I had a little goal to write a story for Etsy’s blog, The Storque. It happened. What a fun endeavor. The original story was written about the, “making of a tractor hood table.” I took over 400 photos [I am not a photographer] to come up with what you see below. I tweaked the story a bit [to make it more appealing to a wider audience]- but I thought I would share with you the original snapshots.

1. a tractor hood from Allis Chalmers 180
2. measuring hood to determine height of table
3. the metal is dirty, dented, faded and worn from youth & employees behind the wheel of the tractor
4. the recycled pipe that supports the top of the table is cut with a hacksaw
5. the tractor hood is cut to size with a plasma cutter
6. a piece of flat sheet steel is welded to the bottom
7. smoke pours out of the hole where the radiator would have been
8. a piece of new American made 10 guage steel was welded to form the top and the edges are ground smooth with a hand held grinder
9. the final step is to weld the bottom and the top of the table together

You can also find “signs of a new farmer” in the world of handmade design.  If you sift thru imagery of the decrepit farm and the “cutesy”- you will find a new design emerging – one that celebrates the vitality and beauty of the new farm.

I scouted Etsy for some fresh new farm design. Here is what I found…

grow your garden by sushipot

somewhere in essex county by underabluesky

handprinted orange hen pillow cover by strandredesign

reclaimed american chestnut farm table by newmoonsalvage

fall 2010 CSA farm share by callwool

Vinyl Wall Decal by CirclelineStudio