THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Your guide to picnicking in the region
Did you know that July is National Picnic Month in the United States? We at Main Street love a good picnic and put together some of our recommendations for creating the perfect picnic below.
Best picnic locations
Before we can even enjoy our picnic, we have to find a place to set up shop. Here’s a selection of some of the best picnicking spots in the area.
Lake Taghkanic State Park in Ancram, NY, offers a variety of […]
All about organic at Deep Roots Farm in Copake
Deep Roots Farm is a family run farm in Copake, NY. Run by farmers Scott and Stormie O’Rourke and their two daughters, Scarlet and Fiona, they grow organic food with regenerative and sustainable practices at the forefront.
Scott got his first interest in farming as a teenager while working at what is now Together for Youth (formerly Berkshire Farm Center) in Canaan, NY.
“I had a really good mentor while […]
High Spirit Community Farm provides residential farm living for adults with intellectual disabilities
High Spirit Community Farm is a therapeutic residential and farm-based work program for adults with intellectual disabilities in Great Barrington, MA.
The organization was founded back in 2014 when parents of young adults with intellectual disabilities were struggling to find placement for their children after they aged out of other residential programs in the area. At High Spirit, they were looking to build a program that “provided a community approach to care,” said Justin Roccabruna, the agency director for High Spirit Community […]
Celebrating World Bee Day
World Bee Day takes place on May 20 and celebrates the importance of bees and other pollinators in our environment and ecosystems. World Bee Day was officially declared by the UN in 2018 thanks to the efforts of the Slovenian government and the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations.
The date was chosen because it is the birthday of Anton Jansa, a pioneer of modern apiculture. Jansa came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping is […]
Gatherwild Ranch Offers Luxury Stays Immersed in Nature
Laura Sink was inspired to create a place where people could stay that would invoke feelings of creativity, calm, and inspiration. After living in New York City for five years, she and her husband Paul Jacobsen, who had grown up in Brooklyn, were naturally drawn upstate to the beautiful Hudson Valley. It was in Germantown, about halfway between Hudson and Rhinebeck, that they found space ten years ago to create what would become Gatherwild Ranch.
Laura, who worked in product design and […]
Getting Grounded
As the summer season heats up, we’re all yearning to spend time in the great outdoors. Our leisure time is gleefully filled with a host of fun activities – from kayaking to swimming, camping, biking, and hiking.
By now, the trees are covered in verdant green leaves and the flowers have blossomed in a rainbow of hues. It’s a great time to take to the trails for a long walk or a more challenging hike – whichever suits your style.
Great hikes abound – from New York’s […]
Forest Bathing, Seriously? Yes!
by Melanie McGinn, RN, MBA, CHC, Founder of Health Through Time Nurse Consulting and Coaching
Had you asked me a month ago if I would ever write a blog post on forest bathing, that would have been a definitive no. I am very open to Eastern, Western, and alternative modalities to ease stress, anxiety, and improve overall wellness, but forest bathing? Here in Connecticut where I live, most of us are surrounded by forests. My initial thought was aren’t we already bathing in forests for the […]
GREAT MOUNTAIN FOREST BECOMES IUCN MEMBER
Membership Gives GMF Access to International Natural Conservation Union
On February 10, 2021, Great Mountain Forest (GMF) in Falls Village, CT, was granted membership into the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global organization dedicated to assessing the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
Membership in IUCN connects GMF to national and worldwide efforts to conserve the natural world and hasten the transition to sustainable practices to aid that conservation.
The scientific […]
A Call for Help: Birders Watch Declining Populations
By, John Torsiello
Millerton, NY, resident Jane Rossman grew up watching birds at the feeders her family set out near their house. Thus was born, at an early age, a love and passion for the beauty wild birds bring to our lives. “Later, I became more active by going on walks and trips with other local ‘birders’, like those at the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club of Dutchess County, and the Audubon Center in Sharon, Connecticut.” Rossman says, “I enjoy nature and being outdoors, and birding […]
Area Summer Camps Face Tough Decisions
Like so many of our national institutions that have become pastime in America, summer camps across the area are facing the looming uncertainty about whether they’ll be open come June. Even if they escape the fate of so many businesses that have been temporarily shuddered because of COVID-19 mandates, organizers and camp leaders must still learn how to adapt themselves to a new reality. As a result, many camps find themselves making contingency plans and considering alternative ways for children of all ages to enjoy […]
Historic Olana offers Free Audio Tours
Despite swaths of area residents finding themselves perpetually indoors these days, May has arrived and the collective desire to step out into the great outdoors beckons. One of the most historic destinations in the Hudson Valley is encouraging residents and travelers to recreate locally by exploring Olana – even if it’s from the comforts of home. Olana’s landscape is open for free Audio Tours that offer a self-guided experience within Olana’s 250-acres through a one-of-a-kind audio experience. Visitors can learn about the history and ongoing […]
In Search of Distance? State Parks Beckon
On the afternoon of Friday March 20, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro gave area residents and small business owners a few updates on the new mandates regarding business closures in New York State. Seemingly on the ‘non-essential’ chopping block were golf courses and salons of nearly every kind, yet there remained one valuable outdoor haven that continued to dodge quarantine-based closures. Despite their on-site facilities being temporarily closed, State Park grounds remain open to the public amid mass closings in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. […]
Gear of the Month Club – March
Welcome to our newest addition to our Great Outdoors page called Gear of the Month provided by your favorite fly-fishing guide Ben Alex of Ten Mile River. Ben will be doing a monthly column covering all things fly.
-Stay tuned, you don’t wanna miss it!
–by Ben Alex
Here is where each month I will talk about a brand or a piece of equipment I believe you all should have. It might be made by one of the several companies I […]
Trails to check out before Summer ends.
Three Trails to Explore.
Though the famous bustle of New York City and its vast urban environment has earned its namesake as ¨the greatest city on earth¨ and thus has defined the very identity of the rest of the state for many Americans, traveling up one of the most famous rivers in the country and hiking the vast network of trails the Hudson River Valley has to offer, one may discover what both artists and locals have come to know for generations. The true spirit of […]
