Co-incidentally, neither can I imagine a better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend than with a cold beer and a Pixies concert under the stars on the back lawn of Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, New York. Buy tickets here.
63F by 10am. Warm in the sunshine and breezy by 10am.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
I am told by my pal, Laura Silverman, that spruce tips are ready to go. They are the brilliant green shoots that unfold from growths at the ends of the spruce spindles in May. They are much a much brighter green than the needles on the spindle and stand out in stark contrast to the tree itself. Snip the green shoots off and eat raw; they are packed with chlorophyll and Vitamin C. The aroma of only one of these little shoots is sensational. Literally spruce up a living room, pocket, bag or underwear drawer. They freeze well, so you can get your Vitamin C in the winter too. You can make tea, use in soups and salads. You can also crush them and make a pesto like you can with the garlic mustard. Recipes will be forthcoming over the weekend.
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski 5/21/15 1pm
Straight out of the ground and into the belly: a powerful organic, raw, vegan lunch and you don’t even need a plate much less a table. The tomatoes may have been endangered by last night’s frost, but the sheep sorrel which grows in the asparagus bed is a hardy little plant. Sheep sorrel is an edible weed that has the texture of spinach with the tasty tang of lemon, which makes it perfect for soups. It wilts quickly once picked, so it’s best just to eat it raw with some juicy asparagus. Sheep sorrel has an arrowhead leaf and grows in a rosette formation.
© J.N. Urbanski 5/21/15 1pm
A gloomy and dismally overcast morning with light winds, still on 44F at 9am. Gusty and raining by noon. Update: still overcast by 3pm with briefest glimpses of sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/07/15
The summer comes alive for artists when the En Plein Air group reconvenes for the season. Gracious homeowners kindly let our group gather every week in some of the most picturesque spots across the mountains and it’s difficult not to be stunned by the extraordinary beauty of the countryside. This year, May 7th was the group’s earliest meeting on record because of the extraordinary high temperatures for the day, but the landscape was still bare and it seemed like we were able to watch the leaves pop before our eyes. The sun had become so strong by noon on May 7th, however, that whomever didn’t have an umbrella had to move to the shade. Taking part of the day out to paint really clears the mind. To focus closely and solely on the landscape for a few hours is much-needed therapy after the long, arduous winter. All worries dissipate into the air with the drying watercolour and if the homeowner is home, we make a new friend. Today, we had a gorgeous view of the mountains.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/19/15
60F and rain at 8am. Gloomy, misty, wet and relieved that the landscape is getting a thorough, much-appreciated drenching. Update: 70F, dry and sunny despite the cotton wool clouds by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
64F at 8am with hazy sunshine, rising to 82F by noon with clouds moving in. Update: gradually receding warmth followed by late night showers.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
75F at 10.30, overcast but still rather bright, light winds and damp from overnight showers. 80F, scudding cotton wool clouds and hot in the sunshine by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Much needed overnight rain ushered in a damp, overcast morning. 68F at 11am and humid with mist over the mountains. Update: 76F, overcast and humid at 4.30pm. Steady rain at 6.30pm dwindled to light showers by 8pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.45pm
© J.N. Urbanski
Jenny: How long have you lived in the Catskills?
Heather: I moved to the Catskills in 2007, so I’ve been here going on eight years.
Where did were you living before?
I was living in Dutchess County in Dover Plains and I had been there 17 years. I grew up in Nyack. I’ve actually never lived anywhere more urban than Nyack. It’s been a slow and steady march northward.
What started that slow march?
When I was in High School. I had a buddy who – and this is a crazy story – we both turned sixteen, got our driver’s licenses. She quit high school and moved all by herself as a sixteen year old to Woodstock.
36F at 6.30am, rising to 61F at 1pm with sunny skies. Too early to say if this morning’s frost ruined the blossoms. Burn ban extended to May 21st.
54F and cloudy at 10.30am. Update: Frost forecast for the evening, threatening blossoms and seedlings. Lows of 30F are predicted for the early hours of tomorrow morning (4am to 6am).
