Five Friday Favorites: D.I. Why Not?

It's been an especially busy week at Storey, with photo shoots, author visits, a retirement, a delivery of fresh-baked bread to the office, and really strange weather.

In the spirit of the unusual, this week’s Five Friday Favorites are a celebration of inspired thinking and the special determination it takes to convert thought to action; or, more accurately, a nod to those who don’t give much credence to doubt or skepticism, and who find ways to connect the people and the resources needed to get things done. As Ali Berlow says, “We are small communities of islands everywhere.” Here’s to the visionaries among us who make the ties that bind stronger, and the many communities we live in richer. Happy Friday!  — Emily Spiegelman, Digital Features Editor

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“If you saw what happened, you’d want to change it.” In an interview with The Point, Ali Berlow, founder of the Island Grown Initiative, editor of Edible Vineyard, and author of The Mobile Poultry Slaughterhouse, talks about the grass-roots road to making it possible for small local food producers to slaughter poultry safely and humanely right where they are.  

“We had people gathering around the hives without suits because they were so interested.” This is no Wes Anderson movie: high school student Orren Fox writes eloquently about starting a bee club at The Thatcher School and sharing his love of bees with a young generation.

“Dozens of fiber artists donated brightly colored knit and crochet circles and squares and ‘yarnbombed’ the entire exterior of the tiny house”; or, how a community in Vermont is using poetry, fiber arts, and a tiny house to support a beloved resident in her battle against lymphoma.

“I could never afford acres of wilderness, but I could afford this lot.” Eleanor Scott, a columnist for Metro Pulse, tells the story of converting an overgrown, abandoned city space in Knoxville, Tennessee, into the Parkridge Butterfly Meadow.

“‘It’s like a beautiful, on-line farmers market, but curated and full of potential stories.’”  Documentarian Andrea Blum's My American Pantry (MAP) project uses drone photography to chart the nation by food products and traditions, and the people and stories behind them.

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Inside Storey readers, what are you loving online this week? Share your favorites with us in the comments!