-4259 

 Email: grassrootsseednetwork@gmail.com 

Be sure to indicate your level of membership, and include your full address, phone number, and email address if you have one. Please let us know if you have no internet access at home. As soon as it is feasible, we plan to generate a printed version of the Source List. In future years a printed version of the Source List will be published annually. If you are joining as a Lister or Sustainer you will be given a member number and be assigned/choose a password for access to Lister contact information and guidelines for requesting seed. If you are joining as a Lister, you will find guidelines for submitting seed listings on the How to List and Request Seed page. 

Grassroots Seed Network will be applying for nonprofit 501(c)(3) status as soon as they have an elected Board of Directors. The group's preliminary draft by-laws can be read here. These will be voted on for approval by the Board and the Membership. In order for donations to be tax-deductible, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has agreed to act as financial umbrella organization.

Visit the Source List page to view the seed listings. The Source List is available to the general public for reading. If you are a Lister or a Sustainer you will need your password to access the Lister Profile page or to see guidelines for offering or requesting seed.

Thinking Differently About Demolition

Salvaging windows.

By outsourcing a lot of renovation and demolition work, a person will often miss the opportunity to salvage perfectly good materials that can be saved for other projects, donated, recycled, or even cashed in at redemption centers for money.

In New York City alone, 19,000 tons of demolition and construction materials are discarded daily. That's a huge amount of garbage being added to landfills that doesn't have to be. Organizations like Build it Green! NYC salvage materials such as furniture, wood, and windows from construction sites for resale at a shop in Brooklyn.

Each of us at some point or another will come across a renovation project that provides a wonderful opportunity for salvage if you're willing to take the time to be a little green. My chance came with the recent purchase of a small cottage around the corner from Better Farm that is being totally renovated and rebuilt for year-round use.

Instead of having a crew demolish the structure for rebuild, an unbelievably wonderful group of friends joined me in a salvage project that kept almost all of the original structure from a landfill.

Here's the salvage list from a 24x27 seasonal cottage structure, gleaned from 3 full days of demolition work:

• 600 square feet of tongue-and-groove pine
• 200 square feet of facing stones (to be used for raising the chimney)
• three bed frames
• three double-hung, insulated windows
• 1,000 feet of electrical wiring less than 1 year old
• two antique exterior lanterns
• four interior lighting fixtures
• 1,000 pounds of scrap metal for redemption
• lamps, ceiling fans (2), and kitchen supplies for donation
• six sound-system speakers
• six 4x4 posts
• metal corrugated roofing (80 square feet)
• wood stove
• 15 feet of double-wall, insulated metal chimney pipe
• exterior walls

In addition to salvage materials, there are inevitable treasures to be found in each renovation project. At the cottage, we discovered an American flag painted across the entire ceiling:

Treasure!

New construction for this house starts in mid-April—but demo in winter allows us to get materials off the island while we still have tons of ice. For your own renovation/demolition projects, check with your local thrift shop, Habitat for Humanity, and other organizations to see how the materials from your project can benefit people in your community—and keep some waste out of landfills.

You can check out the full island-renovation album here.

Progress on Frame Ceiling

We blogged recently about a ceiling design for Better Farm's Art Barn that will utilize donated, discarded frames. We "broke ground" on the project a couple of weeks ago, and have already used up the frames given to us by Fort Drum and Focal Point Frames. Here's how we went about the work:

Firstly, it's important to always keep your end-goal in sight:

This photo from the New York Times is of a ceiling created out of discarded picture frames by Dan Phillips of Phoenix Commotion.

1. Line up all matched frames in a row.

 

 2. Using a power nailer, connect corner pieces.
3. Use a chop saw to shorten sides to fit between ceiling beams.

4. Begin the laborious task of power-nailing the frames to the ceiling...

Got some frames you can donate to the cause? Email info@betterarts.org to help out!

Finding Inspiration on the Open Road

Bunk-house inspiration in Gettysburg, Penn.

Travel gives you new eyes; allows you to see more, gain some powerful time for reflection, and acquire some new inspiration. This past weekend was no exception, as I hit the road (and sky) for treks through Gettysburg, Penn., Miami, Fla., Key Biscayne, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C.

Here's a picture tour of some inspiration I gleaned from the trip and hope to apply some incarnation of to Better Farm:


GETTYSBURG, PA
Drummer Boy Camping Resort 
Inspiration for future bunk house at Better Farm

COCONUT GROVE, MIAMI, FL
Garden Inspiration 

Outdoor eating in a secret garden.

Claw tub planter growing fresh herbs and flowers.

Flowers growing out of the trunks of trees. (Miami, FL)

AT A HOUSE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILT
MIAMI, FL
Garden and grounds (and future attached greenhouse) inspiration

Koi pond.

Gravel footpaths through foresty landscaping.

Chandelier by Dale Chihuly

Stepping stones through a fish and turtle pond.

Outdoor aviary.

Outdoor shower/patio area.

Whet Your Pallet

This pallet adirondack chair was featured on Green Upgrader.

Building with pallets is a great starter upcycling venture. They're made of solid hard wood, they're readily available (just track down some friends who work construction), and they're oft-abandoned after they serve their purpose. Here are just a few wonderful ideas we tracked down online over the last few months.

For compost bins:

...For tables...

...For shelving...

...For storage...

 ...For seating (or sleeping!)...

...For outside bars:

...For work-room stairs...

...For bringing in-house forts to a whole new level...

 ...for plants...

...for storage...

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

Inspiration Station: Solar Electric Tractor

Electric cars have two major downsides. One is battery weight; the other is range.

Neither, of course, applies to an electric tractor.

Weight is an advantage for a tractor because the tractor gets extra traction. In fact, most diesel and gasoline tractors have weight added. Range isn't a problem for a tractor because it rarely travels very far away from the charging station. 

Above is a video of Steve Heckeroth's Solar Electric Tractor model 12 as featured on Permies.com. We even get a quick tour of the solar part!

Hobbit House Part II: Grounds Prep

Amazing hobbit house design by

Wooden Wonders

.

Back in September

, a few of us took a hike on

Better Farm

's property to scout out a perfect location for a hobbit house. One of our favorite potential spots was this, the foundation for the farm's original, 19th-century barn:

Mike and Adam last week took a chainsaw to the sumac and other trees within the foundation, which meant today was the day to clear (read: burn) all the brush so we have a blank canvas to work with.

Here are Jackson and Aaron getting to work:

...and here's the space mostly cleared out:

For the next step, Aaron will be applying his measurements of the space to determine what we need for tires to build exterior walls, and he'll be consulting with some real-deal architects to create legitimate architectural drawings to work off of.

We're going to need to pour a concrete floor or create a stone floor. Luckily, for us, we also found a bounty of original stone used for the old barn that we'll be making our hearth with. Here's the rest of our ideas list:

• Get a work day together two to pull useable scraps together from the property and ready them for upcycling

• Secure a source for lime mortar to be used on our walls

• Get dimensions together for the structure, secure enough tires to build an earthship structure

• Secure old barn wood for the interior ceiling

• Utilize a strong roof appropriate for dirt and foliage cover

The completed space will be the start to a wellness center situated outside of the Art Barn; with yoga studio space, a sauna, outdoor shower, and more. What better use for a hobbit home?

If you would like to volunteer on this or any other projects, contact us at (315) 482-2536 or

info@betterfarm.org

.