schoolhouse electric

Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. is a brand that has two showrooms in New York and one in Portland. They pull designs from 1950's to current. They keep a carefully curated assortment of items that would be considered industrial to contemporary. The variety of wares span each room of the house and have additional pieces that can elevate each one with a touch of the refined rustic.  Check them out online at their webpage.  

loft essentials

Loft essentials, a vendor on Etsy has been creating bookshelves for homeowners since August of last year. The brand designs and builds wall mounted shelving units from industrial piping and rustic shelves. Located in Dawsonville, Ga they ship through out the US and have a 100% seller positivity rating. Check them out on their Etsy page loft essentials. 

etienne leopold trouvelot

Etienne Trouvelot was a french artist that was also known for being astronomy and entomology. He was famous for his work in studying insects like that of the gypsy moth and study of the pest controlling foliage. What he is most known for is his photography of anomalies and events in space. While he was the director of the Harvard College Observatory during 1872, then moving to the U.S. Navel Observatory in 1875 he became the sole person to produce and create astronomical illustrations. He appears here at The Rustic Camp, since he was a great discoverer, mainly of what sit under everyday, and only when the sun goes away and the lights of the city dim down will we see again what he saw while creating his drawings. 

ferns

In a recent post we touched on ferns via usage in terrariums or more accurately known as vivariums or wardian cases. The fern is an incredibly fascinating variety of plant. It has a fantastic tenacity and veracity to live, it is oddly drought resistant, and low light, it works perfectly with light misting each week to several weeks.  The plant not unlike succulents carry their water in not their leaves but their water retaining roots that stay shallow to the ground and can be easily transplanted between soil and sand. Ferns are considered the oldest species of plant that has ancestry since before the dinosaurs. Being a completely low light plant and has the ability to process nitrogen, argon, and high levels of carbon the plant is extremely hearty and can survive many climates (especially the ice age). During the English period known as Pteridomania ferns were so highly prized that people would spend their days digging them up, almost in mania, to sell them accordingly to artists and the wealthy. 

muir woods

As Chicago got a glimpse at spring weather for a few days it makes me think about a nice escape across the country and visit a place that is warm and beautiful. The Muir Woods in California located 12 miles north of San Francisco is home to the most beautiful forest of redwoods in the world. The park's region is consistently a cool 40 to 70 degrees year round and due to its location to the ocean and its canopy it consistently is shrouded in marine fog that stays suspended a few meters from the ground. The area was to be saved from the deforestation of the region by Congressman William Kent. He and his wife believed that the area was so beautiful that they saved the area for themselves for buying the land for a mere $45,000. During 1908 Theodore Roosevelt declared the land a national monument and ordered a park system to be created within. The area is home to paved trails, ranger lead tours, and athletic events which give hours of activity. Even though there is no camping in the park, the San Francisco area is home to a region of camping facilities. 

half acre lager

Half Acre Lager, is now a seasonal beer that is released during the summer months. The recipe has been revisited within the last year or so and was reinvigorated due to the low palette taste that it had when initially rolled out. The flavors now are crisper and a bit more citrus allowing for an easier sipping and a higher enjoyment. The barley is there and is slightly bitter, it is mixed with a grapefruit taste that is not dissimilar to its smell, more rind than fruit. Even though noted for its summer time release, it would be suited for early spring, when the weather is trying to warm it. Check them out on the web at Half Acre. 

bahamas

Afie Jurvanen or better known as Bahamas, is a Canadian performer. He has a long history of being in other bands, aiding in writing and musical score, some are: The Stills, Jason Collet, Great Lake Swimmers. He preformed guitar with Feist and also did ensemble piano. He recently stepped away from other musicians to focus on his own music with his albums Pink Strat and Barchords.  His latter album is full of folk, gospel sounding, and country notes it is also highly inspired by 1950's soul and R&B. Check out his website Bahamas.

wardian case

Terrarium or more correctly called a vivarium, is an inclosed space that may harbor flora and fauna. Formally, a terrarium is defined by a dry habitat that houses life that is housed under glass that allows for a proper misting, condensation, and water cycle that promotes growth. Earliest forms of glass homes that housed plants indoors were called a Wardian Case, these became popular in the early 19th century to house foreign plants that were not domestic to the surrounding region, specifically ferns. The case was usually made from glass and steel in a rectangular box or cathedral top, and was designed to protect the plants from the noxious air of the industrial revolution. As popularity increased the the shape and sizes of the Wardian case changed over time, it developed in to vases, cloches, bottles, and pilfered apothecary jars.  Notable plants that were popularized in the containers were mainly fern in variety which started pteridomania, meaning fern madness. The craze extended so deeply into the United Kingdom that the need for greenhouses and conservatories (likened to large Wardian cases) were built to house all the collected plants. 

corrugated iron

Corrugated galvanized iron is a functional building material that is massed produced for structures that need to be constructed quickly and efficiently. Due to it's anti-corrosive nature the industrialized steel is used in areas that known for either long monsoon like periods or heavy drought regions. The material was first created in the 1820's by Henry Palmer for the London Dock Company, It was to be utilized for their long standing outposts on the ocean and rivers that had highly corrosive salt air. Later the iron was exported to other countries like India, the US and Australia, where it was used as roofing in manufacturing areas, or in more rural crop and farming areas. Countries like Chile and New Zealand adapted it as their respective identity and became extremely popular in their modern housing boom when mixed with more traditional building materials like brick, wood, steel, and glass. It is also available in a few ranges of other metals other than ferrous alloys, like that of copper, aluminum and stainless steel. 

pallets

The pallet is the one item most people do not see daily, though it is a simple device that changes the way that we do commerce on a global scale. A pallet is a flat surface/platform that is made of wooden slats attached by wooden side rails for the transportation of goods or media that is to heavy for conventional shipping, or for bulk purchases. More modernized pallets are made from plastic and metal, though the most conventional form for them to exist would be made from wood. The pallet has been in use since the days of transportation via train, though the boom of the pallet came in the 1950's with the invention of the forklift and WWII increase in mass production of goods. The wooden gem is currently getting a second look in the form of being up-cycled by craftsmen. Modern ingenuity will not let these guys go to waste, some great examples of repurposing are the pallet house, a wall garden, desk and a favorite; the pallet bed.