Lauren Maresca with a solar-powered generator that can be used to charge phones and small devices – but not a hot plate (she tried it). ( Becca Tucker) Prepping goes mainstream Prepping is having a moment in the wake of the [insert disaster of your choice]. But for some people it’s second nature.... Features 24 Mar 2025 | 12:26
A woodcut of Stewart during his four months camping out alone in the Outback. ( By Flavia Baccarella) The alone trip: four months in the Australian Bush Decades before New Zealand-born Keith Stewart landed on his 88-acre farm in Orange County, NY, where he would grow organic... Features 03 Mar 2025 | 10:17
A swallowtail butterfly in the demo garden at the Warwick Valley Winery. Turning lawns into lifelines “The Victorian English aesthetic of the lawn needs to change,” said Dr. Joseph “Doc” Grizzanti, founder of the Warwick Valley... Features 08 Jan 2025 | 10:14
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
Stuff we dig Our annual holiday gift guide is not meant to be an enticement to buy more, more, more. It’s an invitation to be deliberate... Features 05 Sep 2024 | 02:14
A burger served at Vernon High School. ( Photo provided) The year school kids got a taste of local The burgers (pictured above) served at Vernon High School’s cafeteria this school year came from a pastured steer raised... Features 11 Jul 2024 | 02:56
Ellen and Bill Crain at Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary in Poughquag, NY in May. ( Photo by Becca Tucker) A different kind of midlife crisis When my wife Ellen and I entered our 60s, we began a new project. We renovated a run-down farm in upstate New York and turned... Features 24 Jun 2024 | 03:28
Beverly Braxton at home in Warwick. ( Aja Brandt) The Back Seat manifesto: a dozen meditations on the view from north of 70 Aging is a hot topic. There’s presidential politics, larger issues of memory loss, and just the numbers. America’s aged population... Features 28 May 2024 | 03:38
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
Karen Berry and Steve Regan, co-founders of Warwick Ecstatic Dance. ‘The body’s instinctive way to heal’ People filter in by ones and twos, take off their shoes and find a spot on a mat or cushions. It could be a yoga class except... Features 30 Nov 2023 | 06:47
Farmer and writer Keith Stewart shows a group of veterans around his Greenville, NY organic farm in October as part of an Armed to Farm field trip. ( Lee Rinehart) A life of service: the veteran-farmer pipeline In my 33 years running an organic produce farm in Orange County, a dozen or more college classes and their teachers visited... Features 01 Dec 2023 | 12:20
1. Eucalyptus pillowcases Stuff we dig 1. Eucalyptus pillowcasesThere aren’t many better feelings than your head hitting that pillow at the end of a long day.... Features 02 Oct 2023 | 02:11
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
Over the decades, the population of silo pigeons remained remarkably stable -- until a recent inexplicable decline. ( Keith Stewart) Requiem for the silo pigeons When we moved to our farm there were 20 or more pigeons living in the upper barn and three half-feral cats still hanging... Features 09 May 2023 | 02:22
‘Already, I have enough address labels to last several lifetimes.’ - Keith Stewart ( Keith Stewart) Killing me slowly with junk mail I’m overwhelmed with junk mail — especially the stuff sent by non-profit organizations I want to support. I’m betting you... Features 13 Feb 2023 | 03:29
