Blog
Elegy Written In A NH Barnyard: The Passing of Summer
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The pecking hens winds slowly o'er the lea, The groundskeeper homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the farm to darkness and to me. Now fades ... Read More
Autumn Arts Anticipation! Isaac Lin, Matt Neff at The Print Center
AITA Artists Isaac Lin and Matt Neff are both prolific & terrific! Just caught word of their simultaneous productions during September at The Print Center. Makeready 1: Isaac Tin Wei Lin: ... Read More
Organic Vegetable Tsunami Report
Until this week, I was unaware that northern New Hampshire was blessed with a Tsunami Season. I'd heard of Mud Season. Hell, I survived one already. Black Fly Season...old hat ... Read More
Recipe From The Farm: SNAP Raspberry Rhubarb Pie
INGREDIENTS CRUST 3 cups unbleached flour2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter3 tblsp. frigid cold water1 tsp. sea salt1 tblsp. sugar FILLING2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb2 cups raspberries1 tblsp. diced ginger1/4 cup SNAP1/4 cup ... Read More
SNAP USER GUIDE: Installment 5 - So This SNAP Walks Into A Party…
Unexpected company? Delight your guests and get the conversation started with a SNAP cocktail and a crispy ginger snap cookie! Not enough time to make a batch from scratch? Take ... Read More
SNAP USER GUIDE: Installment 4 - Oh, The Culinary Possibilities…
Now that you've wet your whistle, let's move on to filling your belly... Via home experimentation, I've found that in cooking, SNAP pairs well with fruits and other piquant flavors. It ... Read More
SNAP USER GUIDE: Installment 3 - Cocktails of Courage & Adventure
You've SNAP-ped; you've mixed; you've imbibed, and subsequently enjoyed. Where is the next frontier of SNAP home-mixing? "Just over that horizon" is actually no further than the pantry. A few ... Read More
SNAP USER GUIDE: Installment 2 - Simple SNAP Classics
So you've popped your first bottle of SNAP, slowly swirled the ginger liquid around your mouth, and perhaps tried adding a few drops of citrus, ginger ale, vinegar, or bourbon ... Read More
SNAP USER GUIDE: Installment 1 - SNAP-ing For The First Time
This weekend, I SNAP-ped for the very first time. It's now Monday, and I have no more SNAP. This is a good sign in my book, and I will share ... Read More
Adventures in Agronomy: First Vegetable Harvest!
Pictured: Cucumber Hugs This morning was spent reveling in utter disbelief and inexplicable relief that the shrubbery in the garden is now VEGETABLE-LADEN! After suffering from a week of ... Read More
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Walter Benjamin!
The progenitor of our namesake essay, Walter Benjamin, turns 118 years old today! Read all about Benjamin's philosophical contributions and our interpretation of his theories HERE So PARTY DOWN in His Honor ... Read More
La Fête Nationale: Happy Bastille Day!
Painting above: Claude Monet - The Fourteenth of July, 1878 Today is Bastille Day, The French National Holiday! Bastille Day commemorates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789; ... Read More
The First Fruits at The Farm: “Stay Gold, Berry-Joy, Stay Gold”
New Hampshire's first fruit is redHer tastiest hue, it's said. Her early leaves are berries; One needs a bucket to carry Then pink subsides to ruby. And fingers rose to duty, So we ... Read More
July is Roots & Branches Month!
Pictured above: Queen Victoria's Family Tree July is Roots & Branches Month! For once, I am NOT referring to trees or gardening! Roots & Branches month celebrates genealogy, the study of ... Read More
Cheering for the Under-Chicken: Pecking Order Theory
"Pecking order" is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: 1. A hierarchy among a group, as of people, classes, or nations: "The astronauts had developed a pecking ... Read More
“Lebkuchen” was invented by German monks in the 12th century and first appeared in America in the late 1600s when German Anabaptists looking for religious freedom ... Read More
GARDEN UPDATE: Of Silver Bells, Cockle Shells, Pretty Maids, etc.
