Blog
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
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
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
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
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
Autumn in New Hampshire: Mulled ROOT Cider
The AITA farm has been creating many adventures for Robin - who bravely moved to (wo)man the land. Farming, fixing, building and working all day will surely make one thirsty ... 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
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
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
ROOT Recipe: New Hampshire Maple Toddy
Our dear Robin all the way up in New Hamphire comes up with some great ROOT recipes. While we are having mild Philadelphia days, hers are dropping into the 40's ... 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
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: 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
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
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
One of the coolest things about the summer (not literally) is the hay season. For years, a local farmer has planted, fertilized, and harvested 3 hay fields on the property ... Read More
“A Titan Courage”: The Steel Will of New Hampshire Women
This is a portrait of Katherine Sleeper Walden. Much has been written in local history on this Founding Mother. -------------------------------------------------- On Katherine Sleeper Walden from The Tamworth Narrative, 1958... Tamworth village has its ... Read More
In the "wilderness" you can forget about Guardian Angels. People up here learned long ago that praying won't save you. In New England, you don't ask for a miracle to ... Read More
VIDEO: A 4th of July Parade, New England Style!
Fourth of July like I'd never experienced before! A tractor/bike/pickup truck parade down Main Street, followed by a Jazz Band and festival at the elementary school. Read More
The Tamworth Sleep Commandments
One of the most ostensible life changes that I have experienced in my short two weeks of rural living is what I affectionately nominate, The Tamworth Sleep Commandments. Here are the ... Read More
The New Hampshire Scoreboard - Insects: 1, Robin: 0
It is said, in jest, that New Hampshire's REAL State Bird is the Black Fly. I say, NOT in jest, that New Hampshire's REAL State Bird is The Black Fly, The ... Read More
Farm Happenings: Electricity, Eggs, & Chard!
The rain in New Hampshire falls mainly on the... Everywhere. All the time. Non-stop... Since I arrived. But no use crying over spilled precipitation. Onward & upward! I've been delighted by the following items ... Read More
Tamworth, Ho! The Commencement of Farm Transmissions
I drove for eight hours with an enormous suitcase in a Chevy Suburban the size of my first dorm room and arrived, unscathed, in Tamworth. I drove through what is called ... Read More
Famous Happenings in New Hampshire
I've been consuming reading material on the history of Tamworth, NH with the same ferocity that I approached an ice cream sundae earlier this evening... In the case of the reading, ... Read More
A Relevant Summer Reading List thus far: Look To The Mountain by LeGrand Cannon, Jr. Summer Cottages In The White Mountains by Bryant F. Tolles, Jr. Great Hill Farm is featured in here... Country ... Read More
A New, New Hampshire Life: Looking Forward
As a foil to my previous list of things to miss about urban living in Philadelphia, I present a modest pictorial list of what I am anticipating this summer and ... Read More
Selections from “The Tamworth Narrative” by Marjory Gane Harkness
AN AMAZING FIND! Via an antique bookshop in Minnesota, I tracked down my own copy of this anecdotal/historical tome about my future hometown, penned in 1958. Favorite excerpts follow... ---------------------- INTRODUCTION A ... Read More
A “Lifestyle” List: What I Will Miss About Philadelphia
June is for soul-searching. June is for psychological indulgence of every "what if," so I can get them all out of my system and stop feeling like a yellow-belly. The ... Read More
A One-Month Rural Immersion Program
GUNS ARE BAD!!! May this post begin with that strong, unwavering sentiment. I am not promoting the sale, purchase, or wielding of any sort of firearm. I am merely documenting the ... Read More
The Times, They Are A-Changin’: A Letter, A Departure, A Farm in New Hampshire
Dear Reader and Friend, On May 20, 2009, I left the city of Philadelphia with an overstuffed backpack and a violin, headed for greener pastures...literally. Because on July 1, 2009, I will ... Read More
