Robots, Chickens, and Ducks

Robots, Chickens, and Ducks

Captured by my predator sensing robot camera herding ducks and chickens into their coop.

Since the start of Mezzacello there have been chickens and rabbits integrated into the system. That was my original plan all along. Later I expanded to include robots, chickens, and ducks.

I came across this photo on the cloud from March 21, 2019. It was captured by a motion and heat sensing camera mounted on the water tank in my chicken run. The system also included a hacked Arduino controller that used IFTT architecture to send the photo to my phone.

Yes, I captured my own self herding poultry with an automated sensor. But the other thing this photo shoes is my ignorance about bird flu and sanitation. My Robot Chicken sensor caught me in the poultry area without boots.

While this is a fun early example of my push to leverage automation, robots, sensors, and data in my urban farm. It is also an indictment of my naivety and the fact that one should always be learning, improving, adapting. I am sure I was just securing chickens so I could go to work, but I am NOT wearing wellingtons.

Breaking Barriers and Rules

The cases of Avian Flu are on the rise in the US in 2022, but is not yet in Ohio. This kind of silly reckless behavior is exactly why it is on the rise though. I want to believe I sterilized my shoes after, but truth is I don’t remember and that is bird flu spreads.

There is no direct evidence that the strain of avian flu prevalent right now out west is transmissible to humans, we did just go through a pandemic. Honestly, this is not about the humans, but the birds. I developed all of this tech to keep these vital members of my ecosystems safe.

Flash forward to today and I always sterilize my boots and shoes. I have gotten sick, my fault, for this mistake. This simple mistake is also responsible for killing millions of birds and is why I have three sterilizing stations and four sinks at Mezzacello.

Sanitation stations at Mezzacello

Hand washing Station Hand washing sinks

Sanitizer Station Hand sanitizer station

Boots Washing Station Boot sanitizing station

Boots Only Icon Boots Only Area

Why Boots are a Requirement at Summer Camps

Last summer, I hosted two summer camps at Mezzacello. I rotated groups of four kids through the BioTech portion of the camps. Only students who could fit into my boots, or brought their own could be part of the biotech team.

There were a lot of bummed out kids who could not interact with the animals safely. That was a learning moment for me. And a teachable moment for those kids.

Jim Bruner

In this summer’s camps, EVERY kid will be required to wear sterilizable boots. It is a necessity and it is the Law here at Mezzacello. Live and learn it may be, but adapt and thrive is a better mission.


Versailles at Mezzacello

Versailles at Mezzacello

Versailles-Inspired Tomato Planter

This spring, There will be a little bit of Versailles at Mezzacello. Last summer we found these amazing box planters at Monticello. I was obsessed with them, so much to the point that the tour guide advised me that I should speak to the head gardener and the director of operations.

Planter boxes at Versailles
Citrus Planters at Versailles

But I digress. They were so elegant and simple, and modular. But they are $600 a piece. No way was that going to happen.

Habitat for Humanity’s ReSTORE to the Rescue

I found these amazing store display storage boxes at H4H ReSTORE here in Columbus! They are PERFECTLY proportioned and well-built. Best of all, they were $15 a PIECE!

So I bought four. My goal is to set up a spray booth here at Mezzacello and give them a good cleaning and scrubbing, then a few coats of Zinzer primer. Then I will caulk and seal everything, and then give them a few coats of Mezzacello tan paint.

Then I will build a plastic cowl to protect the top of the boxes and line the interiors with rubberized paint and then a plastic heat welded liner. Then the finishing ledge and some finials.

I have plans for creating micro-ecosystems in each box. Standard suburbanite dirt and mulch matrix in one, hugelkultur matrix in another, Martian compost in another, and a swale and soil matrix in the last. It will be a fun experiment and a classy addition to Mezzacello.

A CAD Rendering Before and After

Teaching Tool

I am over the moon about these. The fact that the polka dot inserts can be removed and replaced just sets my imagination on fire! What could I put in there?

In my dreams it is a variety of things; Chalk boards, art describing the carbon, nitrogen, water, or Oxygen/CO2 cycles. Even a description and explanation for the four different bed types.

Even if Rick makes me go with lattice or chippendale, they will still be awesome. I found a Victoria’s Secret hanger in one of them, so I assume they are from one of those stores. They will have a wildly different life now, and I pun intended, support it!


Winter Work Work Work!

Winter Work Work Work!

Contrary to what May be popular opinion, winter is not a time to rest. Quite the opposite, it is the time to plan, build, dream, and do the winter work work work.

Work work work work work work! Hmmmm!