Q: Robin McDowell, Armed With A Trowel, How Does Your Garden Grow? A. With coyote pee... (a natural predator deterrent) and greenery... (Johnny's Seeds Wild Arugula, to be exact) ...and fluffy cats trampling ... Read More
Rob Roy Kelly’s American Wood Type 1828-1900: RE-ISSUED!
Delicious. The only appropriate word that comes to mind as I peruse the letter-laden pages of The Latest & Greatest News in Wood Type Land: The one and only comprehensive compendium ... Read More
CAUSE: Historic Gettysburg Casi-NO!!!
Pennsylvania businessman David LeVan (former Conrail CEO) has again brought a proposal before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for Mason Dixon Resort & Casino, a slots and table games establishment ... Read More
GARDEN UPDATE: “Ode On A Greenish Thumb”
THOU still unravish'd seed of quietness, Thou foster-child of Soil and slow Time, Sylvan landscape, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What ... Read More
Egg Bombs: The Hens Are Serious Business
The hens are getting serious about egg-laying. We are moving at a rate of 5-6 big brown eggs each day, and until more human company arrives, friends and neighbors are ... Read More
Hay Season 2010: We Get Organic With A Little Help From Our Friends
We are so stoked to be working with our neighbors at Schoolhouse Farm to restore the hay fields at the farm using best and organic practices, beginning this summer! Norman/Wendy/Schoolhouse ... Read More
This is what happens when shepherds with a little too much time on their hands get a hold of some high tech LED lights. These Welsh shepherds used their trusty ... Read More
Chicken Update: Terror In The Night!
We returned to the farm a recent evening to discover that some New Hampshire megafauna – coyotes, bears, foxes – had pilfered from our chicken coop. Where once ... Read More
Happy Birthday, Ralph Waldo Emerson!
On this day (May 25) in 1803, the essayist, philosopher, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Today we know him as on of the "Founding Fathers" ... Read More
Go Outside! It’s Clean Air Month & Walk In The Woods Month
The forecast tells me that today will be 80 degrees. There is absolutely no excuse to not be outside! Breathing in the sweet spring air and seeking shade under the ... Read More
A Need for Local Beef: USDA Acknowledges the Horror of School Lunch Mystery Meats
America's public school students can look forward to lunchtime with a little less fear and fatalism. On Friday the USDA announced that it will require all ground beef purchased for ... Read More
This Month (and EVERY Month): Get Caught Reading!
Starting in 1999, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) celebrates May as Get Caught Reading Month. The movement to encourage kids and adults across the nation to read for fun ... Read More
The Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm Presents “Art of Homesteading” in June!
Photos from REMICKMUSEUM.ORG Attn: Tamworth-ians, New Hampshire-ites, and New Englanders! Join the Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm on June 16 from 5-7 pm for the opening ceremony for their new ... Read More
Energy Bill to Appear in Senate on Wednesday
In a month of climatic catastrophes and corresponding legislative travesties it is quite surprising that little attention has been paid to a significant and controversial energy bill, introduced into the Senate ... Read More
The Busiest Day in May: Start A Project, Salute The Armed Forces, Observe Moths
There is no such thing as a lazy Saturday during this busy month of Springtime haps! Check out what's on the plate for today, May 15: - Best Day To Start ... Read More
CAUSE UPDATE: Moratorium on Drilling Passes in the House
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed H.B. 2235 last week, a bill demanding a moratorium on further leases of state parks for natural gas drilling. Initiated by Haverford democrat Greg ... Read More
Organic Farming for the World?
image from BUSINESSWEEK.COM Among the debates over the movement toward organic and sustainable farming, the most contentious refers to the movement's scalability – could it work for the whole world? Is ... Read More
May is National Egg Month! (As declared by The American Egg Board) Why May? In April, egg sales soar for Easter preparations. After the holiday, hens across the nation are still laying ... Read More
Happy Birthday Ottmar Mergenthaler, Father of The Linotype!
