Sweetman with her bluebirds at the old prison site in July. ( Becca Tucker) To tame a wasteland Amy Lewis Sweetman is in her studio, which is a shipping container next to a compost heap on the dairy farm where she and... Features 26 Sep 2024 | 01:41
Tom Brown, Jr. on the first night of camp. “Well gang, here we go. Welcome to the Tracker School.” Before founding the Tracker School, Tom trained Navy SEALS in high-speed invisible survival and helped the police and FBI track criminals and missing people. ( Becca Tucker) Higher education Editor’s note: To commemorate the recent passing of Tom Brown, Jr., we are re-posting this story originally published last... Features 26 Aug 2024 | 02:30
Spongy moth caterpillars have eaten my young apple trees to tatters. ( Becca Tucker) The infestation blues It’s perfect out: high 70s and sunny. This, moreover, is the treasured day a week I work from home. The time not spent commuting... From the Editor 29 May 2024 | 11:55
Swiss chard exchanging hands at Genesis Farm. ‘A Boomer thing?’: The uncertain future of the CSA As a CSA farmer of three seasons, I have personally experienced the joys of connecting with the people for whom we grow food.... Home 11 Apr 2024 | 04:03
Cindy Allyn in her brand-new refill store, the Sustainafillery, in Florida, NY. ( Becca Tucker) The ingredient sleuth After itchy, oozing skin on her hands threatened this single mom’s livelihood as a medical massage therapist, she made it... Studs 02 Apr 2024 | 02:12
The pioneer of the outdoor classroom At 83, Jack Padalino is still leading caravans to search for eagles’ nests. The president emeritus of the Pocono Environmental... Studs 07 Dec 2023 | 11:39
The kids shelling beans while listening to a Harry Potter audiobook, as humans have been doing (minus audiobook) for 8,000 years. ( Becca Tucker) The Tao of dry beans Green, purple, wax, bush, pole, edamame. Who knows why, but this was the year of the bean. Vines clambered up the eight-foot... From the Editor 22 Nov 2023 | 02:55
The mercenary army in my garden This morning, I got zapped while picking raspberries, once on the ankle and twice upside the head, above my ear, as if my... From the Editor 27 Sep 2023 | 02:25
Arugula Toad in her favorite garden bed. ( Becca Tucker) Arugula Toad Was it a trick of the eye or did that clump of dirt shift ever so slightly? On closer inspection, the clump resolved into... From the Editor 06 Jun 2023 | 03:45
The truck-tree, a Walmart checkout-aisle impulse buy, awaiting planting after fluorishing through the winter. ( Becca Tucker) “We don’t have to ever throw away our truck-tree, right?” asked Dion, my four-year-old. “Uh, right,” I hollered back over... From the Editor 03 Apr 2023 | 11:19
“Chef Danny” Amend’s favorite of the crops that he grows is salinova oak leaf lettuce, the middle row. “It’s a beautiful head lettue, it almost looks like a hedgehog to me,” said Amend. ( Michael Bloom) These greens are dialed in Growing up, Danny Amend spent a lot of time in the family garden in California’s Sonoma County, weeding and hauling wheelbarrows... Features 07 Dec 2022 | 11:58
We’d all but given up on tomatoes – until we stumbled upon a forgotten back swath of our half-wild garden. ( Becca Tucker) The wilds of garden three The kids and I came home from the Adirondacks at summer’s end – where I’d been daydreaming of rows of juicy Goldie tomatoes... From the Editor 01 Sep 2022 | 03:29
The nouveau black dirt Springtime on a farm always feels like a race. Here, it’s a full-on sprint. The moment Alix Daguin materialized in the barn... Features 28 Jun 2022 | 02:23
One of the black racers we have acquired as a neighbor. ( Becca Tucker) Getting to know the neighbors Some people fear spiders, others, heights. My thing is snakes. Snakes of all sizes make me gasp and tap dance, but to state... From the Editor 28 Jun 2022 | 10:42
Harrison working his bees barehanded. He gets stung so often that by the end of the season, he hardly reacts anymore. ( Becca Tucker) The EpiPen kid Eleven-year-old Patrick Harrison was the EpiPen kid. After a bee sting at Cub Scout camp blew him up like “the Michelin man,”... Features 09 Feb 2022 | 12:03