Rihanna

All of the great artists and cultural change agents in the world know this is true! From the Romans and their work ethic, to Van Gogh and his love of the working class all the way to RuPaul (Werk it Girl!) to Rihanna (Work Work Work). We know things need to get done, honey.

A lot of people take eggs and meat for granted. It’s in a store, you buy it, you cook and eat it, and then you discard it. This is NOT true on a farm.

I talk a good game about creating food and resources from waste, but I am only capable of so much. The average American diet is between 1800 and 2000 calories a day for a male (this calculator can help you decide. There is no way a small urban farm in downtown Columbus can produce that much food, year round.

The True Cost of Eggs

You may pay $X dollars for a dozen eggs at the store – I am not gonna lie, I haven’t had to buy eggs for years – but that low cost is deferred. I recycle almost everything at Mezzacello, and still I need to buy extra feed.

Ask anyone who raises chickens or ducks – or any poultry, the cheap cost of eggs is deferred somewhere. And the feed is heavy, and the snow is real. But this is my passion, and the work is worth it!

Closing Thoughts

Reframe work, effort, passion, volunteerism and empathy as “the bill”. If you are comfortable enjoying the meal at a restaurant, eating it and leaving without paying… Mother Nature is waiting for you, she needs compost and a lazy body and mind will do nicely – work!


Just The Right Light

Just The Right Light

A snap of the farm taken by Sarah Lamme

This is a mid winter snap of Mezzacello from the landing of the stairs at the back of the house. What a sunset! This was taken in Just The Right Light.

This will very soon be a very different view. Over the past seven years we have transformed Mezzacello’s grounds into a true Urban Garden and Learning Lab. Now “The House” at Mezzacello is ready for her close up.

This is a poem 
to our house that began the
journey to now.

The house at Mezzacello is 168 years old. Her step-sister additions are not as resolute as our Cinderella and they need an upgrade. Stay tuned for more.

The main house in the foreground the “stepsisters” are behind.

A Cold Winter’s Day At Mezzacello

A Cold Winter’s Day At Mezzacello

A Cold Winter’s Day At Mezzacello
January at Mezzacello.

It is a cold winter’s day at Mezzacello. -12C (10F) outside, (here’s a handy C to F converter) but it’s a balmy 18C (65F) inside. It’s rather hard to keep a 165+ year old house warm for the tropical plants, but we do manage. I rather like this snap of our living room today.

Because most of our focus is on the farm and the garden infrastructures, we spend little time on the house. It’s livable (and we love it) but it does need some love soon. The original fireplaces still work well and make for cozy rooms on demand.

Twenty-First Century Amenities

Gratitude is a very important part of our lives here at Mezzacello. We do have some 21st Century amenities like water (hot and cold) plumbing, electric, windows, wifi, furnaces, and lots of tech, other aspects are decidedly 19th Century; The lack of AC or a downstairs furnace, the gas fireplaces, the solid brick walls, and the basement cellar designed for munchkins.

Rather than complain or pine for more, I think there is more value in responsible planning and saving to bring this old house safely, sustainably, and graciously into the 21st Century. She has seen so much. She has been patient and steadfast and so will we.

Clinton-Era HVAC and Electric

You read that right. The Furnaces and the electrical systems were installed in 1998. The kitchen is 1989 as re the windows. She is not glamorous, but surprisingly, she is still highly functional.

The downstairs furnace died four years ago. To update it we must also update the electrical systems to code and repair the foundation walls. That is a BIG and expensive commitment and we don’t take that lightly.

The house (thankfully) still has all of her original chimneys, and her gas lines are plumbed to functional fireplaces. There is a fireplace in every room and all the original rooms were designed with 19th Century sensibility; the rooms can be isolated. The only exception is the Depression era extension in the back which is also the structurally weakest and coldest part of the house.

It’s not as abad as it sounds. The upstairs (where the bedrooms are) has its own furnace, so we are grateful for that. But the electrical system was designed for the last century. It’s a gremlin to make modern electronics work well in this house, and her bricks are like Kryptonite to a wifi signal.

Charm Before Harm

We have always known this was going to be a long-term multi-phase process to bring the house back with grace and dignity. Instead of being frustrated that the work is not done, we have decided to be happy and grateful that even though this house has sat abandoned TWICE for years at a time, she still has all of her original charm.

I believe that if we came into this endeavor focused on building a show house and transforming it just to be modern and comfortable, we would have missed out on a HUGE lesson. And that is that living with a wounded house and caring for it, building on to it’s legacy and making due together actually does build character. It builds charm and sustainability – and clever solutions.