Ottmar Mergenthaler, dubbed the 2nd Gutenberg by some, was born on this day, May 11 in 1854. Mr. Mergenthaler was a German inventor who birthed The Linotype Machine – an apparatus ... Read More
Raspberry Reveries, Chapter 1: And So It Begins…
2 humans + 8 hours + 2 wheelbarrows + 1000 prickly dead canes + 1 deer tick incident = THE BEGINNING OF RASPBERRY SEASON 2010!!! In 3 months time, our freshly ... Read More
Last Wednesday saw the arrival of seven organic hens to the Farm. A gift from a farmer in nearby Hancock, NH, they are mature White Plymouth Rocks, Black Australorps, and ... Read More
Resist Funding Cuts to PA Historical Sites!
While states across the country are slashing funds for their parks and historical sites – "the most aggressive threat and dismantling to state preservation programs everywhere," according to Adrian Fine, ... Read More
CAUSE REPORT: Stop Natural Gas Drilling in PA!
Over a mile below the earth's surface in many regions of Pennsylvania, there is a mostly untapped reservoir of natural gas in a type of dark rock form known as ... Read More
so much depends / upon / the white chickens
INSPIRATION: A-Frame Pasture Shelter featured in Backyard Poultry Magazine... OUR COOP COMIX: A Coop On Wheels! Imminent Omelets! THE PROCESS... Procure Lumber & Materials... 45 degree angle cuts... Assembling the A-frame... Height check... Pretty A's all in ... Read More
SPRING FARM UPDATE: These delights thy mind may move…
Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields.And we will sit upon compost heaps, Seeing ... Read More
EARTH DAY 1970: A Question of Survival, EARTH DAY 2010: A Question of Sustainability
This planet is threatened with destruction and we who live in it with death. The heavens reek. The waters below are foul. Children die in infancy. And we and the ... Read More
Security and Adventure pt. 3: Travails, Fruition
Since our last, exuberant, update, our seedlings and their keepers have led increasingly precarious lives. A seedling's first weeks are fraught with peril. Too much water, too little water, to ... Read More
VIDEO: Art in the Age & Printeresting Present…COPY JAM!
A fast & furious trip to Philly for the de-install of THE FARM luckily and happily coincided with another awesome event...COPY JAM! A Printeresting Curatorial Project... THE FORMULA One night + One ... Read More
Security and Adventure: Spreading Our Seed
We have spread our seed. We have installed into the good earth the first kernels of future feasting. Our closet laboratory (link to previous installment) is finally ... Read More
The Blushing of Spring: “The world is mud-luscious”
New-England-born poet, e.e. cummings described the view out my back door the best with his poem "In Just–"... In Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious ... Read More
Peepoo, and the Frontiers of Wastefulness
In the last few decades, the human race has made great strides to combat its unprecedented wastefulness, recycling, reducing, reusing, etc. Nonetheless, a final frontier has persisted unchallenged: that most ... Read More
The title of a recent New York Times article suggests a b-grade horror flick about animals run amuck in the big city, but the story actually reveals a phenomenon that is ... Read More
SLOW DESIGN: The Domesticity of The Avant-Garde and Other Tactile Tales
We're totally down with the philosophy of Slow Food. We support the strategy behind Slow Money. How about SLOW DESIGN? Hell, yes. A recent article in the Financial Times, "The Riches of Stitches," ... Read More
Security and Adventure Redux: Beasts and Men
While humans presently constitute one-half of the Farm's permanent residents (two people, two cats), they are soon to be outnumbered. This is not sci-fi prognostication but a mere expansion of ... Read More
“Security and Adventure”: Adventures in Agronomy Part 1
"Security and adventure might be considered opposites in some situations, but the gardener who raises plants from seeds can experience both..." (The New Seed Starter's Handbook). At the AITA Farm we've ... Read More
Cold nights, sunny days...New Hampshire has begun to shake off its winter torpor. This particular weather pattern is also the harbinger of Maple Sugar season! The expansion and contraction caused by ... Read More
Peter Menzel’s “What the World Eats”
We've spent the last hour poring over a fascinating series on Time's website by the California photojournalist Peter Menzel. In 2005 Menzel took a photographic survey of the diets of ... Read More
Recipe from The Farm: ROOT Vegetable Soup
Blizzard conditions in Philly got you down? Cooped up inside? Oddly enough, the New Hampshire snowline is receding. So instead of shoveling, we celebrated by creating this savory soup. If you've ... Read More
Whole Foods Health Plan – The Whole Answer?
