New York Foundation for the Arts Has the Scoop on betterArts

New York Foundation for the Arts has listed betterArts' residency program on its site. Click here for more information!

Winterize Your Windows

Windows account for up to

30 percent

of all heat lost in the home. That adds up to lots of dollars you're paying for heat you're not getting.

Winterizing your windows is a simple process with lots of cost-effective options you can execute on your own. There are a few different methods we've employed at Better Farm that cost next-to-nothing but have made a big difference.

• The Wonderful World of Caulk Wander around your house and look for any space between your window moulding and wall (especially gaps behind the moulding itself). Carefully apply caulk to the gaps you find, then sit back and revel in the end of drafts.

• Insulation Around Windows  In renovations last year, we removed the edging around some windows upstairs and discovered there was no insulation between window and wall. It only took about 10 minutes to wedge insulation into the cracks (caulk for particularly small cracks), and another 20 to reattach the moulding.

• Thermal Curtains JC Penney's Linden Street line has a bunch of thermal curtains to choose from that work wonders to stop drafts. The craftier among you might be interested in Jo Ann Fabrics' insulated window treatment liner that you can stitch into your own custom drapes.

• Locking all Windows With many newer windows, locking them makes a tight, closed seal. This is an easy and free way to reduce air leaks.

• Plants as Cold Barrier With vertical gardens all the rage, why not capitalize on the added insular effect of a wall of plants? Beautiful, good for the air, and an additional weather barrier? Yes, please.

Follow any or all of these tips and we promise you'll feel a dramatic difference. And let's spread the warmth! Please let us know about any other cold-weather strategies you're employing this season. Happy heating!

And Man Made Fire...

In the 40 years since Better Farm has come into being, heating methods for the house have varied wildly.

Gone are the days of splitting logs right on the kitchen floor and keeping drip buckets under the ramshackle stovepipe that ran along the kitchen ceiling and up through three levels of floor. Over is the time of stockpiling wood in the basement for the split oil/wood furnace. With geothermal an attractive but painfully expensive option to defray the use of the fuel-fed furnace currently in Better Farm's basement, I started investigating other ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make the house a little toastier this winter season.

One thought was to go solar and switch to electric heat; but the price tag for that overhaul is far too great. And in speaking to solar households around this area, there are many times throughout winter up in Jefferson County that a gas-fed generator is necessary to keep the power going. Ditto for wind power.

Meanwhile, the environmental benefits of heating with wood are very well-documented. The carbon dioxide released by wood fuel is equivalent to the C02 that same tree absorbed from the atmosphere over the course of its lifetime: an even tradeoff. Do your part to replant trees wherever possible, and you are replenishing this resource completely; and even improving atmospheric oxygen levels.

I took a look at the stove pipe sticking out of the wall in the kitchen, a remnant from a former incarnation of Better Farm when the kitchen stove was wood-fired. And so I asked around to see if anyone knew of a wood stove for sale. Not for cooking, persay (though options abound for all sorts of wood stove-based baking and cooking), but to give us additional, cozy heat in the house and keep that nasty fuel furnace on at a minimum.

Our friend Milt Davis, owner of Davis Construction, had a stove on-hand that he graciously donated to the farm. That left us in need of a lot of wood, and a new stovepipe. So I brought in the dream team: Better Farm resident and ax-wielding extraordinaire Joel DiCaprio, and master carpenter Gary Stevenson to get the stove situated.

Joel set out into the marshes of the property and felled a dozen or so dead trees. He split the wood, brought it to the yard, and I wheelbarrowed it onto the decks and stacked. And stacked. And stacked (thanks to Joel, David Garlock, Brian Purwin, and Cory Flack for helping to stack; and to Walt Dutcher and Jody Szepeski for doing so much work on the wood splitter in a snowstorm!). Meanwhile, Gary and his accomplice Steve stacked a beautiful stove pipe up along the side of the house, constructed a stone wall in the kitchen, a hearth for the stove, and hooked everything together safely.

