Patience Is a Survival Skill
There was a great deal we didn’t know when we purchased the 1868 house and the two plots of land to the south 10 years ago. We have been learning as we go all along. I am a big fan of Stephanie Travis from the YouTube series, “Escape to the Chateau” She recently released an episode where she mused about what she has learned and many of her points resonated with me. Here are those points (and a few of my Amens of my own).
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.
2025: The Story So Far
2025 is our 10th year trying to make sustainability and applied STEM accessible to all. But it has been a challenge no doubt. The calendar here shows the journey so far. Our $100K operational budget was slashed by $75K in March with the loss of three big grants. There were 12 kids who had been training to be leaders for three months. I could not let these kids down. But now I am in great danger.
Project Sustainability Energy and Ecology (SEE)
The 2025 Summer Camp Season was tied to two main initiatives. The first was officially launching the MenTern program at Mezzacello Urban Farm. The second was Project SEE which manifested as STEM Farming camps focused on sustainability, energy, and ecology.
Next Steps at Mezzacello Urban Farm
Mezzacello Urban Farm is at a crossroads in its mission and impact. We have committed ourselves to thestrictly non-profit mission of Grow, Maintain, Sustain, Explain applied STEAM in education and ag-science. Ironically, we cannot sustain this mission as it has no export for the products that Mezzacello creates organically and as a result of its sustainable ecologies. We must expand our vision.
Mezzacello September 2025 Newsletter
The first newsletter for Mezzacello Urban Farm. It’s a tough one, and may well be my last. Topics covered:
A Decade of Innovation
Summer 2025 Summer Camp Recap
Google Reviews
DOGE Cuts
Next Steps
Summer Camp 2025 Wrap Up
The Summer 2025 Camp Season has ended and there were 10 camps that stood out! 10 camps ranging from farming to ecology, power to engineering. Farm animals, biology, recycling and sustainability. We covered it all. Here is a quick review of the camps and their successes.
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.
Language and STEM
This is a guest camp blog from one of my kids at Ecology Connections summer camp. When I run summer programming on my applied STEM Urban Farm, I really encourage kids to hand-write scripts for filming their presentation of learning videos. It’s a real challenge for most kids — they don’t write by hand often - but it is a real issue for kids with Dyslexia. Rather than excuse them, I repurpose this opportunity to encourage them to problem-solve, build confidence, and practice new skills. This is how I tie language to STEM.
Reimagine The Chicken Tractor
When we first started building Mezzacello Urban Farm, I learned about Chicken Tractors and used them to fertilize the soil and destroy invasive weeds. It worked like a charm. I could move it every day and the checkens ate grubs, weeds, and 80% less feed. Over time, it became too bulky to move through the emerging garden ecology rooms. So it’s time to Reimagine The Chicken Tractor.
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.
BioChar and the Art of the Slow Burn
How summer camp kids were making biochar. Biochar is biotic matter that is burnt and kept a low oxygen environment. This is a guest camp blog written by team Frog who made biochar for garden beds
Mezzacello Project Fire Soap
A guest camp blog post by two middle school campers at Mezzacello charged with converting waste weeds and wood into ash to mix with glycerine and lye to make soap.
Fishacello Artificial Wetland
This is a guest camp blog from the underwater science team at Mezzacello Urban farm. Theo and Maxwell are the MenTerns in Charge of this experiment. Today we created a platform for the Fishacello Artificial Wetland.
Fishacello and Life Below Water
This is a guest camp blog from the BioMech (AKA Giggle Kingdom) team at Mezzacello Urban farm. Theo and Maxwell are the MenTerns in Charge of this creative writing experiment. How an urban farmer accidentally used an atom collider to turn his rabbits into fish at Fishacello.
How Menterns Can Save The World
Part Mentor and part Intern, the MenTerns are here at Mezzacello Urban Farm to explore, learn, and teach how we can empower our youth to save the world for themselves. They will live in and change this world. They are invested in saving it. Kids are aware enough that they need to do something, something bold, brave, and different. They needed a safe and gracious place to practice, fail, recover, and triumph. This is the story of how MenTerns can save the world.
Ecology Connections Camp Blog
Welcome to the Ecology Connections Camp Blog. In this blog campers will be submitting research and documentation of the work they have done and the STEM concepts they have learned and mastered at this weeks' camp. Each day will have a heading and this will be entirely compiled by campers.
Mezzacello Age of Steel Part 5
This is part four of a multi-part detailing of Mezzacello Urban Farm's transition from wood to steel in its infratsructure. This is project bedtime dragon in the potager garden.
The Foodist: Pasta With Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter
This is a hearty and naturally vegetarian dish. You can add additional protein if you wish, but it is not necessary. This is great hot on a fall or winter night or served cold as a summer salad. The flavor is exceptional, especially with the sage, and it's very filling!