Gardens

The Foodist: Wild Mushroom Pie with Parmesan Crust

A savory pie packed full of wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, and parmesan cheese.A savory pie packed full of wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, and parmesan cheese. INGREDIENTS: FOR THE CRUST: 2 1/2 cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1…

Pan searing mushrooms and making vegetable stock.

Lasagna Garden Mid Summer Update

It’s mid summer at Mezzacello. Today many of the garden beds are resting after harvest. Seedling are coming along in the greenhouse and I am fortifying the lasagna beds with molecular iron and magnesium sulphate (Ironite and Epsom Salts) and…

Man Versus Squash Beetles

This summer has been brutal. But I am not complaining; just making an observation. It is brutal not just because of the heat, but because of how prevalent the pests are this year, That mild winter in 2019/2020 did us…

An entire zucchini plant had to be destroyed. Sprayed with Neem and captured beetles with soapy water.

Preservation, Seed Vegetables, and Recycling

I am continuing the midsummer harvest from the soil-free lasagna garden beds. Today it was another bushel of red potatoes, a bushel of shallots, and a bushel of red onions. I gathered them all in inexpensive laundry baskets lined with…

Preparing redskin potatoes, planted in March for storage. And shallots from a 14th Century French heirloom seed. Ooh La La!

Pathways to Harvest and Reuse

A post on how food is used, recycled, and repurposed on an urban farm! The birds, rabbits and fish – even compost and worms.

Rabbits love almost all greens, but hate the roots (except for carrots!)

Introducing Project Martian

How does Mezzacello resemble a Martian Colony? Both will be an artificial self-enclosed, sustainable, multi-stream ecosystem.

Introducing Project Martian
Martian Green House concept.

Life in the Aquatic Ecosystem

­Many of my posts about the pond or as I like to call it, the aquatic ecosystem, have been complaints about the system in crisis. It is true; this pond was built on an Indian Burial ground and feels cursed….

A love shot in the pond at Mezzacello. Three generations of fish in one shot.

Rats, Mosquitoes and Squash Bugs Beware

Pests. Can’t live with them and (at least on Earth) can’t live without them. From rats in the alley eating trash to mosquitoes breeding somewhere in shallow water, to squash nymphs surviving in the same nutrient dense compost I have…

This zucchini was ravaged but alive yesterday and this morning, but suffered catastrophic collapse late this afternoon.

The Most Beautiful Compost

My favorite aspect of Mezzacello is the #ZeroWaste strategy we strive to employ here. Nothing is whimsical; if you have nothing to add to the greater welfare of the ecosystem you have no purpose here. Rick and I violate this…

One of the two 18m hydrangea hedges at Mezzacello.

The Foodist: Carbonara Fritatta

This is a delightful mashup of carbonara and frittata. We make ours from fresh duck eggs.

Pasta, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, cream, and duck eggs.