As the obesity pandemic shows no sign of waning and government responses remain ineffectual, local interventions – variously simpleminded, whimsical, and inspired – are proliferating. In particular, John Mackey’s new ... Read More
Recent émigrés from the Keystone State - as well as keen environmentalists - we at the AITA Farm are aghast at recent developments that threaten our state's natural splendor. Recent months have ... Read More
FARM UPDATE: Preparing for The SHOW!
For the past few weeks, creative production has really amped up in preparation for THE FARM. At the expense, not gonna lie, of my precious sleeping-with-the-sun hours and a bit ... Read More
SVF Farm: Saving Heritage Breeds in Newport, RI
Earlier this month the Times printed a feature on the Swiss Village Foundation, a pioneering conservation project located on a historic farm in Newport, RI. The SVF is working to ... Read More
Think Locally, Act Locally: SEECLICKFIX In YOUR City!
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent... and His/Her Community! How can one voice be heard in a sea of urban chaos? ... Read More
Cookies for Grown-Ups: ROOT Gingerbread Variations!
Last night's -4 degree windchill did not put me in the mood to "Carpe P.M." So what better opportunity to do ALL of my Christmas baking? In addition to nut ... Read More
Mittens, Kittens & Toolbelts: My Favorite Things (Tamworth Remix)
My Favorite Things Rodgers & Hammerstein | Performed by Julie Andrews(Robin McDowell Remix + Slideshow - 12.13.09) ------------------ Snowdrifts on rooftops and whiskers on kittens, Bright iron woodstoves and warm SmartWool mittens, Sparse little ... Read More
The Compost Crusade Continues: Wilmington’s New Organic Recycling Center!
For those of you who attended the Vermicomposting Event at the Art In The Age Store in November (and those of us who are concerned citizens, interested in reducing our ... Read More
FARM UPDATE: Winter is icummen in; Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us
Thank you, Ezra Pound, for giving rhythm to my thoughts today. WINTER! That strange and wonderful fourth season is truly upon us...forsaken by many who flee to more southern terrain, ... Read More
A Museum of Early American Tools…AITA-Farm-Style!
A recent article in The Inquirer ("They Dig Garden Tools" - 11/20/09) featured Harold Sweetman, Director of The Jenkins Arboretum, who is also a collector of "horticultural antiques." Stated more ... Read More
A Thanksgiving Day Hike in The White Mountain National Forest
Thanksgiving morning, I woke up especially early in anticipation of finally hiking Mt. Chocorua, the stately peak that overlooks the farm. I filled my pack with rain gear (90% chance ... Read More
AITA Adventures Abroad: Discussing The Farm in Europe
Some entertaining tidbits from my recent trip across the pond...I was surprised and delighted to discover that at least the IDEA of the New American Organic "Farmer" seems to be ... Read More
Farm Graveyard Secrets - Unearthed!