64F at 8.30am, with a mix of sun and cloud. Much-needed rain expected this afternoon. The landscape is thirsty. Update: Rain! Late afternoon.
On May 1st, we planted a long bed of twenty new asparagus and in less than ten days we already had a six-inch tall shoot from one of the mounds (bottom middle of the picture). All the other roots planted have shoots of about an inch. The image of the “tall poppy” below was taken yesterday morning.
© J.N. Urbanski 5/11/15
76F at 8am. Warm and sunny with no breeze. Asparagus acting like a sundial will be later eaten for breakfast. Update: they were juicy. The crab apple tree in full bloom.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
90F by noon, clear skies dissolving into a haze on the horizon. The hops wind slowly around the twine in the blazing sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.15pm
61F at 8am with hazy sunshine and light winds, rising to 75Fby the afternoon. The Juneberry blossoms.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
74F at 9am, clear and sunny, rising to 80F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
72F by 8.15am with hazy sunshine. Asparagus, ramps and fiddlehead ferns in season.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
60F at 8am with hazy cloud cover and a light breeze rising to 70F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
Image courtesy of Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower
Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower is a registered nurse, herbal educator and wild foods forager who conducts“weed walks” in which she teaches us how to forage for wild edibles.
How long have you lived in the Catskills?
Since 1980.
From NYC?
Manhattan and Brooklyn. I was born in Manhattan and spent part of my young life in Brooklyn. When I experienced the country when I was eleven, I knew that was where I was going when I got old enough.
59F at 7.30am with misty, hazy cloud cover and the landscape still damp with overnight rain. 78F by 2pm with the same hazy cloud. The magnolia has bloomed and is falling, but the wisteria waits.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
72F at 8am, rising to 81F (for the first time this year) by midday with mostly cloudless skies.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
72F at 10am and mostly sunny with multifarious cloud cover stealing in at noon and dampening the blazing sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
64F at 11am with scudding, cotton wool cloud cover allowing hints of blue skies beyond and brief flashes of blazing sunshine. An intermittent warm breeze. Update: 70F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm An army of basking beet seedlings
© J.N. Urbanski
Back in England, I have a friend who has a spud bucket, a large metal rubbish bin filled with soil, into which she thrusts a needy hand and miraculously pulls out a spud or two for dinner. She keeps it in the backyard and, needless to say, does not need to buy spuds, ever. Potatoes need well-drained, loose soil, but lots of rain, so they are perfect for high elevations here in the Catskills. To have your own potato bucket simply:
1. Drill three or four holes in the bottom of a bucket, about half the size of a garbage pail;
2. Line the bottom of the bucket with a three-inch layer of rocks for drainage;
3. Add a six-inch layer of peat and compost on top of the rocks;
4. Throw in four seed potatoes;
5. Cover with a two-inch layer of peat/potting soil mix and pat down.
Asparagus is going in at Upstate Dispatch HQ. A perennial, it takes a few years to get started with a low initial yield, but it’s a low maintenance crop that’s ideal for the novice gardener. Not only is it delicious, highly nutritious and otherwise quite expensive, it freezes well so you can eat it year-round. Let the asparagus grow to long ferns in the first year and the whole plant can last 20 years. Today, two beds (6-12 inches deep and 6 inches wide) were dug and a 2-3 inch layer of wet compost and peat mixed together was added. 10 asparagus roots went in each bed, 18 inches to 2 feet apart from each other. Soak the asparagus roots for a half hour before you plant. Spread the roots out like a flattened spider, lay crown-up, and cover with a 2-3 inch layer of dirt. Don’t fill in the trench with dirt until the shoots make it through their individual dirt pile. Keep adding dirt as the shoots grow over the forthcoming weeks. The weeds you see growing in the middle of the trenches are last year’s over-wintered parsnips. They were pulled.
