Tag Archives: Catskills Photography

Daily Catskills: Fall Watch

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© J.N. Urbanski 1.10pm

© J.N. Urbanski 9/28/16 1.10pm

Come late August a red leaf or two fell here and there. For the first half of September, there appeared a light dusting of red across the mountains and a lightening, as if the landscape was turning into an antique before our eyes. Mid-September was quite foggy and enigmatic. This week and some of last, individual trees are blushing individually amongst the greens, creating sparse pockets of vivid, fiery red. Overall, fall is happening later than it did last year and you can go to last year’s Daily Catskills in September to judge for yourself. While you’re there, take a look at October too.

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Daily Catskills: 9/22/16 Autumnal Equinox

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52F at 8.30am with fog burning off the sun. 80F and sunny by the afternoon. Dashes of red on the landscape. The fall show begins on on the first day of autumn.

© J.N. Urbanski 9.40am

© J.N. Urbanski 9.40am

Autumn Happenings

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© J.N. Urbanski Noon

© J.N. Urbanski Noon

In some ways, Autumn is a better time for Catskills living. The region relies greatly on tourism because it remains under-developed. In order to keep our waterways clean so that New Yorkers can drink the Catskills water unfiltered, industry is heavily regulated. As a consequence of this, friends and neighbors are never more busy than they are in the summer with events and visitors. The wedding industry is booming; hairdressers, chefs, caterers, make-up artists, photographers, hotels and inns are realizing good trade in this speciality event. Autumn is creeping in and although there are still events during this time, there is a general, collective sigh of relief occurring as the business winds down. Country life remains hard work year-round though. We’re not running through sun-drenched hay fields like its a shampoo commercial, but it will be nice to play catch-up with friends and colleagues in these coming months.

The Hubbell Family Cider Mill on Route 30 in Halcotsville, which has been pressing apples since 1878, opens its doors to the public on October 1st and every Saturday in October. All are invited to come and watch apples being pressed. Details will be released closer to the time. I will be interviewing Burr Hubbell and Andrew on WIOX Radio on October 3rd at 9am to discuss the history of the Catskills apple and farming in the region.

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Food & Farming: Links

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Some old and new links on farming:

How dairy farming works: inside the milk machine by Modern Farmer.

An article in the UK’s Guardian suggesting that half of all produce is thrown away mostly because it doesn’t conform to fruit and veggie standards of beauty.

Another article on turning waste into electricity in Northern Wales from the Guardian.

Civil Eats on why farmers quit.

Our best shot at cooling the planet might be beneath our feet from The Guardian again.

News of a commercial farm within a residential development on Staten Island from Modern Farmer.

Register for the Young Farmers’ Conference at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in New York.

Tomato Season

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Farming is a risky business. Every year, at least one crop gets a blight. This year it was the squash that gave up just after it blossomed, making me kick myself that I didn’t take those blossoms, stuff them with goat’s cheese and fry them. This year the tomatoes (that suffered their blight three years ago) are doing well like the onions, potatoes and garlic. The rhubarb, now ready to harvest once three years old, was so exceptional that we planted four or five more plants – from previous years’ saved seeds – in our meadow and in the orchard with some asparagus. They sprang forth quickly. Rhubarb likes it around here and we like it. Last year’s tomatoes were equally good. Once you grow your own tomatoes, you’ll never buy store bought variety again. Plus, it’s so easy to have an indoor tomato plant on the windowsill and fill your kitchen with that heady tomato smell.

Wildlife Program at Woodchuck Lodge, Roxbury

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© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1pm

John Burroughs’ Woodchuck Lodge runs a “Wild Saturday” program at the lodge in Roxbury. The next event will bring visitors “Face to Face with Raptors” at 1 p.m. Saturday, September 3rd. Meet wildlife rehabilitator Annie Mardiney and some of her feathered friends at this free program, sponsored by Vly Mountain Spring Water. The program will be held under cover if it rains. Woodchuck Lodge is located at 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury 12474.

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The 3rd Annual Light up the Night

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Catskills evenings are magical on a clear night with a few planets in alignment and an inky sky bursting with stars. They’re even more magical when viewed from a fire tower of which there are five in the Catskills. Fire towers are equipped with cabins at their apex and these cabins were manned (can we say personned now?) to watch for fires in the Catskills that are common around May when the grass, having been covered and deadened during winter, hasn’t yet sprung to life. The foliage is also still very dry and wildfires are common.

On Friday September 2nd, witness the 3rd Annual Lighting of the Fire Towers when from 9 to 9.30pm, we are invited to find a place with a view of a fire tower (or towers) on the horizon and watch their cabin light up the night sky.

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Catskills Weekend: 27th & 28th August

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© J.N. Urbanski 11am

© J.N. Urbanski 11am

Saturday August 27th starting at 10am: Great Catskill Mountain BBQ Fest in Fleischmanns

A day-long Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned BBQ competition and festival for professional and amateur pitmasters. It promises to be an “exciting day of competition, fun, food, music, vendors galore and all things barbecue in Fleischmanns Park in Fleischmanns, NY”. Proceeds will benefit the Fleischmanns Community Pool Project. More details here.

