Proclamations, theater, politics, news, advertisements, ballads–all these were printed on broadsides between the 16th and 19th centuries as a means of communicating in local communities. Printed on one side of one large sheet, meant to be temporary announcements, and centrally located in a village or town, broadsides were the tabloid, twitter, and news sites of their time all rolled into one.
In Lincoln, MA, right outside the town library is a traffic island with a crab apple tree. Around this tree sits a series of sandwich boards that host various announcements of farmers markets, bake sales, town meetings. I am adopting this practice for my field station. Posting a series of broadsides that are messages/announcements/stories from the field printed in inks made from the plants from the site. These broadsides are posted on a sandwich board sitting outside the field station, communicating the activities/stories/revelations from the activities and research in the station.