News

Hugelkultur at Mezzacello

German for Hill Culture, this ancient form of permaculture transforms lifeless, heavy clay dirt into a forest floor and captures CO2.

Springtime, Chicks and the Truth About Ducks

Choose wisely when you are adding animals. to an urban farm. You need to know the pros and cons up front!

Springtime, Chicks and the Truth About Ducks
Saxony Ducks

The Foodist: Quick Bean Soup

For a quick and savory meal in a flash, I always turn to this delightful Jaques Pepin-inspired soup.

The Foodist: Quick bean soup
Warm, hearty, and easy Quick Bean Soup

O Fortuna or the Cost of Life is Death

When I first started Mezzacello five years ago I went in completely blind and ignorant about what farming really meant. I thought it would be grow and harvest – it would be happy and easy. But it’s really not. You…

O Fortuna! The Wheel of Fortune where fate turns the wheel and kings rise and fall. Life and death are linked.

Animal Harvest Day at Mezzacello

This one is a bit grim, but super important if you want animals in your ecosystem and not just pets. Everything matters.

Pretty versus Plentiful with Ducks and Chickens

The poultry need to be isolated with new plant growth. It’s time to sequester the chickens and ducks.

Chickens at Mezzacello chilling out and turning the compost piles.

Unlabeled Perils of Modern Urban Farming

Salts and other chemicals unlabeled are dangerous. This seems like it would be obvious  until you face working a full-time job (that you love) and then cramming all the chores, ordering supplies online or from stores when funds are available…

Bags of salts and chemicals that have languished unlabeled over winter.

Songs of Ice and Fire

With the spring comes the inevitable spring cleaning on an urban farm. My back gardens were a mess and the greenhouse… don’t even get me started. Without proper upkeep and care, the hard sun, the city pollution, and the rain,…

Bonfire of the delusional

Not All Calcium is the Same

Today was the first day of spring that I have to do planting maintenance at Mezzacello. One of my primary tasks was making sure both the animal, aquatic, and botanical species that we grow here have appropriate levels of the…

Biofilter and Critical Race Theory

The Biofilter and Critical Race Theory Returning to the Farm I went on vacation last week. It was much needed. As an #UrbanFarmer it is so easy to slip into #workMode 24/7. Sometimes the mind needs time to discover new…

Cleaning the Biofilter Manually.