This Month’s Featured Articles…

We have a long, and at times, turbulent history with the trees and forests that inhabit our vast landscape. Even before Europeans sailed across the Atlantic in a vain attempt to tame the “pristine wilderness” of the New World, humans were utilizing American forests to help support their way of life. Native Americans used the wild forests that surrounded them in the Northeast to sustain themselves. The concept of fire ecologies first evolved in many forests thanks to Native American communities. As settlers arrived, the [...]

Hello, gardening enthusiasts! Welcome to April, the month to start getting serious about what you hope to grow this season. Whether your plot is several acres, some select beds, or even select containers on a patio, you can start dreaming and scheming now. And what better way than with tips from a Master Gardener? Master Gardeners (MG) are a group of trained volunteers who work in partnership with their county Cooperative Extension office to extend information throughout the county. The first MG program was started [...]

Carbon neutrality sounds like an impossible goal, doesn’t it? The answer turns out to depend a great deal on where you live. It isn’t that hard if you happen to live in upstate New York. That’s because one of upstate New York’s best kept secrets is that it has the cleanest electrical grid in the nation, i.e., it emits the least carbon per kWh – about a quarter of the national average. It’s hugely cleaner than New York City’s grid, and even cleaner than California’s, [...]

The reviews are in. The critics have spoken. And, the crowds have responded by making their way to Le Gamin, the pleasant French restaurant in Sharon, CT. Robert Arbor … owner and chef at Le Gamin Studio Agraire could not be more pleased. “The customers have been most kind,” he says with a bit of a flourish. “We’re seeing customers we met in New York City 30 years ago make their way in for a café au lait, an afternoon croissant or an anniversary dinner.” [...]

I hope this finds you in a quiet place: the armchair by the window, a glass of cabernet at your elbow. Or under a baffle of comforters, with the bed stand lamp the only light on in the house. I’d even take a bathroom, so long as it isn’t too large, and the exhaust fan drowns out the sound of kids in the other room. Wherever you can find silence, allow yourself to read these lines about the song of a nightjar, or whip-poor-will, out [...]