So this summer we shall endeavor to make it the summer of interior and infrastructure renovations. After 7 years of building a mission and purpose, we also need to bring our brick friend along as well. So here’s to our house!

She hugs us the best that she can, and we love her well in return. She is one of the many heroes in the story of Mezzacello and she is our home. It’s easy to love her even when it’s bitter cold outside and chilly inside, it’s good to remember, this house has weathered worse!


Raccooning On An Urban Farm

Raccooning On An Urban Farm

Raccooning is gambling with tools and delicate items trying to carry too much

Raccooning on an urban farm is bad strategy/habit to develop. Contrary to what Urban Dictionary thinks raccooning is, it is the tendency to try to carry too many things at one time because you don’t want to make extra trips across the farm. It seems like a good idea, but it is not.

Case in point, just yesterday I was attempting to repair the rabbit cages in the livestock shed. The cages sit too close to the waste tray underneath. In my attempt to lift the cage, hold the tool, and pull the tray out at the same time I spilled the tray and made a horrible, horrible mess.

So I spent an hour in -2C cold sterilizing the floor of the livestock shed because I am a grown man who can’t put one thing down before I start another thing. I do this all the time and it annoys me so much. I am so annoyed I decided to talk about it on this blog.

Better Planning and Systems

The root of this issue, (besides impatience) is poor planning. I need to spend time thinking about the work at hand. If I break the work down into discrete steps and work ahead of time to have all the tools and time I need then this would happen less. Unfortunately, I am usually trying to get jobs done quickly because I have to go to work, or I have some event.

This is also where better systems design is a key benefit. I have trying to consolidate tools and structures into similar spaces and places. I don’t want to over-buy tools, but there are some tools that I am ALWAYS going to need in the livestock shed for example, so I could raccoon those tools there and that’s where they live.

Their backup can live in the tool shed to be used with the 100 various projects I do during the day, every day. That little tool box and first aid kit that I built to live in the livestock shed, stays in the livestock shed. It will save time and energy and frustration.

The Case With The Eggs

Eggs are the other great casualty to raccooning at Mezzacello. I have this psychopathic belief that I CAN carry six eggs in my hand and carry on a conversation is ASL at the same time. It is an insane conceit and I have lost so many eggs over the years (including because I put them in my pocket) that is is shameful.

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Eggs and The CSO

I can remember going to a symphony performance a few years back. I decided to check on the animals and make sure they were safe as I wouldn’t be back before dark. Along the way, I checked the nesting boxes where I found an egg.

Rather than leave the egg behind, I stuck it into my suit pants pocket and rushed out, washed my hands and took a Lyft to the Ohio Theater. I made it all the way through the first half of the symphony, but when the final movement before intermission filled me with passion, I jumped up to clap and yell BRAVO and that eggshell smashed in my pants pocket.

This Is NOT Good

Let me tell you, that is NOT a feeling you ever want to feel – especially at a public and semi-formal event like the symphony. Cold and viscous and rapidly showing up as an embarrassing and messy wet in the front of your pants. What do you say? Oh it’s just an egg I randomly shoved in my suit pocket.

This is one of the things I love most about living on a farm in downtown Columbus — access to food, mission, purpose and culture. In this case the two collided in very regrettable ways.

Jim Bruner

Opportunity For Growth

Luckily for me I have been an awkward dork most of my life. I excused myself, ran to the restroom, grabbed some paper towels and a handful of soap and emptied my pocket and cleaned my pants. This is also why I do not spend a lot of money on the Brunerform.

That was a pretty significant lesson for me. I get friends constantly sending me Facebook Shares of crochet egg aprons, but it’s not the tool, it’s my instinct to get as much done as possible that is the issue. I have all the tools, just not enough wisdom.

So I can say with 100% confidence that I do NOT put eggs in my pockets anymore. I did learn that lesson as well as keeping 20 disposable/reusable bowls on hand at the coop to always put eggs into. But I am still raccooning and trying to carry tools and balance a bowl full of eggs.

That Other Kind of Raccooning

Ultimately this post is therapy for me. Talking about issues and addressing the need for growth and change is an important step in personal growth. This is my public statement that in 2022 I NEED to change this raccooning behavior, and yelling at myself isn’t cutting it.

As for the other other kind of raccooning, I have built so many systems here at Mezzacello from discarded things left in the alley! LOL! Yes, I am always raccooning to find things that will help me in my mission. If you see something you think I might could use, let me know. I will share eggs that I do not keep in my pockets with you.


Spring 2021 and the Brunerform

Spring 2021 and the Brunerform

Spring 2021 and the Brunerform
Almost Spring!