All that's left to do is install a big hot tub and sauna somewhere on the premises, and you won't hear another peep out of me about the harsh North Coutnry Winter. Happy fireside snuggling, everyone.

A Chicken Coop Fit for a Queen (or Three)

Back in the spring we built a modest chicken tractor for Henrietta, the new, fowl addition to Better Farm. It was a simple enough structure, and a million times better than the cat carrier we were stowing the chicken in after-hours.

Chicken tractors are great because they're mobile, so you can put them directly over ground you want tilled, turned over, and fertilized (thank you, chickens, for your need to scratch, eat, peck, and poop). Their mobility also means they're easy to keep clean. And during the day you can open the main door if you like and let the birds run around free range to their heart's content.

When we added two chickens to Henrietta's roost (there's nothing lonelier than a solitary laying hen), our little makeshift chicken tractor seemed suddenly cramped. Sissy, Scarlet, and Henrietta were bonding in the close quarters for sure, but it was only a matter of time before they'd need a bigger space to call home.

We scoured the Web for weeks searching for fancy chicken coop plans. Then our buddy Rick tipped us off to some designer  "chicken mobile stagecoach tractors", the Web site for which promised the contraptions were simple enough to put together by any skill level.

Sure, we figured, Why not?

The downloadable plans, which could be had for a whopping $34.99, turned out to be 44 pages of roundabout instructions even the big guns at North Country hardware stores had trouble decoding. If people who construct homes, additions, decks, and roofs for a living were having a hard time with a chicken coop, we knew we were in trouble.

But we toiled away anyway; bringing in various brave souls over the course of the last few months to help us out.  Many thanks to Joel DiCaprio, Tyler Howe, Corinne Weiner, Nicole Caldwell, Brian Hines, Cory Flack, and Brian Mockler for their help and support throughout the process.

Photos after the jump!

 

Get Your Garden Ready for Winter

Want to avoid the mess of mulching, roto tilling, weeding, and fertilizing your garden next spring? Then get that dirt winter-ready with a very simple gardening technique.

We've found that combining Ruth Stout's traditional methods of mulch gardening with the lasagna gardening approach yields weed-free, fertile soil that you likely won't have to add anything to in order to get great yields with crops and flowers.

I set out two weeks ago to begin a process so simple, it's amazing anyone tills, weeds, buys weed-blocking gardening fabric, and that there exists an actual industry for fertilizers when discarded food scraps and a few earthworms are so readily available.

The main garden is comprised of raised rows to keep plants from drowning in heavy rains (clay-rich soil means very little drainage). So first things first: I plucked all the okra, string bean, squash, and broccoli stalks (and all others, you get the idea). I spread junk mail, cardboard, and newspaper over the mounds of dirt, and topped the paper products with the stalks of all the plants I pulled.

Next I dumped a layer of compost over the concoction—an ongoing project that requires emptying our compost bucket along the rows as we go along; but also included me raking out our big compost cage located in a far corner of the garden. I'm also adding to the rows the gross stuff I rake out of the chicken coop and wood ash from our stove.

It's not a pretty sight; and if we were, say, in the suburbs, I'd probably add a thin layer of topsoil to the mix for aesthetics' sake. The goal is to have a pile that's roughly 18 inches tall. Once the snow starts falling, these rows will be small incubated hotbeds of activity as all that stuff breaks down.

Come spring, we can plant directly into the rows—which will by then be stacks of rich, dark soil just begging for seeds to hold onto and turn into food.

You're Invited!

To the

Thanksgiving Kickoff of the

Better Grub Supper Club

Better Grub Supper Club: Thanksgiving Edition

Thursday, November 18th

4pm - onward!

We've wanted to start a

Supper Club

at Better Farm, and this season (and more specifically, Thanksgiving!) seems like the perfect time for the kickoff. Supper Clubs are small potlucks intended for neighbors to get to know neighbors while sharing their skills, ideas and interests in local sustainability. You're encouraged to include fresh, local ingredients in your dishes, & bring recipes to share. In this case, we would also like to make

cooking together

part of the day's event, so if you can, bring the ingredients and we'll all participate in bringing your family recipes to life!

