The dogwood in bloom (this is all since last weekend’s rain).

The 1st Annual Chicken Coop Tour I’m organizing has this poster, beautifully designed by the wonderful Anne Anderson.

The bees are bringing pollen into the hive like crazy! First hive inspection will be in a couple weeks, and yes I’ll be posting pics and writing about what I find. (p.s. you can find my birds and bees posts over on The Maine as well.)

Somebody got a super sexy new septic system. The 1950s one was removed. The guy w/ the shovel in the photo is in his 70s, and not sure if you can tell but he had a cigarette hanging out of this mouth – this was around 7AM.

The gals were not nearly as impressed as I was with the installation of the septic system. They essentially clustered together inside the coop for two days while the workmen were here. They only ventured out when I was near. Guess they know I’m one protective mama?

Just a wee bit proud of the fact that I shot this cover!!! Story goes I was at The Spotted Cat in New Orleans listening to this fantastic jazz band w/ my friend Amanda last summer. Well, I posted the pics to this here blog and wouldn’t you know that amazing band found the pics and sent an email asking if they could use one of the images for the cover of their new album. Um, YES!! I haven’t stopped listening to the album since I got it (they sent me several copies, so sweet). This is right up there with one of the coolest experiences ever for me. (Here is one of my many love letters to New Orleans, one of the greatest places on the planet it gives me breath, happiness, let’s me raise my freak flag high, serves me the most delicious food & the most refreshing drinks, introduces me to exceptional people and keeps me smiling.)

Wrapped up volunteering (for now anyway) with the Boys and Girls Clubs in Southern Maine. Those kids are exceptional, they’ve lived more than I ever will, survived what no one should have to, and they are absolutely beautiful.  This was taken at an ice cream party I organized for them (my volunteering partner/amazing baking friend I. is having a baby = her talents were missed).

I published my first Local Grain Economy story (it’s a series of five pieces) and one on Maine Farmland Trust, a truly valuable organization preserving a way of life that’s near and dear to my heart and all our dining tables. *The blog is doing so well the paper is promoting it in the print edition. I could not ask for a better editor or outlet than A.M. at The Portland Press Herald.

It’s been a long few weeks and things are looking up. Life is good and full. I’m excited about all the wonderful things happening this summer, the amazing writing opportunities I continue to be presented with, the adventures including a trip back to Hardwick, VT. and some pretty cool stuff I’ve got in the works on the home front. Oh, dear readers thank you for joining me on this trip. ox

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Bees into hive with pollen

Master Gardener Class, planting a Tupelo Tree

About ten days ago I took one of my chickens (Willa Cather) into the vet, because she was sneezing and wheezing. By the time we got into the vet’s office she was having a really tough time breathing, and I was freaking out just a little bit. Look, I get it…she’s a chicken…but she’s my chicken…my charge since she was about a day old. I’ve raised her and her sisters and they’re my gals. The vet presented me with good/bad news. Good news he was pretty sure what she had was treatable, bad news if she had it so did all the other chickens = yes, yours truly carted ten more chickens into the vet two days later. If you want to know what that act of insanity looked like I can put you in touch with the workmen who were here that day repairing my front porch. Let’s just say they will not be free ranging anywhere near where the wild turkeys roam. Turns out, chickens and wild turkeys don’t have to come into actual contact…oh no..all that needs to happen for 11 unassuming feathered ladies to pickup a parasite is for them to forage where the turkeys have spent time. After the vet visit, the hardest part was separating Willa from her sisters for a couple days to let her get a little stronger and get the others treated. I’ve been reintroducing her slowly to the rest of the flock. The “it’s getting easier” task has been giving Willa her medicine, which has me setting her down in my lap holding her head and prying open her beak with one hand while I have the medicine ready to squirt in. She’s healthier now and fights it, but really is quite the trooper. Do I sound like the crazy chicken lady yet?

