The Power of Permaculture
This is the story of systems design and permaculture in the service of sustainability on an urban farm. This collage of images showcases 7 years of successful permaculture that transformed 30 cut stems of hydrangea, and 36 cut branches into the hornbeam allee that exists at Mezzacello Urban Farm today. This is the power of permaculture.
BioEngineering Summer Camp 2023 Guest Blog - Max
I love teaching Applied STEM summer camps. It never ceases to amaze me what kids will dream up if you give them a problem, some tools and then get out of their way. These are two BioEngineering Summer Camp 2023 Guest Blogs that were shared with me today.
BioEngineering Summer Camp 2023 Guest Blog - Liam
I love teaching Applied STEM summer camps. It never ceases to amaze me what kids will dream up if you give them a problem, some tools and then get out of their way. These are two BioEngineering Summer Camp 2023 Guest Blogs that were shared with me today.
Heat, Water, and Built In Systems at Mezzacello
I decided to cover how I teach summer camps around water management, recycling, and purification.
Lesson: Water Quality and Turbidity
Explore the "atmosphere" of a pond. This lesson covers the chemistry and environment and oxygen and pollutants of a pond.
Earth and Her Water
A visualization of the extreme shallowness of Earth's oceans and icecaps and how rare fresh water really is. This is why water is precious.
Let's Start a Farm On Mars
In this blogpost I explore all the pieces that I have developed to pursue my dream farm on Mars. power, water, nutrients, and food.
Water Conservation Systems
Water is a valuable and limited resource. Yes it can be reused, recycled, and is abundant - but only to a limit. Preserve water!
It’s Getting Hot In Here
As part of my continuing series of blogs about water as a resource, this blog discusses sublimation and vapor.
When Water Goes Missing
Two years ago this was a great mystery. We thought we had a leak in the pond. What I found shocked me. The atmosphere and plants!
Water From Waste Part Two
After testing the design for a simple plastic solar still, we will build a better more efficient model with wood, metal and glass.
Bioreactor Compost Engine Update for 2022
A Spring 2022 update on the bioreactor/compost engine at Mezzacello. I am currently on my 2nd 1000L batch, this year.
Pond Update for 2022 Part 1
Lots of new, fun stuff coming online for the aquatic ecosystem at Mezzacello. New pumps, filters, harvesting, and wetlands!
The Rule of Sustainability - 3 and 5 Strategy
Sustainability is an important topic right now. We need more of it, and better metrics to define what "it" is.
Hot Water means Boiling Hot
We have to have the water heater set to really hot water to insure things we wash get sterilized. Not good for hand washing.
The Prince of Swales
Swales and Hugelkultur (under soil permaculture) on an urban farm in Columbus, OH. is a winning strategy to combat Climate Reality.