I will concede that this is a bit late for Halloween or Día de los Muertos...However, this spooky history tidbit is, nonetheless, intriguing!A locally published tome "If Walls Could Speak," ... Read More
PHOTO TOUR: The Gilman Forest - Tamworth, NH
Invigorating news to report! 68% of the fundraising goal for The Gilman Forest Preservation Project, undertaken by the Tamworth Conservation Commission, has been reached! The Commission is more than halfway ... Read More
NO PASSING ZONE: Can America Slowwwww Dowwwn During Lean Times?
For as long as I can remember, industrial and economic efficiency was synonymous with speed. Fast food, fast cash, Disney FastPass, Instant Savings, Instant Rebate, Quick Oats?, Minute Rice? Frankly, the list ... Read More
VIDEO TOUR: The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Common Ground Fair!
A follow-up to last week's photo tour. See wool spinning in action, a walk through the poultry exhibition hall, and an Organic Farming Parade! Read More
Gilman Forest UPDATE: 65% of Project Goal Reached!
According to The Tamworth Conservation Commission, 65% of the fundraising goal for preserving the Gilman Forest has been reached as of September 15! They have until May 1, 2010 to ... Read More
PHOTO TOUR: The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Common Ground Fair!
En route to The MOFGA Common Ground Fair... Maine is more sparse than New Hampshire (if you can believe it!). Great, vast old properties like this one... Walking with the crowds across ... Read More
Olden Days Are Here Again: Woodstove 101
Over the past two weeks, temperatures have dropped well into the 30's at night! Luckily, I have welcomed a new tenant into my home...a refurbished Vermont Castings "Vigilant" Woodstove! She's a ... Read More
CULTURE TAX: Frankly, My Dear Pennsylvania…WTF?!
Last week, The New York Times reported an enraging tidbit in the Arts section. Hold onto your knickers, all ye citizens of The Keystone State... A provision in the newly-agreed-upon state ... Read More
KEEP NH FOREST UNDEVELOPED: Art In The Age Helps To Protect The Gilman Forest
New Hampshire is one of the most unique states in the union in that it has one of the highest percentages of undeveloped forest (85%, topped only by Maine at ... Read More
The maple trees are blushing red everywhere you look. Mornings and evenings are chilly and crisp. And so we celebrate the advent of autumn in New England with warm mulled ... Read More
Visitations, Excitations & Good Vibrations At The Farm!
The White Mountains are alive with the sound of.. FRIENDS! A Photographic Portrait of The Past Two Weeks: The Hay Barn has amazing acoustics. Several hikes to the fire tower. (Constructed by the NH ... Read More
ROOT & Maine ROOT: A Mix n’ Match Made in Heaven (aka New England)
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I've always secretly retained this idea that Prince Charming actually existed. And furthermore, that Prince Perfectly-Chiseled-Cheekbones-Who-Is-Also-An-Able-Carpenter, my island in an ocean of worldly chaos, ... Read More
“Livestock” Update: Ah, The Circle of Life!
Chai caught her first mouse last week. This event was the source of great pride, as well as confusion (on both Chai and my own parts). At 10-weeks old, Chai was ... Read More
The Beginning of a Beautiful Organic Garden at The Farm
A Nursery (no pun intended) Rhyme for Tamworth, NH Robin, RobinAccustomed to bloggin'How does your garden grow?With blisters and sweatIn a rivuletAnd hours of roto-tillingAll in a row -------------------------- Reading, Riting, and 'Rithmetic ... Read More
ROOT Entertaining Tip: Sweet Organic Mixers!
This has been an AWESOME shopping week for me. (Whodathunk, all the way up here!) On Tuesday, I visited Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a historical seaside town with a KILLER health ... Read More
A Week of Farm Firsts: Zucchini, Compost Heaps, and Pigs
This is a week of firsts. I think my farming cherry (tomato) has been officially popped. The squash I planted outside my kitchen door, after a long hard, fruitless and rainy ... Read More
10 Things I Have Learned: New Hampshire Redux
Milton Glaser isn't the only designer with reflecting to do. As we enter the last stretch of ineluctable "dog days," one can't help but ruminate upon the just-lived months of ... Read More
Our Little Corner of The Twitterverse
We've made it easy for you to get up-to-the-minute news from Art In The Age on the topics that really matter most to you! We don't mean to inundate your ... Read More
What to do with our harvest of raspberries?! Freeze em? Dry em? Put em in a pie? I thought I'd try my hand at making jam without fancy canners or machines. ... Read More
The ROOT Next Door: Charlie’s Pub and Art In The Age Special Offer!