Note, regarding the wild turkeys. I’ve nicknamed one of the males Belushi because of his size/shape and saunter. He doesn’t have the whole hand-on-hip stance John Wayne did… He’s more a large samurai minus Elwood.

This past week I ventured to Aroostook County (aka “The County”) to spend a day with some grain and potato farmers as part of the research I’m doing on the local grain economy. Starting with spring planting and going through harvesting in August I’ll be reporting on the farmers, scientists, millers, and bakers who comprise the local grain movement in Maine and Vermont. It is the most exciting story I’ve worked on.

Here are links to my Portland Press Herald blog stories on foraging for forest greens with Chef David Levy and what’s on my (research) bookshelf as far as food and agriculture books go. The Huffington Post published my piece on the beekeeper/honey bees at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in the Hudson River Valley. So, needless to say I’m feeling really good about my writing!

I really have to cut down my pieces for the Huffington Post, so following is an important excerpt that got cut from my Q&A with Stone Barns beekeeper Dan Carr on Varroa Collapse (the center lost four hives to this parasitic mite over the winter)…

Carr “Among the slew of different problems honeybees face today, I would still say that varroa are still the biggest problem for beekeepers to deal with.  The varroa mites breed and multiply in the the bees pupa, and an adult mite attaches itself to the bee, feeding on it’s hemalymph.  The mite weakens the bee and exposes the bee to viruses.  If a bee were the size of a human, the mite would be the size of a dinner plate.  That’s a pretty big parasite to be carrying around.  We have tried to remain treatment free at Stone Barns.  We have tried various organic methods of knocking back the mites, like dusting the brood nest with powdered sugar, to knock the mites off of the bees, which I didn’t find very effective and I worry about the effect of the powdered sugar on the open brood.  I also sometimes put drone comb in the hives, because the smell of Drone larva attracts the mites. You pull the frame out and freeze it while the pupa are capped and the mites are inside reproducing, so it serves as kind of a trap.  This method has been more successful, but we have to be sure to get the frames out within twenty days of the queen laying eggs or else our mite population will explode.  The best success we have seen has been simply breaking up the brood cycle by removing the queen long enough that the mites don’t have anywhere to reproduce.  This  is a great way to knock down the mites but can really reduce our honey production.  There are no easy answers.  We monitor our mite loads very closely, and keep the harsher organic acids like formic acid on hand, but am yet to use them in our hives.  I think we are helping to develop more mite tolerant bees by letting our weaker hives that can’t deal with the mites die off in the winter and making splits in the spring from the stronger hives that dealt well with the mites.  But anytime we do have high mite loads in a hive it’s important that we keep the entrance reduced and that we make sure that they aren’t getting robbed out by other bees who could pick up mites and carry them back to their own hive.”

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A week ago about this time I was sitting on the back patio at the Lakeview Inn in Greensboro, Vermont reading books on foraging (for an upcoming post on my Portland Press Herald blog The Root) and getting a bit of sun. Cathy and Scott Donnelly, the trusting owners (who I have yet to meet) had left the place and a jar of Gummy Bears (do they know my not so secret obsession with that candy??) in my hands. I’d spent the past day and a half enjoying Hardwick and vicinity and was happy and relaxed.

Last fall, while having coffee with my friend SL we got to talking about bees (my friend A keeps his hives at her home), when an acquaintance of hers leaned over (it’s that kind of friendly coffee shop) and told us about this article he’d read recently on a guy in Vermont making vodka out of honey.  My interest peaked I went home and promptly Googled  the story. There it was…Caledonia Spirits & Winery, producers of handcrafted spirits including a vodka distilled from honey wine and gin made from local grains and flavored with local honey.   I don’t remember exactly how the next few weeks played out, but in a nutshell I decided it would be a good next story for me to write about for the Huffington Post (all things crossed, it will publish in May) so I reached out to the company and somehow got hooked up with Andrew Volk , Owner, Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, Maine and a semi-official representative for Caledonia Spirits, who met me for coffee (I don’t know about you, but I get more done when drinking coffee) to talk about Caledonia’s unique place in the spirits world.  It was then/there that Andrew (who along with his lovely wife Briana, are two of my favorite people in Maine’s food/drink world) and I hatched the idea for what would become the first of the Hush, Hush Parties (see here and here). We’d bring Todd Hardie, the founder of Caledonia Spirits, to Portland, Maine for a house party at which Andrew could work his magic with Todd’s spirits and I could do the first of a couple interviews with Todd.