Please RSVP to let us know what dish you'll be bringing to contribute - info@betterfarm.org or (315) 482-2536 (and specify if you'll be cooking this

on site

or bringing it already made)

If you'd rather just participate in the Thanksgiving spirit of eating, we request a $5 donation to help cover expenses. Hope to see you there and

Bon Apetit!

Spend your Winter in the Snowy Tundra of Redwood, N.Y.

Why should summer have all the fun?

Better Farm's sustainability internship and artist residency program now have rolling applications, so you can expand yourself with work experience and artistic proclivities 365 days a year.

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Our

internship program

runs in one- to three-month intervals and is available to students interested in a myriad of sustainability issues, with each internship tailored to suit a specific individual’s needs and personal goals.

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Interns have the option to visit us during regular business hours Monday through Friday, or live on-site in shared rooms for a nominal fee. Off-season projects include garden mapping,

cold frame

construction, homemade soaps and candles, green renovations, and more.

Click here

to download the application.

betterArts'

artist residency program

seeks to provide an opportunity for creative exploration and growth to artists, writers, and musicians within the context of Better Farm's dynamic environment. The standards for admission are talent, desire to live and work at Better Farm, and a willingness to have a go at the Better Theory: a belief that each moment presents us with the opportunity for exponential personal growth.

Click here

to download the application.

Former Intern Ali Dishes on Keeping it Local all Winter Long

By Ali Carter

Last Thursday, I was forced to face a frightful fact. My Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) with

Red Fire Farm

was ending. Every week since mid-June, I’ve been going to the

Dewey Square farmers market at South Station in Boston

to pick up a farm share of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was my first time trying out the CSA, and I can’t emphasize enough how much I enjoyed the experience and learned in the process. Not only was I exposed to a plethora of produce I never knew existed; I also learned how to cook creatively so that I was only using the foods that I received from the CSA, instead of taking a trip to the grocery store to buy additional ingredients.

Fruits and vegetables from local farms are much fresher and tastier than produce shipped from hundreds, possibly thousands of miles away. So, how does a localvore like myself cope with the changing season? I asked Greg Disterhoft and Susan Pincus, Red Fire farmhands, and Darry Madden, co-founder of

Boston Localvores

, for advice. Fountains of slow food knowledge, they revealed Boston’s bounty of local resources. With their help, I put together this in-depth guide to survive the winter, localvore-style:

Click

here

to read the rest of this piece.

Better Farm Welcomes the Plein Air Painters

Plein-Air Painters of America (PAPA) is a fellowship of professional artists who stay true to the historic tradition of "painting directly from life." The group, with members worldwide through the larger International Plein-Air Painters Worldwide Artist Organization, routinely sets up in various locations to paint what's around them.

We were lucky enough last week to have PAPA's Thousand Islands chapter visit us at Better Farm. Corinne had contacted them a while back, and made arrangements for the group's visit. They breezed in last Wednesday on a most perfect autumn day, set up easels, and got to work. Artist-in-residence Brian Purwin spent the afternoon serenading the group on violin, which was the cream cheese frosting on an already lovely day.

New Bathroom is Green in More Ways Than One

When it became clear there would be enough people coming through Better Farm to warrant a third bathroom, imaginings began as to how we could create a state-of-the-art space with as small a carbon footprint as humanly possible. I opted to retool what used to be Skyler's room on the second floor; which meant a lot of new pipes, some extremely creative spirits on the part of the workers who would do the dirty work, and a ton of patience.