For August and September, Art In The Age and our conveniently located next door neighbor, Charlie's Pub, will be hosting a special ROOT promotion (starting Wednesday, August 12 - tomorrow!) If ... Read More
LIVESTOCK UPDATE: 5 Week Old Kittens Arrive At The Farm EARLY!
One week ago, I received a call from the Human Society...Chai and Tiki (now "Ti" for short), were allowed to come home to the farm with me, technically under my ... Read More
ROOT Entertaining Tip: Empty Bottle Bouquets
SUNG SEA SHANTY DU JOUR: What do you do with a drunken sailor / What do you do with a drunken sailor / What do you do with a drunken sailor ... Read More
Curator Damian Weinkrantz Invites You: “Please Be Welcome”…To Venture to NYC!
Art In The Age Artist/Friend, Damian Weinkrantz has been hard at work for the past few months, curating a new exhibition opening next Saturday August 15th in New York City! THE ... Read More
ROOT Entertaining Tip: The Mighty Mason Jar
So we've been touting the creation of innovative, super-cerebral, mixologist-formulated cocktails. And most, if not all of these uber-savvy beverages have appropriate corresponding glassware. Well, what if you want to pare ... Read More
Kittens Are Coming To The Farm!
QUESTION: How do you solve a problem like...a mouse...or two...or three who brazenly eat your bread and munch on your muffins? ANSWER: Adopt a kitty...or two! And that is precisely what I ... Read More
A Treatise On Fruits & Creatures of Solitude
There is a lot to be said (not out loud) for learning to live alone. Becoming sincerely comfortable with a generally solitary day-to-day is truly a skill that one must ... Read More
Only YOU Can Save Civil War History in Philadelphia!
CIVIL WAR MUSEUM SOUNDS ALARM ON LEAVING PHILA & TWO WEEKS NOTICE: CIVIL WAR ARTIFACTS MAY LEAVE PHILLY These were the headlines of 2 disturbing articles published in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday. THE ... Read More
AGRO-FABulous: Agriculture Enters The Discourse of Site-Specific Installation
WATCH OUT CHRISTO & JEANNE-CLAUDE! I'm coming down the tracks with a 4 foot long roll of white, gauzy fabric! I'm ready to wrap the immediate landscape like you've never ... Read More
ROOT Entertaining Tip: Show Off Your Green Thumb with Savory Herb Garnishes!
'Tis the season for fresh EVERYTHING, especially fresh herbs. Many savory varieties can be grown in pots or in a windowbox (living in a city is NOT an excuse!). Seasonal summer ... Read More
DEATH’S SCYTHE: A Tribute to Farm Tools, Old and New
Another change that I am slowly easing into, is that over the course of the day, excluding any meetings with maintenance/repair people, I don't say very much out loud. My ... Read More
VIDEOS: Summer ROOT Recipes from Philly’s Silk City Bar & Lounge
We spent a sun-drenched afternoon with Indhira Torres, bartender at the revived, rejuvenated, and more happening-than-ever Silk City Bar & Lounge. While we relaxed in the new outdoor garden lounge, ... Read More
More Philly Bars Jumping on The ROOT Wagon!
Four fine food (tongue-twsiter!) establishments have jumped on the ROOT wagon! Yee-haw. We are proud to announce the following new friends of ROOT: Positano Coast (Old City)Alison Two (Fort Washington)Eulogy (Old ... Read More