Todd Hardie is a gentle soul with a brilliant mind and a heck of a lot of energy. He’s an advocate for Vermont agriculture, a lifelong beekeeper, and graduate of Cornell Agriculture School.  When we met we talked about bees, sustainable beekeeping practices and the phenomenal amount of information a beekeeper is constantly trying to process to be responsible, Lewis Hill (a mentor to Todd and pioneer in Vermont’s plant nursery business), Hardwick (ag central in Vermont’s Caledonia County, which Todd seeing as a healthy and invigorating community chose as the base of his business), and how vodka is made (yours truly had no idea it could be made with anything other than potatoes).

By the time Todd left, I’d committed to return to Hardwick, VT (my third trip in a little over a year) for a tour of the distillery on the banks of the Lamoille River.

Fast forward to late April, when I pulled into Caledonia Spirits just as Todd and crew were unpacking from the day’s farmers’ market.  Todd gave me the basics on the art of distilling and  explained the distillation cuts – head (beginning, discarded), heart (what is drinkable), and tail (end, discarded). He explained it’s less chemistry than artistry and intuition. *My upcoming article in the Huffington Post will focus on Caledonia’s distillation process.

After a brief tour of the 10,000 square foot distillery, and look in on his hives, Todd and I climbed in his truck and bounded over to Vermont Soy,  an organic soy milk and tofu processing plant run by his good friend Andrew Meyer.  This is a person who looks at what his friends and neighbors are producing and if they have a byproduct tries to figure out how it can be turned into a value added product. Andrew’s business partner, Todd Pinkham, was taught how to craft authentic tasting soy foods by food functional Chinese scientist Dr. Guo., at the University of Vermont. Meyer and Pinkham share the noble belief in creating healthy food systems that support local economies and sustainable agriculture. I tasted almost everything and loved the soy puddings (look for “Soyummi” in orange or blue & white containers) and his brand new smoothies made with Coconut Milk so much I borrowed a cooler from Todd to cart some back till I could make sure the local Whole Foods Market carries them (note, Barbara and/or Shannon if you are reading this NUDGE NUDGE get anything/everything Vermont Soy in the cooler section please, pretty please w/ yummy stuff on top).

Since I had arrived late we moved quickly to get me situated at the inn before heading to Todd’s home he shares with Tanya, who should you be fortunate enough to be invited to a meal at her table accept basically just rearrange your entire schedule so you can sit there and eat her food. We ate (because I’m eating pork on very selective occasions now) an Asian inspired pulled pork Tanya made from a pig she and Todd had raised and had slaughtered on their property, along with a fresh salad made up of greens from Hardwick’s amazing Buffalo-Mountain Co-op. I had second helpings of both. Then, they invited me back for breakfast and sent me to the hotel with a large jar of honey.

Back at the ginormous inn (each room opens up to a new room, each worth of a spread in Country Living) I met up with a couple interns from the Cellars at Jasper Hill, who I thankfully found out were staying on the third floor = I would not be all alone in a country inn with all the doors unlocked.  Additional bonus of staying with super sweet interns from the place that makes my favorite cheese (Cabot Clothbound), turns out if you are nice one of them will bring you some cheese in the morning.  This combined with the eight hours of sleep I’d just gotten for the first time in months officially made it one of my favorite places on earth. p.s. no cell service, yay!!!