© J.N. Urbanski 05/01/15 11.30am
55F at 10am and overcast as the daffodils struggle to open. May 1st marks the Celtic celebration known as Beltane, a Spring festival, in which participants dance around a maypole, sit around fire circles and usher in the Summer with good spirits.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
60F at 9am and sunny, with clear skies dissolving into haze over the mountains, and birdsong. An armada of scudding, cotton wool clouds and 65F by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
49F at 9am and sunny with clouds, rising to 60F by 2pm with light winds.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
46F at 9am, quickly rising to 54F by 10.15am. Overcast and gloomy with rolling clouds in gunmetal grey.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
50F at 9am. Mostly clear skies with a small armada of clouds on the horizon. 52F mid-afternoon with full cloud cover. A good sunday for a hike to Panther Mountain.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
42F and sunny clear skies at 9am. 50F at 2pm and with an armada of cotton wool clouds. Cherry blossoms bursting.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
28F at 8.30am with overnight snow lingering in the scantiest of flurries. Overcast and gloomy. RIP Crocus.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
38F by 9am. A sprinkling of overnight snow lay dissolving into puddles. Update: Continual flurries for the rest of the day with 30F by 7pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
54F at 11am. Overcast with mid-morning rain showers. Update: Rainy, cloudy and gloomy for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
44F at 8am, overcast with heavy rain and a glum, sodden landscape. Overnight thunder and lightning, together with yesterday’s high wind had snapped branches and downed trees. Update: 55F and much dryer and brighter by the afternoon with cotton wool cloud cover.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
39F and overcast at 8am. Raining with extremely high winds scattering garden implements, buckets and recently raked leaves. Yesterday’s crocus that had opened by 4pm, had closed up again this morning, beaten by wet leaves and wind. His friend had been flattened.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
52F at 9am rising to 56F by 10.30am. Clear skies, no wind and warm in the sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am
66F by noon. Dry with bright sunshine. Update: 70F at 3.30pm with gusty winds blowing laundry all over the place.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
50F at 8am and wet. Overnight rain turned to morning gloom with mist rolling over the mountains.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.15pm
39F and mostly sunny at 9am. Update: a splendid high of 63F.
49F at 8am, quickly rising to 56F by 8.45am. Beautiful, hazy cloud cover being burned through by the rising sun. Spring is here!
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
55F and clear skies at 10am. 60F and warm in the sunshine by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm The first new shoots at a 2400 ft elevation
40F at 9am and windy. The sun fighting through the grey rolling cloud cover. Stunning cloud cover all afternoon culminating in a gorgeous sunset.
© J.N. Urbanski 6.45pm
44F at 10am. Gloomy, wet and overcast. More rain. Update: 59F and a glimmer of sunshine at 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
Jack Frost has cut his expert swathe across the mountains. A frozen, overcast landscape, 31F at 7am and every single bud, blade and branch coated in a thick, icy mantle. Icy granola stuck fast to the entire deck and sides of the house. Overnight thunder, lightning and hail set Spring back again. Update: 36F mid-afternoon with the ice being noisily blown off the branches by the wind.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
34F, windy and heavily raining at 8am. Overcast and grey, the nascent landscape being liberally spritzed. These mountains will never run out of water. Update: 31F and freezing rain by mid-afternoon with high winds.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
44F at 9am and overcast with light, misty cloud rolling over the mountains. Snow receding into the drying landscape. Rain at 1pm, giving the landscape a good soaking.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.30am
We’re having extraordinary weather. This morning was like a Christmas Winter Wonderland and this afternoon snowmelt gushes down the mountains while the thermometer hit 60F at 4.30pm. Here are the before and after shots from today. The first picture taken at 7.45am and the second taken at 3.15pm in exactly the same place.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.45m
© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm
Alas, we seem to have taken turn for the worse… 36F at snowing at 10am this morning. If it doesn’t warm up, we’ll have snow all day. The only saving grace: Easter chocolate. Update: the snowfall got heavier in the afternoon and into the evening.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
38F at 11am with high winds and brief moments of sunshine amidst multifarious cloud cover. Despite low temperatures, the snow continues to melt. Update: still 38F at 2pm with fast moving clouds, high winds and bright sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