I did extensive research on how to "green" a bathroom, and came up with a few key points to pay attention to from my handy-dandy "Green Remodeling" book. Here are some options to consider when renovating an existing bathroom or putting in a new one:

• High-performance, low-flow shower head with chlorine filter
• Compact fluorescent bulbs
• Lighting controls
• Windows that open
• Landscaping for shade
• Greater natural daylight
• Upgraded single pane windows
• Water filters
• Low-flow faucets
• Insulated plumbing and pipes
• Solvent-free adhesives
• Low-flow or greywater flushing toilet

With these ideas in mind, I made a few sketches of the perceived space:

  

 

From there, Fred Ciliberti got to work gutting the room and laying out the pipework. Bobby Rockerman showed up for a while to help get the piping from the basement to the soon-to-be bathroom. In the meantime, I scooped up several eco-friendly components:

• Dual-flush toilet    Kohler makes a dual-flush toilet that can save the average homeowner more than 6,000 gallons of water annually by utilizing 20% less water-per-flush than your average toilet. In addition, there are two flush buttons instead of one so you can control how much water you need to wash away waste.
• Reclaimed claw-footed tub    The United Methodist Church in Alexandria Bay held a tag-sale fundraiser for which people in the area donated items. Among them was a claw-footed tub, in pristine shape—we were even able to use most of the original hardware, including wonderful old stainless steel faucets. All we did to update the tub was slap a fresh coat of primer and paint on the outside, soak the hardward in CLR, buff them up with some Bar Keepers Friend, and call in carpenter extraordinaire Gary Stevenson to hook it up.
• Evolve showerhead    The Evolve showerhead utilizes ShowerStart technology, which stops water flow to a trickle when it reaches 95 degrees. When you're ready to hop in the shower, simply pull the cord next to the showerhead and the water pressure is restored. So what does it save? A whopping 2,700 gallons of water annually, all the fossil-fueled energy it requires to heat that much water, and up to $75 off our annual utility bill.
• Reclaimed bathroom sink pedestal    Vessel sinks are all the rage in bathroom design these days, but we wanted to revisit some old-fashioned roots with this modern-day fad. Armed with a white vessel sink from Lowe's, we tracked down a pre-Civil War washing table at Liberated Sole Shoe Repair & Antique Shop in Watertown that once held—you guessed it—a wash basin. Using some minor wizardry by the wonderful Gary Scholes, the sink hooked into and through the table.
• American Olean tiles    American Olean spearheaded a Greenworks initiative, which offers information and support on LEED-certification, eco-friendly construction, and sustainability issues as they relate to construction. And by their very nature, ceramic tiles last far longer than other surface types. Less replacing means less waste and wear and tear on the environment. 
• Controlled lighting     There are three sets of lights in the bathroom, all utilizing high-efficiency bulbs. This way, during the day you can use no lights (east-facing window means plenty of natural sun rays), or if you're getting dolled up for a night on the town you can flip on the vanity lights above and to either side of the mirror. There's also a three-way fan in the ceiling, which has a hot air blower, regular room fan, and soft light when you just need a little glow to guide your way. 
• Eco-friendly insulation     Nowadays there's no excuse for toxic fiberglass insulation. All insulation-related updates at Better Farm have utilized cotton insulation that's so safe you can rub your hands and face in it.

With these elements in place, Gary Scholes came in to complete the carpentry and plumbing.  Gary Stevenson finished the project off by creating a small oak stage for the tub (he found a pile of beautiful, aged oak out in our barn and planed some of it for this project—stay tuned for future uses we put the rest to!) and hooking it into the pipework Fred and Bobby laid.

Photos from the process:

 

And for the finished product...

Many thanks to the following people for their support and expertise:
Kristen Caldwell's generous donation
Hunter Ciliberti, demolition
Fred Ciliberti, demolition, plumbing, and carpentry
Bob Rockerman, plumbing
David Garlock, consulting
Gary Scholes & crew, plumbing, tiling, and carpentry
Laura Caldwell, vintage towel rack
Scott Mueller, fish painting
Kate Garlock, bathtub refinishing and painting
Gary Stevenson, plumbing
Chris Menne, Brian Hines, and Sarah Herold, painting and staining

Better Farmers do the Can-Can

Sarah and I this morning wandered out to Better Farm's garden to see what three days of nearly constant rain had done to the fruits and veggies.

Holy cow. Armed with more string beans and cukes than we knew what to do with (yet again), we decided to finally take a crack at canning. The folks up here routinely can their excess fruits and veggies from their gardens; a practice begun in early-19th century France by one Nicolas Appert.