Post breakfast (pancakes, maple syrup produced by a family friend served in a gravy pitcher and bacon – my first pork bacon ever wow from their recently dearly departed pig), Todd and I were off.  Morning service at a country church in Craftsbury, a couple miles from Pete Johnson’s vegetable/greenhouse operation. The minister paraphrased Kurt Vonnegut, brought up gun violence in our culture, the death of Medgar Evers, the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King being imprisoned in the Birmingham jail, and the idea of serving milk and Oreos in communion (hello, I liked this church). From there, a second cup of coffee at a terrific general store (in my opinion Vermont may safely lay claim to having the best general stores) where I found seed packets designed by kids and the entire Ben & Jerry’s ice cream collection of flavors, as well as my second cup of coffee for the day.

Fully caffeinated, we headed to Pete’s. Ben Hewitt, who wrote The Town That Food Saved (in my opinion, as important a read to anyone interested in local food systems as anything Michael Pollan has written), about the great strength’s of Hardwick’s food system (within a 10-mile radius of town you can find High Mowing Organic Seeds, Highfields Center for Composting, Claire’s (started as a community-supported restaurant), Jasper Hill and numerous vegetable farms including Pete’s Greens).  Here’s Ben’s first impression of Pete Johnson “He was wearing tall rubber Muck boots, dirty (and when I say “dirty,” I mean dirty) blue jeans, and a similarly soiled Carhartt jacket. His fly was down. His hair (dirty blond, of course) was unruly to an extreme that should have been impossible without the benefit of an open-cockpit airplane.” This is why I love Ben’s writing – it’s so descriptive and intelligently styled. Anyway, my first impression of Pete was after I’d childlike given some thought to grabbing onto one of any of his greenhouses and hanging on for fear someone would remove me. Give me a greenhouse and I’m a happy gal. Had the day not been so beautiful I might have fought harder.  His rows of greenhouses – they go and on and on, which is probably a good thing since his farm feeds several hundred people between the farm’s Good Eats CSA and booth at the local farmers’ market. Anyway, he was in his tractor and somehow when Todd first introduced him I didn’t realize who it was (mind full of coffee and greenhouses). A few minutes into conversation the bulb overhead turned on and I figured out who he was. Looking back I can see Ben’s description, but mine was simply of a person with a big passion for growing things and feeding people. It’s very easy for me to understand why someone would want to have his/her person in the dirt day in and out. My happiest days are when I’m filthy, carrying around chickens, gardening, and taking a break by the hives watching the honey bees bring pollen into the hive. Nothing compares.

We left Pete and his brother to deal with tractor issues and headed to Bar Hill, a 256-acre natural area owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy and maintained by dedicated volunteers such as Todd Hardie. The vistas inspired novelist and environmentalist Wallace Stegner, who wrote about the view from Bar Hill in his popular novel Crossing to Safety.  Barr Hill is also featured on Caledonia Spirits labels.

After a quick drive by of Jasper Hill’s famous facilities I was on my own….to sit in the sun. Life just doesn’t get much better.

When I go back for an event this summer I’m shopping at Pete’s Greens farmstand and hiking Bar Hill. Then I’m going to sip gin and tonics made with Todd’s gin.

For more information on Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom I’d recommend the attractive and informative book Kingdom’s Bounty:  A Sustainable, Eclectic, Edible Guide to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom by Bethany M. Dunbar.

Here’s a link to a nice article in Edible Green Mountains on Caledonia Spirits.

Caledonia Spirits are available in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York (Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Long Island), New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. You can also purchase them online in 32 states. From May through October, Caledonia Spirits has a booth at several farmers markets including Burlington and Montpelier. The distillery is open for tastings and tours Monday through Saturday 10am to 5pm.

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Contest starts now and runs thru Sunday at 6PM.

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Scans courtesy of Winky’s brother.