Saturday August 27th 1.30pm to 4.30pm: Bees, Honey & You in Margaretville

Will “The Bee Man” will discuss the inside & outside workings of honey bee hives. Participants will gain a better understanding of the crucial relationship between human beings, nature and our environment. Learn why bees are vital beyond the production of honey. The program will end with a Q&A period and a jar of honey. Blue Deer Center, 1153 County Highway 6, Margaretville, NY 12455. More details here.

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Catskills Sandwich: Peekamoose Pastrami

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Anything at Peekamoose is delicious and well made, but the Pastrami is arguably the best pastrami in the Catskills. Thick and juicy, it arrives with a side of mustard and a handful of tangy caperberries. Exceptionally for last night, it came on this bun but you can also find grass-fed beef pastrami on the charcuterie plate with pork, cherry and pistachio terrine, chicken liver pate, pickled red onions and house made bread (which you can take home and use to make the world’s best leftover sandwich).

Things To Do With the Humble Spud

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

One of the stars of the garden this year was the humble spud. To a British lass, there’s nothing more comforting than a roasted spud covered in butter, thyme and sage, evoking memories of lazy, English weekends. The erratic tones of English football commentary on the television was only interrupted by the occasional hissing and spitting of a Sunday roast in the oven, the smell of which saw us salivating slowly over the course or four of five hours. This year, we have more than we know what to do with, so will be trying to think up ways to cook this essential vegetable. As a much-maligned carbohydrate, the modern potato has a bad reputation and the term “couch potato” further conjures up negative connotations, but this vegetable is actually very nutritious. They have Vitamin B & C, thiamin, folate, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and small amounts of iron, calcium, zinc and copper. Potatoes are the easiest vegetables to cultivate, especially if you don’t have a lot of room to spare.

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Catskills Weekend: July 30th & 31st

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Saturday July 30th and Sunday 31st, Catskills artists will open their doors to the public, in a pre-arranged tour, so that you can take a peek behind the scenes in an artist’s studio. 20 artists are taking part in the tour, but four of us are without a studio. We’ll be showing in the Grange Hub in Halcotsville opposite the old Lake Wawaka Hose #1, a few steps downhill from the Holy Innocents’ Church. Artists are en route throughout the countryside between the villages of Arkville, Margaretville and Roxbury.

Interested visitors can plan their tour by going to the website and printing out the map. You can also visit the Facebook page here. Glossy, color pamphlets with all the details are also widely available locally. (See bottom of the post for artists’ work.)

The project is the brainchild of local Catskills artist Alix Travis, who was inspired to start the tour after having done similar tours herself in other communities. Studio tours are a glimpse behind the scenes to explore methods and process, swap notes and absorb the creative atmosphere. What’s special about art is that identical processes can result in wildly differing effects when they’re employed by different artists and that’s fun to watch for everyone. What’s a good process for one artist isn’t necessarily good for other artists, but it’s fun to push the envelope and experiment.

Saturday July 30th, The Oak Hill Preservation Society & Preserved Instincts presents the DOPE JAMS OAK HILL DAY Open Air Party from 4pm to 10pm. Buses will run from Brooklyn to the Catskills. 7892 Rt 81, Main St, Oak Hill, New York 12460: more details here.

Saturday July 30th an artists’ reception at Windham Fine Arts on 5380 Main Street
Windham, NY 12496. The show runs through September 7th.

Saturday July 30th: Manhattan in the Mountains continues with its faculty concert at 8pm. Manhattan in the Mountains on Route 23A, Hunter, NY 12442.

Friday July 29th, Saturday July 30th & Sunday July 31st: Drive-In Movie: Jaws at the Greenville Theatre, 10700 Route 32 Greenville, NY 12083.

© Lisbeth Firmin

© Lisbeth Firmin

© Lisbeth Firmin

© Lisbeth Firmin

Barn Door by Oneida Hammond

Barn Door by Oneida Hammond

Daily Catskills: 7/25/16

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67F at 8.30am rising to 84F by noon with gossamer cloud and hazy sunshine. Continual, heavy afternoon rains.

© J.N. Urbanski 4.40pm

© J.N. Urbanski 4.40pm

Farm Stands: Buy Local

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

For the first two years of my radio show, I ran a series called The Economy of Farming and interviewed local farmers and their advocates here in the Catskills. The subject has been dormant on this website for a while, but deserves some intensive focus because farmers of smallholdings are struggling. If you watch those videos circulating on social media depicting the deprivation of animals – and their hideous death – in industrialized meat production facilities, there’s something simple you can do about it. Buy locally raised meat that is ethically reared and humanely slaughtered.

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Catskills Conversations: Elaine Mayes

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© Laura Sue King

© Laura Sue King

UD: What brought you to the Catskills?

