This Month’s Featured Articles…

The Siegel-Kline Kill Conservation Area is one of ten that is maintained by the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC) in Columbia County, NY. It might be one of the smallest, and it might be one of the least varied, with its simple mile-long loop that is mostly flat. It’s easy to miss when you’re driving out of Ghent on County Route 21, which is a main thoroughfare to Valatie and points north. From the road it looks like, well, a big field and not much more. [...]

Colorful blooms in shades of red, blue, white, and other vibrant hues are the focus of business for F.W. Battenfeld & Son – a family-run farm in Red Hook, NY. The company, which is currently helmed by Fred Battenfeld, his son Lance and daughter Morgan, traces its history back to 1906. Fred represents the fourth generation of the family presiding over the farm while Lance and Morgan claim fifth-generation status. It was their relative Conrad Battenfeld who planted the initial seeds for the family farming [...]

My introduction to Hudson Hemp was at a pop-up market in the round barn at Churchtown Dairy outside of Hudson, NY. It was late fall of 2018. The round barn is a marvel in and of itself, an already magical space, and having local vendors in it with a variety of handmade goodies and wares made it even more so. It’s the perfect space in which to learn about what your neighbors are making and growing. On this beautiful late fall afternoon, in the heart [...]

Winter can be tough on many folks. From the moment the first frost settles in the Northeast to the early emergence of the progeny of green flora, the interim months of winter doldrums can have an isolating effect on even the most cheerful. For many, the past year seemed to have encompassed one prolonged, especially frigid winter that proved to be downright relentless. Feelings of winter’s isolation were extended through the summer months and amplified by the spread of the coronavirus. Stay-at-home guidelines implemented to [...]

When they started out, D. Rooney, co-owner with Maggie Cheney of Rock Steady Farm on Kaye Road in Millerton, NY, both hoped the Millerton farm could increase food equity in the food system and create safer spaces for LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and asexual/ally queer) and BIOPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) farmers to thrive. Almost six years later, the farm, which is located on 12 acres of scenic land, has indeed made a difference. Its wide array of vegetables feed [...]