Tag Archives: Spring

The Pixies at Ommegang Brewery

Screen Shot 2015-05-21 at 9.14.53 PMCo-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.

Wild Edibles: Spruce Tips

© J.N. Urbanski

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

 

 

Farm to Belly: Asparagus & Sheep Sorrel

© J.N. Urbanski 5/21/15 1pm

© 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

© J.N. Urbanski 5/21/15 1pm

Daily Catskills: 05/20/15

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 Noon

© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm

© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm

En Plein Air

© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/07/15

© 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

© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/19/15

Daily Catskills: 05/16/15

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 3.45pm

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Catskills Conversations: Heather Rolland

© J.N. Urbanski

© 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.

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Asparagus Update

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

© J.N. Urbanski 5/11/15

 

Daily Catskills: 05/11/15

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 8.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9am

© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am

 

Catskills Conversations: Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower

Image courtesy of Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower

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.

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Daily Catskills: 05/02/15

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 beet seedlings

© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm An army of basking beet seedlings

Spuds

© J.N. Urbanski

© 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.

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Asparagus

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 11.30cm

© J.N. Urbanski 05/01/15 11.30am

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Daily Catskills: 05/01/15

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

© J.N. Urbanski 10am

Daily Catskills: 04/21/15

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 4pm

© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am

© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am

Daily Catskills: 04/20/15

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

© J.N. Urbanski 11am

Daily Catskills: 04/09/15

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

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

© J.N. Urbanski 8am

 

Daily Catskills: 04/06/15 Before & After

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 7.45m

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm

Daily Catskills: 04/05/15

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

© J.N. Urbanski Noon

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