Project INCA Programming 2026
Every year at Mezzacello Urban Farm we try to tailor our experiences around a theme. In the past, those themes have been Project Martian, Project BioLEGO, Project BioTech, Project Renewables, and Project SEE (Sustainability, Energy, and Ecology). This year, it is Project INCA (Innovating Nutrient Capture and Adaptability). All of our programming will build experiences in adaptive reuse of water, robotics, energy, and automation.
Why Sustainability Is So Important Here
This is our house. She is 158 years old and still strong as ever - even after being abandoned for 11 years in the 70s and 80s. She needs a lot of care and comes from a time before convenience. That is why sustainability is so important here. This house was literally a sustainable farmhouse.
A Decade of Sustainability
It's been 10 years since we burned down the old overgrown lots to the south of the 1868 house. Back in 2015 we had no idea that Mezzacello would become a state-of-the-art urban farm, research center, summer camp, and energy production hub that it has evolved into. Here is a brief timeline of our history and innovations.
Sustainable Urban Farm Map
This is a presentation I created for the COSI Farm Days Presentation. Each of the 10 ecologies of Mezzacello Urban Farm are outlined here. Each of the ecologies are divided acrosss 7 themes: The built infrastructure, the geosphere and pedosphere, the energy systems, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere, and global impacts.
From Waste To Taste
This is a blog p[ost about how we create animal feed at Mezzacello Urban Farm from slightly dehydrated edible weeds and assorted corn, hay, seeds, wheat germ, oils, and molasses. When all of this blended it is mixed with 1/3 it’s mass of water. This is then blended together into a paste, The paste is then extruded, left to dry and voila! Feed!
Black Soldier Flies Production Capstone
Today at Mezzacello, I am joined by a high school intern named Ismail. Ismail is interested in finding a solution to curb hunger and provide nutrients to the needy people in developing nations. This is the perfect opportunity for me to work with a keen young mind and an international pioneer in Kenya!
The Foodist: Mezzacello Tortilla, Egg, Chives, Cheese, and Salsa Frittata
This was a fun experiment in sustainability and frugality! For $1.60 (including electricity to run the oven for 15 minutes, I made this delicious frittata this morning. It is very tasty and feeds a lot of people.
A Machine for Life and a Molecule Meet on a Farm
On LinkedIn today, I shared a post about how Mezzacello Urban Farm is a machine for life. I went on to elaborate that the potager gardens looked like a Chlorophyll molecule. Here, I have superimposed a diagram of the atom over the potager, through the pond, embracing the biodome and the Narnia outdoor lab, and ending up at the mouth of the pollinator garden. This is the story of how A Machine for Life and a Molecule Meet on a Farm.
The Sustainability Tax
Sustainability is not cheap or easy. It requires innovation, commitment, passion and sacrifice. That last one is what I call the Sustainability Tax. We paid it and are willing to teach or consult.
Mezzacello Sustainable Infrastructure Models
This is Mezzacello Urban Farm’s love letter to sustainability. This map is blank because we build our infrastructure atop these ecologies. In this blog we will be looking at the ecologies and advanced systems that all blend together to make Mezzacello Urban Farm systemically and ecologically sustainable.
Environmental and Climate Justice Outreach at Pickerington North HS
Today I was able to visit with Mr. Philpott’s AP Biology and Environmental Science classes and the Roots Environmental Club. We reviewed the way we can use environmental testing tools to conduct a survey of their school. It was chilly, but the data was hot!
Metro J-Term 2025
This is a collection of the Metro J-Term Blogposts Mezzacello Urban Farm collected in January 2025.
Language and the Power of Reframing
This lesson started out as a lesson in learning how to look at data and systems from new perspectives and turned into a mad lib of data synthesis. This was actually a great deal of fun and it is a new tool I will be using with students. The game is called “Coin Purse” for maximum absurdity and permission to be creative with language and the power of reframing.
Sustainability In Nature
In this class we gave each DNA strand (table) a beneficial mutation that would benefit the entire species (class). But one table’s mutation was bad for the other. The challenge was to optimize and use reason and democracy to decide what represented optimal sustainability in nature.
Engineered Feed and Sustainability
This is a blog about molecular nutrition and biological markers for different species of animals. Students were tasked to research what the nutritional footprint of each species required and then pull different grasses, grains, fruits, and liquids. Then they built a matrix that could be dehydrated and stored for use later. This is engineered feed and sustainability.
DNA and the Internet
This is a blogpost of a presentation I gave to a group of middle school kids about the ways that DNA, data, information theory, and the internet are related. This was a surprising one!
My Friend, Gregor Mendel
I brought in three rabbits to Metro School today. The plan is to discuss genetics and epigenetics with students in the Sustainability in Nature program. We discussed how we imagined Greg Mendel discovered how the pea flowers could pass on color instructions via some mysterious mechanism.
Don’t Be Afraid, It’s a Chicken!
I brought in a chicken to discuss how animals and ecologies interact at Mezzacello Urban Farm. I brought in chicken #23 so they could get used to holding an animal and gaining confidence and competence in holding animals. Don’t be afraid, It’s a chicken!
Rethinking Life: From The Atom Up
My board asked me to define the educational direction of my applied STEM programming and how I see sustainability, food, livestock and life. I responded glibly with, “Mezzacello is committed to rethinking life: from the atom up.” The board liked that, and I did too; It’s an apt description.
How We Build Ecology, Technology, and Confidence Through Curriculum
At Mezzacello, we don’t recreate the wheel with new curriculum. We use the wheels of existing curriculum and build a new vehicle blending traditional Amish strategies and cutting edge STEM technology. This is how we do it.