Welcome!
5 Cow Farm Boards creates one of a kind boards, spoons and bowls, handcrafted with care to highlight the beauty and integrity of the natural wood.
Each piece is as unique as each tree from which it came; the species, age, shape, color, grain, size, even the texture. All these natural elements inform the final product: shapes might be irregular with natural curves, offset handles, holes and knots; all with an eye toward minimizing waste while creating a strong, pleasing and useful form.
Products designed for lifetimes of enjoyment.
Inspiration
Design
Conservation
Collaboration
Deirdre is a Baltimore-based woodworker and artisan who works on her 100-acre 5 Cow Farm. With a dedication to sustainability and minimizing waste, Deirdre sources her wood primarily from fallen trees from the farm. Each piece is hand crafted to highlight the beauty and integrity inherent in the wood.
Through 5 Cow Farm Boards, Deirdre sells her boards, spoons, knives and small bowls at artisan fairs and markets and businesses such as Found Studio in Lauraville and Star Bright Farms in Whitehall. You can find an up to date calendar of events here. Follow her on INSTAGRAM @5cowfarmboards.
Photo by Georgia Carroll
A note from Deirdre:
Inspiration. To be inspired is one of life’s greatest gifts.
I find inspiration in the simplicity and beauty of the natural world of 5 Cow Farm, a farm that has been permanently preserved from development and has been in the family for four generations. Its a place where nothing changes but everything is always changing; growing, dying, responding to forces outside the farm. I am inspired by design and collaboration. I am inspired by elements of wabi-sabi : the beauty of things imperfect, modest, humble, unconventional. And Hygge: gratitude, shelter and comfort.
Most of the wood I use comes from long-ago fallen trees from the farm here in beautiful Baltimore County.
Design is my art.
What do I see and want to share in each piece of wood? To what use is it best suited? How can I best prevent waste through design? How can the design convey my values? She who works with her heart is an artist.
Everything we do has an impact on the planet. How can we minimize the impact, and maximize the benefit, of our presence here? My work embodies this goal by using wood from long-ago fallen 5 Cow Farm trees. Often it is wood that might be otherwise discarded, wood with too much “character “for furniture but perfect for my one of a kind creations! I can use green wood, branches or trunks of trees from freshly fallen trees, for my smaller pieces such as spoons and small bowls.
5 Cow Farm has been permanently preserved so that it can never be developed. Trees and pasture predominate, helping to protect and cool the Jones Falls River as it winds its way into the Chesapeake Bay.
10% to the planet. Think global, act local.
10 % of the profits from 5 Cow Farm Boards goes to conservation organizations doing the hard work of protecting and preserving the planet.
2024 recipient is World Bicycle Relief. “Empowering individuals to access education, healthcare and economic opportunities through life-changing bicycles.” Kids ( boys and girls) get bikes to go to school, health care workers to visit patients, farmers to go to market. Recipients and local residents trained to repair bikes.
Environmental you say? Yes, yes and yes! Biking is a green mode of transportation. Getting people and communities hooked on bikes is an investment in our future, especially as these communities grow. Imagine if wqe built our communities around bikes?
2023 recipient was Baltimore Tree Trust. The Baltimore Tree Trust plants, protects and educates all things trees in Baltimore. They do the dirty work to make Baltimore cooler, cleaner and more equitablein by preparing sites, removing concrete, training Community Foresters, watering trees during dry periods and advocating for trees and green spaces. Trees are a significant engine in cooling our planet and particularly essential in urban areas where the temperatures can be 10-20% higher than surrounding suburban areas.
The 2022 recipient was Old-Growth Forest Network founded by fellow Marylander, Joan Maloof. Their mission is to create a “national network of protected old-growth forests.” Check out their work and consider donating! Find the 9 protected so far in Maryland. Collaboration brings me joy and infuses energy into my work.