It was 14C in Ohio yesterday and this is my observation of spring 2021 and the Brunerform. Rick and I decided 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 encourage them. I checked on the pond, the potager herb beds and my #ProjectMartian beds. Oof! They need love, but they are thriving.

I let the poultry into the potager vegetable beds. They went crazy and TURNED everything over for me. Thanks! Mental note: Don’t spend $50 on mulch to make the walkways between the beds look clean. Those birds turned EVERYTHING over. LOL!

But that is a natural sustainable system for you. The compost beds look terrific! I have 2,000 Liters of additional compost cured in the #ProjectMartian BioReactors. That will be added into the potager beds and into parts of Rick’s gardens.

It’s only fair, since his gardens provided a lot of the biomass. I snapped this quick photo of Rick and I. As per usual I am in my “Brunerform”.

The Brunerform

One question I get asked a lot about sustainable #AppliedSTEM bio-engineered gardens is why I am always wearing a dress shirt and bow tie while I am gardening. It’s an important question that deserves an answer; It’s because I want to.

Everyone assumes that I wear expensive clothes. WRONG. That bow tie costs more than everything else I am wearing in this photo – including the hat and shoes. I wear Thrift Store clothes.

I prefer natural fibers that can be shredded and added back into the system or at the very least, re-donated. I am not insane. I am just aware that nature recycles everything, even beauty.

This is what I fondly refer to as my “Brunerform” You’ll rarely see me out of it. In fact, amongst my friends and neighbors, they loudly complain when they see me out of it. It is my style and it has become my brand.

Every time I use the Hashtag #GentlemanFarmer I mean it. What is your impression you want to make on the world? Mine is classy and always #BattleReady in a boardroom or in a garden room, take your pick.


New Mezzacello Portrait

New Mezzacello Portrait

Mezzacello Portrait by @ArtbyGeez Gabriel Gatton

We are unveiling the new Mezzacello portrait! After five years of plugging along on our mission to Grow, Maintain, Sustain, and Explain we decided we needed an official portrait. We commissioned a fabulous local artist, Gabriel Gatton.

He asked a ton of questions and then ran away in fear. Six sustainable ecosystems. Two gardens, formal and potager.

Animal husbandry and botanical greenhouses. Lots of science, art, architecture, agriculture, education, and systems engineering. How do you tell all that story?

Gabriel Gatton is a Story Teller

Well Gabriel came back with this iteration and I love it. It is modeled after Grant Woods’ “American Gothic” and subtly tells our story. Have a look.

Reach out and tell me what you think. As we begin to transition our role on the farm into more and more social engagement this was an important step. Also, be sure to check out Gabriel at ArtbyGeez.com


The Foodist: Blueberry Galette with Rosemary Crust

The Foodist: Blueberry Galette with Rosemary Crust

Rosemary and Blueberry Galette

At Mezzacello we love to use fresh fruit, vegetables herbs in our cooking. We grow it, so we should use it, yes? This is The Foodist: Blueberry Galette with Rosemary Crust. Super easy, super tasty and definitely a crowd-pleaseer.

This is a recipe that requires we import flour, shortening and sugar, everything else comes from the farm. This sweet-savory tart is a meal or a dessert is a wonderful addition in a cold winter’s night or a summer get together. It belongs wherever there is joy and celebration.

At Mezzacello we grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs. We also raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, fish, crickets and meal worms. We have added ground dehydrated crickets to push up the protein, but that is an extra.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Pillsbury roll pie crust dough (we do not have the counter space at the farm to make our own dough)
  • 2 Tbsp finely ground rosemary (fresh)
  • 2 pats of butter (melted and sprinkled or chopped)
  • 2 pints fresh washed and dried blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (ground from bark is best)
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 3 Tbsp flour
  • 1 Tbsp sugar reserved
  • 1 egg white, whipped

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F (204C).
  2. Layout pie dough on a silpat sheet or lightly greased baking pan.
  3. Sprinkle 1/2 rosemary powder on the pie crust,
  4. Add a few pats of butter or drizzle melted butter in a spiral.
  5. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix. Add in the remaining chopped rosemary. Making sure all the blueberries are thoroughly coated.
  6. Lay rosemary dough on the pan flat.
  7. Spoon blueberry, rosemary, lemon, sugar compote onto the dough, leaving a 2 inch border all around.
  8. Fold the border over the compote to create a rustic fold all around.
  9. Brush the crust with beaten egg white and sprinkle it with sugar.
  10. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
  11. Serve with pride, because she will be gorgeous.