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And, now back to our regularly scheduled type of posts…

This week I wrote about Six River Farm in Bowdoinham, Maine and former Journey Persons Gabrielle Gosselin and Nate Drummond. Then, I wrote a piece about people needing more information before diving into these “sexy” back-to-the-land pursuits. Surprisingly, I received some rather nice notes from people about the second one….that felt very good!

p.s. as a result of the second piece I’ve decided to treat myself to the following from Kaufmann Mercantile (my new obsession) this summer. (Note, I do not accept freebies for posts written for The Root…so I’ll be paying full price for this baby minus the $6 or 7 I got for signing up for their e-newsletter.)

Isn’t it gorgeous!?! I love Stronghold (their jeans are among my most prized clothing items).  So yes, think what you may…but I’ll be donning this baby while tending garden, carting chickens around….I’ve given up on designer handbags and cocktail dresses…seriously considering my interests/lifestyle what’s the point…so this will be me making a fashion statement in my own backyard.

Stronghold Selvage Denim Apron

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Shooter: Aquavit, Worcestershire, Horseradish. Far from your average shot. Not meant for sipping. It’s special, with all the romanticized characteristics of a fisherman at sea…I’d love to hire Andrew to do a lake side party…OMG the idea of his cocktails paired w/ delicious food this summer at a cabin in Maine…I can just see guests draped along the deck, laughter and intelligent (mostly) conversation enjoying the best life has to offer. Yes, I got that from this drink.

 Mixing drinks…Oh, and I haven’t even gone into detail about his Winslow Sour (Bourbon, Lemon, Apple Butter, and Egg White). I’d say this would be my go to drink, but really (as I said the last time I wrote about Andrew) I just want to walk into The Portland Hunt & Alpine Club and let him make me whatever he wants. That’s trust.

p.s. Only bummer, no photo of his brilliant wife Briana who helps organize and run the Hush, Hush events and does a stellar job at marketing them.

Dear readers I cannot wait for their bar to open so you can go and experience what I have been fortunate to these past few months since I met them. ox

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Susan Miller, the Director of the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center, arranged for our little group to have a pizza making workshop led by super sweet instructor Michelle Kupiec. We learned how to make Semolina Pizza Dough and Pizza Dough. Can we say intimidating??  Put me in a field and I’m in my element, but in a baking center surrounded by professional/semi-professional bakers…um…just being set up to fail. It was such a fun experience I didn’t even mind that my pizzas were not as pretty or likely delicious as everyone else’s…it was not a competition..it was a learning experience. For my part I was psyched just to get to share a table with my friend Rebecca..the uber talented/smart/savvy/sassy/beautiful spirit behind the hugely successful blog Ezra Pound Cake. Let me tell you, that woman knows what to do with flour and water. Darn!

Ashley and her divine looking/tasting pizzas. I kept having not to pinch myself (hello, ouch) that she was there. This is the woman whose beekeeping and raising chicken books helped get my own bee/chicken projects started. She’s an incredibly smart and interesting woman and such a terrific momma. If more mothers were like her this world would be a much healthier, safer, funner place. I am still learning from her…and just you wait till her party and drink books come out next year…oh some fun to be had!!

Matt Armendariz is one of the savviest marketing/branding folks I’ve met in a long while and the maker of G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S photographs. That’s he’s as gifted and generous as he is says a lot of positive things about his mama (again if we had more like her, and him in this world). M.A., you’ll always be Mr. Baby to me, if that’s OK with you.

King Arthur Flour’s Baking Education Center classes run the gamut from introductory demonstrations to intensive, week-long courses for the professional, along with hands-on classes for children and home bakers. Fore more information visit their website. ox

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Here’s what went down from there…

After a few hugs at the airport….Rebecca (p.s. check out her Flour Bakery’s Coconut Macaroons post), Matt, Joy and I met up with Joanne Chang (she is so nice & I cannot wait for her new cookbook coming out next month) for a tour of the South End location of Flour Bakery and to pickup some yummy baked goods. My special treat was a Homemade Raspberry Seltzer (aka the most delicious thirst quenching drink ever and can anyone say Homemade Oreos…OMG OMG OMG).

