© J.N. Urbanski

We enter the New Year 2018 with formidably low temperatures. Christmas was bitterly cold and New Year’s Eve’s overnight low is predicted to be -8F. I cannot remember it ever being much lower than zero in previous winters. It feels like a thorough cleansing, as if Mother Nature wants to properly destroy everything before she resuscitates the landscape next Spring. Previous milder Winters have been blamed for the prevalence in ticks, for example. This year – this past Fall – we had a record number of ticks on our ridge and extremely low winter temperatures do their part to kill the eggs and larvae hibernating in the soil.

It has been a incredible year in the good life on our Catskills peak for several things: mushrooms, rain, seed saving and DIY.

I close the year with a recipe for golden milk, a stress-buster and inflammation reducer, and grand plans for 2018: a year-round hothouse to extend our growing season and new additions to the farm. Celery, butternut squash, arugula, bok choy, beehives, mulberries and possibly chickens. It’s going to be a good year.

Season’s Greetings and A Happy New Year from Upstate Dispatch! Stay warm.