One of the big challenges we’ve laid for ourselves lies in the site location–a remote corner of Seed Savers Farm that is without electricity. From the beginning, we’ve planned to use a combination of batteries and, hopefully, solar power. Along with this reality is the fact that our speakers and audio playback device will need to operate with a minimum of power. On the advice of several consultants, we’re starting the gear research and development stage by searching for the right speakers. And our consultants have also steered us toward using extant speakers rather than building our own.

As one might expect, there are only a handful of weatherproof speaker types that require a minimal amount of power. One variety is the “patio speaker,” often disguised as a rock or a planter. Another is the motorcycle speaker, designed to mount on the handlebars and run off the vehicle’s battery. Hard to imagine what one would hear from such a setup as you’re crusing down the interstate, but apparently, people do this. We purchased 3 models of these speakers, all by Pyle, which we’ll be testing soon. We also bought a marine speaker, designed to mount somewhere on a boat.