Another trip to the airport and Jen (check out her gorgeous, thoughtful post on our trip here) and I were back with the gang plus Ellen at Barbara Lynch’s The Butcher Shop for dinner.  By the time Ashley and her family joined us (after a harrowing parking ordeal courtesy of Boston) we had a long table full of boards of sausages, pâtés and terrines made in house. *One of the reasons The Butcher Shop is one of my favorite restaurants, is because of Chef Lynch’s attention to detail and her enthusiasm for producers (to the extent that she’s visited farms, developed relationships w/ certain farmers, fishermen…). The restaurant works with several farms in the surrounding states, and sources much of their raw meat from Brown Boar farm in VT and Burn Shirt Valley farm in MA. *The Pickled Vegetables and Marcona Almonds were lovely with the Parmesan!

Later that evening, after a snowy drive on quiet roads we arrived at the Chesterfield Inn B&B in New Hampshire. In my room I put up my feet and sat by the fire. Toasty!

Saturday
Breakfast at the inn (oh you know pancakes, eggs, fresh fruit..lots of pure maple syrup), then off to a small sugarhouse in Guilford, VT, that Arnold Coombs cousin Ted operates (they have about 800 taps and a wood fired evaporator). When Arnold was four or five years old he would help Ted’s father tap trees near his house. Arnold’s family’s sugarhouse in Wilmington, VT boiled sap from over 26,000 trees. In the early 1970s, Arnold’s dad moved into a sugarhouse in Jacksonville, VT near Arnold’s childhood home, and they tapped about 800 trees with buckets. Some of those trees were tapped by Arnold’s great and great-great grandfathers (Arnold is the seventh generation in the industry).

If you’ve ever been to a sugarhouse and stood by an evaporator you know how wonderful that steam rising up out of it is – sweet, mapley ..comforting. I’d like a machine to reproduce that in my home every night. Ted welcomed us in, engaged us in conversation, talked about building up the fire, his years sugaring. I spend a lot of time with farmers, and what I always focus on are their hands – those beautiful lines, marks, smudges that define their hardworking days in and out for month on end. Ted’s were well worn and spoke of character, history, New England sugaring. He showed me how the evaporator sits up and the back doors to the sugarhouse only go down to about one’s ankles to allow more air in to help get the fire going. I wish everyone who enjoys pure maple syrup could meet people like Ted and Arnold, so they could appreciate how much physical labor and smarts goes into that golden bliss.

Being as we were visiting during the middle of their sugaring season (it was just getting going further north in Canada), we got to tap trees, gather some sap and boil maple syrup. We also got to eat Sugar on Snow!!

Sugar on Snow

Dill pickles are served to cleanse the palate.

Another tradition, donuts…for dipping! Cindy Finck made these, she’s a great cook and baker who works with Arnold. They’ve been family friends for years.

Next  up…the Coombs Family Farms Maple Candy Kitchen in Brattleboro, VT.  We saw maple candy being made and packaged by hand. (Let me tell you, so we’re clear…chocolate covered maple candy is about the sweetest…nicest…thing anyone could gift you – Cindy had some waiting for each of us in our rooms.) This is one of three (soon to be two) maple candy factories.

Maple candies ready for packaging

The crash course in sugaring took us to Bascom Maple Farm (Arnold is the Director of Sales and Marketing of Bascom, which is run by his childhood friend Bruce Bascom) in Alstead, NH.  Bascom boils sap from about 75,000 taps (and purchases a great deal more from producers in New England and Canada),  is the leading supplier of bulk maple syrup & bulk maple sugar, and is the largest distributor of sugaring equipment in the country.

