The blue jay. ( Keith Stewart) Table manners Outside my office window there’s an old mulberry tree with a bird feeder. The larger birds that regularly partake are a cardinal,... News & Views 02 Apr 2024 | 01:40
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
Stewart, on vacation but nonetheless armed with camera and notebook, chats with a buffalo farm worker during an impromptu farm visit in Bulgaria. Land of roses and hard-baked resilience Years ago, if you’d asked me what I know about Bulgaria, I’d have said, “Not much. It’s in Eastern Europe, behind the Iron... Yonder 24 Aug 2023 | 03:37
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
A cow at Kezialain Farm in the Town of Minisink, N.Y., which has been in the Lain family since 1775. ( Keith Stewart) The biggest burpers Sorry if this spoils your day but here’s yet another thing to worry about: burping cows. No crap. Cow burps and, to a lesser... Features 09 Jan 2023 | 04:50
A sweat bee on a echinacea coneflower, one of North America’s 4,000 or so species of native bees. The bees that were here first Ever heard of a solitary bee? If not, you might guess it’s a bee that’s chosen to quit the regimented social order of the... Habitat 29 Aug 2022 | 10:25
An open Recompose vessel and cradle. ( Katrina Spade) Dissolving, composting: the new frontier in eco-friendly endings When we die, we leave behind flesh and bones and assorted entrails that have to be dealt with. This is not a subject many... Features 28 Jun 2022 | 01:55
Swallow of a different color I wouldn’t exactly call myself a birdwatcher, but I do like birds. I’m especially fond of chickadees, mourning doves, cardinals,... Features 20 Dec 2021 | 01:55
Keith’s Farm in Greenville, NY, experienced off-the-charts rainfall in September and October. ( Keith Stewart) Farming through off-the-charts weather Our farm in Orange County, NY is now comfortably situated in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6. This tells us, among other things,... News & Views 30 Nov 2021 | 11:01
Where eagles fly Last winter was cold and the snow was deep. If you happened to be a non-hibernating, four-legged herbivore there was almost... Features 16 Sep 2021 | 02:57
