Sustainability is a really important topic in the world right now. We need more of it, but we need better metrics to define what “it” is. Like the word, “nice” sustainability means many different things to many different people. At Mezzacello I have developed a rule of thumb that helps me better define sustainability. I …
Mezzacello is more than an urban farm. It is more than a group of enclosed sustainable ecosystems. It is also a learning lab dedicated to advancing and innovating agricultural and technology solutions for urban food deserts. That takes improvements in infrastructure and resources. Over the past two weeks I have been pulling down buildings and …
Well it’s nearly Easter in this year after COVID19. My enclosed sustainable ecosystem is readying itself to come back to life. I decided this cold sunny day was the perfect day to record Mezzacello as it is right before it goes through it’s next big expansion. So here is a little slideshow from April 1, …
Diversity Diversity in an ecosystem is always a good thing. I produce high quality compost and fertilizers from various sources. But the poultry and rabbit manure have limits. And it takes time and energy to synthesize them to where the garden beds actually need those minerals and soluble nitrogen. What I need is manure from …
I love the play house chicken coop. It represents my innocent and playful heart. I meant well;Now I know better. I was at a party last year (just before the #COVID19 pandemic changed the world) and I was discussing farming with a colleague. Their position was that it was impossible to be a farmer (based …
This is a terrific recipe Potatoes Lyonnaise with a twist for a winter night. Simple, warm, filling, crunchy and tasty. Rick made this Cook’s Country-inspired dish in his beloved mother’s fabulously seasoned, well-used, and much beloved large cast iron pan. The recipe is deceptively simple. The ingredients were all locally grown and ready for use …
It was 14C in Ohio yesterday. Rick and I decoded to go out and talk to Mezzacello and see what she might be needing. We saw a lot of trash (hidden beneath the snows) and many signs of life! It was a nice little jaunt. Rick checked on all of his formal garden beds to …
Six years ago around this time we started mapping out the “rooms” of the formal gardens. We cut out the sod and recycled as much of the dirt as we could and turned the rest into sod rolls for our neighbors. We had 60 rolls of sod. Then I aerated the beds well, and in …