As part of Bascom and Coombs commitment to sustainable maple forestry, they maintain and practice a sustainable forest management plan. They use tree-friendly health spouts, and never jeopardize tree health by over-tapping – two taps per average-sized tree is their maximum. They also use energy-saving reverse osmosis that reduces their energy consumption by 75%.

Low impact vacuum tubing helps them protect the fragile root systems of the trees. The vacuum tubes can carry the sap from thousands of trees to one central holding tank, reducing the need for roads to collect sap from buckets, and so minimizing the compacting of soil that can wreak havoc on tree roots and cover vegetation that healthy forests need to thrive.

Our minds full we stopped at L.A. Burdick in Walpole to caffeinate before heading back to the inn. We rested, recharged, and enjoyed a delicious dinner courtesy of Arnold including Maple Walnut Bread and Savory Muffins, Grilled Salmon with Maple Sugar Dry Spice Rub and Cinnamon Maple Butter (delicious!!), and a variety of dessert options.

More on our Sunday adventure at King Arthur Flour to come…. ox

p.s. Books I recommend for those who want to learn more on Sugaring:
Maple Sugar:From Sap to Syrup: The History, Lore, and How-To Behind This Sweet Treat by Tim Herd
Maple Sugarin’ in Vermont: A Sweet History by Betty Ann Lockhart

Suggestions on serving pure maple syrup from The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook 3rd edition: on hot cereal, on grapefruit or other fruit (I like this when broiled), on plain yogurt, on ice cream, in a milk shake, in coffee or tea (you haven’t lived till you’ve had a maple latte), poured over a butternut or acorn squash, in stir fry dishes (heck, yes), and baked in bread or muffins (don’t have to tell me twice). *Personally, I think it’s also delicious in granola mixes and in sugar form sprinkled on bacon and baked for 10-15 minutes..holy cow!!

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I’ve wanted to visit charming Hudson River Valley for a few years, so once I got there I was determined to make the most of it.

Accommodations:
The Holiday Inn in Kingston (845) 338.0400 was clean, safe, had a working treadmill, and complimentary copies of USA Today. Okay, so it’s not fancy, but I’ve been finding during odd and end road trips, that Holiday Inns are surprisingly reliable. Kingston happened to be where I needed to be for part of my trip, but my recommendation is go regardless of obligation. The New York Times did a nice job encapsulating the scene in Kingston in this article.

**Note, depending what time of year you go some restaurants will be closed or have limited hours. That is how I discovered these great dining options in nearby Athens (30 minute drive) at Crossroads Brewing Company and in Rhinebeck (20 -25 minutes) at Liberty Public House.

While in Athens (technically, the Village of Athens) for dinner, I was given a tour of the historic district, where there are wonderful examples of residential and commercial properties built during the 19th century, partially as a result of the natural ice industry. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, natural ice cut from the Hudson River provided the New York City metropolitan area with much of its supply. It was pretty cool looking out at the river and thinking this was the source of the Fitzgerald‘s cocktail ice.

9:00 a.m. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
“In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail, and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market-town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town… Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity…From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of Sleepy Hollow…”  - from Washington Irving’s popular short (ghost) story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

I learned a great deal about tombstone design/details during a personal tour of the cemetery with Director Jim Logan. We visited the Old Dutch Church (above photo) and explored the Old Dutch Burying Ground, where the unfortunate Ichabod Crane sought refuge from a certain headless Hessian. *If you go, I recommend picking up a copy of The Place Names of Historic Sleepy Hollow & Tarrytown by Henry Steiner. It has a number of articles on Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, New York.