Having never tried to can before, we started doing our research; first reading up on what canning is all about, scooping up a few recipes from altruistic Redwood residents, and finally nabbing a few weeks ago a Ball brand "Home Canning Discovery Kit". With a couple morning hours to spare, Sarah and I got started today on some pickles and dilly beans. Here are step-by-step instructions and photos. Please share your own recipes in the comments section, or e-mail them to info@betterfarm.org.
Equipment Every Canner Needs

• Boiling -Water Canner (A big spaghetti or lobster pot will do)
• Canning Jars
• Lids and Bands
• Canning Salt (not table salt)
• Various spices, veggies, and fruit

And now for the recipes... 

Dill Pickle Sandwich Slices\

• 2 Tbsp pickling spices
• 2 1/2 c. cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. pickling salt
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 3 heads fresh dill
• 8 c. sliced, trimmed pickling cucumbers (1/4 inch slices)

1. Prepare stockpot/canner and jars (for information on how to do this click here.)
2. Tie pickling spices in cheesecloth or other fabric to create a spice bag.
3. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, pickling salt, and spice bag in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat and boil for 15 minutes.
4. Put 1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, and 1 head of dill into each jar. Pack cuke slices into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
5. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wip rim and center lid on jar. Screw band until fingertip-tight.
6. Process filled jars in boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove stockpot lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars. Cool and store.

Dilly Beans
2 lbs. green beans
1/4 c. canning salt
2 1/2 c. vinegar
2 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 cloes garlic
4 heads of dill or dry dill

1. Trim beans. Combine salt, vinegar, and water in large pot and bring to a boil.
2. Pack beans into hot jars lengthwise, leaving 1/4 in. headspace.
3. Add 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic, and 1 head dill to each pint (double amount for a quart jar).
4. Ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving 1/4 in. headspace.
5. Remove air bubbles.
6. Process 10 minutes in boiling water.

Memorial Celebration Jump-Starts Three Projects: Part I, 'The Birdhouse'

The weekend of September 11 marked a memorial celebration for

Em Doran and Emily Richardson

, two women killed in a 2005 car accident who've inspired a

burgeoning foundation

designed to empower young artists in the disciplines of writing and photography.

The memorial, coined "

A Better Celebration

," was held at and in conjunction with

Better Farm

. Festivities included the inception of three projects on the property: the Birdhouse, the Doors, and a blueberry patch.

Part I: The Birdhouse

As part of an ongoing row of alternative structures next to the library, attendees at a Better Celebration and the folks living at Better Farm were interested in constructing a treehouse-type structure alongside the recently completed

greenhouse

.

Corinne

found a cool design online of a tree fort called the Stockholm House.

Trouble was, we were concerned about the effects of frost heave

on the single support beam; and we wanted the structure bigger (roughly 8 x 10) in order for it to be a truly livable space. So, we tweaked the design a bit to allow for four stilts rising up out of the ground. At the party, led by our guru-about-town Craig, guests cleared brush and dug holes for the 4 x 4's:

Once the holes were in place, we stuck four 4x4s into them to create a lofted feel for our human-size birdhouse.

Next up was the base and flooring...

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the finished product!

Many thanks to Redwood Lumber for supplying us with materials on such short notice! Special acknowledgments to Craig for leading the group, and Jody and Theresa for lending such big hands to the job. See more photos from A Better Celebration

here

.

Barn Cleaning (and Doors Project) In Progress

The downstairs of the barn has slowly been clearing out in stages (The Barn: Before, renting a huge dumpster last Spring, and clearing out for our Yoga Workshop), but an upcoming Fall Equinox Party prompted another quick once-over.

After a little organizing of the painting supplies (stay tuned for the grand reveal of our Doors Project), the arranging of a seating area and a good hard sweep, the barn is really starting to look like a realized space.






Now all that's left to do is finish getting any unnecessary items out, create some work areas and hang the white chipboard on the back wall as temporary gallery space. After that, wood shop and music studio here we come!