EM: I had a friend called Helen Levitt, who was a wonderful, well-known photographer. I went on summer vacation with her almost every year beginning in 1980. We went to other places, like Cape Cod or New Hampshire and other spots and then in 1994, she came to Catskills. I didn’t come that year or the year after because I was working on a project in Hawai’i. In 1996, I started coming to stay with her in the summer time. That’s how I got introduced to the Catskills.

In 2005, I bought a house across the road from where we were staying every summer. It was a house I had been watching every year and nobody was in it and I used to wonder about it. Anyway, so I started looking for real estate and I looked for two years. The second year, this house was for sale and, almost as a lark, I made a low offer and got the house.

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Plein Air Painting at Lazy Crazy Acres

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Lazy Crazy Acres Farm is one of the most inspiring and eclectic places to paint. Signage of all kinds competes with farm equipment, animals, barns, outhouses, thick vegetation, stunning views and a babbling brook running through it. Plein Air painting is a practice that requires speed and focus because your light source is literally moving overhead. If you’re in it to capture shadows and light, time is of the essence.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Daily Catskills: 07/12/16

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64F at 8.30am, rising to 81F by 1pm with rolling clouds, but bright and sunny: another scorcher.

© J.N. Urbanski 1.45pm

© J.N. Urbanski 1.45pm

Catskills Sandwich: Phoenicia Diner’s Reuben

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

This year’s Reuben is a tasty, juicy and modestly-sized; this last phrase is meant in the best possible way. So much of what we order today is either a belly-deadening doorstop or enough for two people to share, which limits your options. But even if you only eat half this sandwich, it survives a night in the fridge, like so many don’t. The Phoenicia Diner was written up in the New York Times this month and if it gets any more popular, we’ll start needing a reservation.

Daily Catskills: 07/02/16

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A high of 72F, breezy and sunny with rolling clouds.

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2pm

Catskills Weekend: 07/02/16

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

The East Branch of the Delaware Plein Air Group have their opening reception on Saturday July 2nd at the Commons Building, 785 Main Street in Margaretville, New York. The exhibition will be up until July 31st.

Writers in the Mountains, The Roxbury General and “community friends” have arranged an installation called “Raining Poetry” in Roxbury, New York, tomorrow morning. It’s poetry written on the pavement. It’s invisible though, so you have to throw some water on it to reveal the beauty. Watering cans will be set up so you can wet the sidewalk and watch the poetry appear.

The Painters Gallery on Main Street in Fleischmanns is hosting an opening on Saturday July 2nd from 3.30pm – 6pm called Weather Reports at Sea, an installation with multiple projections by Tona Wilson.

Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s 9th Annual July Jamboree takes place on Sunday July 3rd from 11am – 4pm.  Award-winning veggie food trucks and booths, live music, vegan-themed tattoos done on-site by the artists from Gristle Tattoo in Brooklyn, kids’ activities including face-painting, a bouncy castle, water slide, and more! Bestselling author Terry Hope Romero will also be presenting around her new cookbook, “Protein Ninja”. Spend the day with family and friends and meet over 300 friendly rescued cows, pigs, goats, turkeys and more while benefiting our rescue, shelter and outreach work for farmed animals.

There will be a free sanctuary shuttle for this event departing hourly from the New Paltz Trailways bus station.

 

The Fleeting Beauty of Wild Roses

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

They’re fleeting because once the deer find out they exist, they will eat them all. All the more arresting for being a complete surprise, all the roses bar two featured in this post disappeared suddenly overnight. I had never seen wild roses before in the Catskills but, as a wise neighbour said, that’s probably because the deer got to them first. It was a joy to have them in our road briefly.

IMG_9771.JPG

IMG_9771.JPG

Alix Travis at The Commons Gallery

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The Barbershop Singers by Alix Travis

The Barbershop Singers by Alix Travis

The Barbershop Singers by Alix Travis

The Barbershop Singers by Alix Travis

The Barbershop Singers by Alix Travis in watercolor on handmade paper (top) and again, in block print (underneath) both at the Commons Gallery for the next couple of days.

Daily Catskills: 06/25/16

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70F by 8.30am, with periods of brilliant sunshine dampened by huge cotton wool clouds sailing through. Humid and hot rising to over 80F.

© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm

 

Farm to Belly: Carrots & Beets

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© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

The first harvest of beetroot and carrots has been pulled and there’s no end to the possibilities. You can eat the carrot straight out of the ground but some sources say that they have to be steamed to give you all their benefits. If you want a raw treat, grate them and mix with balsamic vinegar and feta cheese for a truly healthful side dish that I posted last year. Scroll down for the recipe.

© J.N. Urbanski

© J.N. Urbanski

Beetroot, Carrot & Feta Salad

3 medium-sized beetroot (with leaves)
4-5 medium-sized carrots
1.5 ounces of balsamic vinegar
3 ounces of goat’s milk feta

Grate the carrots and beetroot. Chop up the beetroot greens. Cut the feta cheese into cubes. Mix the grated vegetables, and cheese together in a bowl with the balsamic vinegar for a quick, easy, utterly delicious, juicy and crunchy salad.