city living
Spring and the Art of Yard Maintenance
April is here. The grubs and pests are waking up, but the plants aren’t yet sending up their tender shoots. It’s the perfect time to let the ducks and chickens forage. Both species of birds are the perfect gardeners friend…
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…
The Boy Scouts Were Right; Always Be Prepared
I found a duck on a clutch of eggs and rather than act right then to help, I did the wrong thing. Be a boy scout.
Order Requires Destruction or Playing With Fire
Using fire to reset an ecosystem for a parterre garden. Finding the foundations of an old house as well.
The “Foundations” of Building an Urban Garden
What you are looking at is the foundation stones from a house that used to sit on this lot. Every garden bed we build we know we are going to excavate some foundation. Luckily at this point we have a…
When You Have Love That Dovetails
Rick and I are an ecosystem, a system, a partnership. We need each other, we love each other, we improve and strengthen each other. We are also two independent people with enough foresight, history, wisdom, and vision to know that…
When Mezzacello Was New, Father’s Day, and Good Food
In 1871 people, when Mezzacello was new, families, children, and probably servants spent their days very differently. On a rainy day, me and my favorite dad, Rick made a visit to The Columbus Museum of Art to see the Dutch…
A Tale of North and South Korea: or East Mezzacello & West Mezzacello
North and South Korea: East and West Mezzacello North and South Korea is at the heart of Mezzacello. We always knew we were of two minds when we designed Mezzacello. Rick wanted Pretty and Plentiful, I wanted Functional and Farmland;…
The Neighbors Truck
The Neighbors Truck Mezzacello is an enclosed sustainable urban ecosystem, but it is also part of a larger ecosystem of community that is our awesome neighbors. Community is like a garden, I didn’t know this but I quickly discovered it…
Preserving Eggs 1860 Style
Every summer I waste eggs that I don’t get out to people in need or I can’t eat fast enough. I collect fresh chicken and duck eggs. I bring them in to the house confident that their natural bloom will…