10:30 a.m. Lyndhurst Estate

Sitting on a knoll with a lawn that stretches toward the mighty Hudson River, this Gothic Revival mansion was built in an early Gilded Age style. Designed in 1838 and expanded in 1865, its turrets and a four-story tower are a tribute to original architect Alexander Jackson Davis. Narrow hallways lead to rooms with vaulted ceilings and pointed arched windows. Now open to the public, Lyndhurst was originally the country home of William Pauldring, Jr., who was the mayor of New York City in the 1820s. The home was later purchased by merchant George Merritt and eventually by the railroad tycoon Jay Gould. The house was made a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It is owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

During my private tour (available upon request), I was permitted to go to the top of the tower. On a clear day I was told you can see Manhattan. The tour was incredibly fun, the 67 park-like acres marvelous, and the collection of preserved items from the home incredible. It’s rare one has the opportunity to see a historic home open to the public with as much original furniture as this one. I would love to go back during the summer and see the gardens in bloom and the nation’s first steel-framed greenhouse in operation.

The Picture Gallery

The Star Bedroom

12:30 p.m. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Stone Barns is a non-profit farm and education center located in Pocantico Hills, New York. The historic barns and courtyard, were built as a dairy farm in the 1930s by John D. Rockefeller,Jr. thus lending to the aesthetic and historical appeal. Stone Barns operates an 80-acre four-season farm and is working on broader initiatives to create a healthy and sustainable food system. Through its Growing Farmers Initiative, children’s education programs and diverse public awareness programs, Stone Barns aims to improve the way America eats and farms. Stone Barns is open to the public year-round, Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. *Since 2004, more than 60,000 children have participated in their hands-on-school-year, after-schoo, and summer education programs. That’s pretty incredible!

What excited me most about my visit:

• Virtual Grange – The Virtual Grange is the first of its kind—a comprehensive online site where beginning, sustainability-minded farmers can find technical tutorials, learn about innovations in sustainable farming and connect with mentors and peers. I signed up, so let’s hang out and chat farm stuff!!
• Slow Tools Project – which, of course Eliot Coleman is involved with
• The Apiary’s involvement w/ NASA’s Scale Hives & Climate Project
• (That the Center is collaborating with the) Cornell Seed Breeding Program.  Stone Barns grows out seeds developed by seed breeders to assess the fruit or vegetable flavor, vigor, disease-and drought-resistance and appeal to consumers. This helps to ensure that small and mid-sized farmers continue to have access to a wide variety of crops that are both ecologically and financially viable.

What I want to learn more about – Grains of Truth (because I’m wading into interviews/research for a poston Maine’s local grain economy for The Root later this month)

The 22,000-square-foot (!!) greenhouse is amazing. Oh, and the top can open up!! I had serious grower envy. Recently they harvested Micro Lettuce leaf – Annapolis/Bolsachia, Ficoides, Green Garlic, Mache
Broccoli Raab, Swiss Chard ‘Fordhook’, Carrot ‘Napoli’, Turnip ‘Hakurei’, Beet Greens, Red Veined Sorrel, and Radish ‘Rover’

4:00 p.m. Vanderbilt Mansion Hyde Park

On the way back up the Valley to Kingston, I stopped to tour the Vanderbilt Mansion. *Note, it is very close to the Culinary Institute of America and FDR’s home in Hyde Park.  For all the European influenced aesthetics (Keeping Up with the Jones on the grandest of scales), it was the American technology (buzzer system, heating…) that made the tour so interesting to me. The house, one of several, owned by Frederick William Vanderbilt and his wife Louise, was used primarily in the spring and fall. A staff of 60 or so, drawn mostly from local farm families maintained the house and grounds year-round.

My favorite room, Louise Vanderbilt’s bedroom modeled after Marie-Antoinette’s bedroom at the Palace of Versailles. (Frederick’s Spanish style bedroom felt cold and confined to me.)

It was a quick trip, but one during which I saw and learned much. It certainly was only the first of many trips I hope to make to the Hudson River Valley. Everything was so accessible. I hope you’ll go!!

Bottom two photos of Lyndhurst provided by the estate, taken by Jeffrey Sturges. Top photo of Stone Barns used courtesy of Stone Barns, by Annabel Braithwaite. Bottom Vanderbilt Estate photo courtesy of National Park Service.

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