Valley Hemp Farming: High Potential, With Some Pitfalls
When Congress moved to legalize industrial hemp farming late in 2018, there were cheers all around. Sen. Mitch McConnell, then the Republican Senate majority leader from Kentucky, called hemp farming “a bright spot of agriculture’s future.” “Now,” said Sen. Ron...
Hiking by Art
A wall-mounted phone with a rotary dial and a curly cord. A decade or two ago, an Appalachian Trail hiker like Dan Foeller could pretty safely have bet it was just another pay phone. Passing it earlier this summer, though,...
10 Facts About the Dutchess County Fair
COVID put the kibosh on the Dutchess County Fair (and so much else) last year, so it's great to have it up and running again, from August 24-29.
The Mountainside Ride That Opened Up the Catskills
As far as Hudson Valley mountain rails go, the Mount Beacon Incline Railway seems to get all the glory. From 1902 to 1978, it lifted some 3.5 million passengers to the 1,540-foot summit. There — at least for a time —...
Supporting Local Ag’s ‘Bloom Boom’
When the husband-and-wife team of Jenny Elliott and Luke Franco started their farm in 2011, the organic food movement was just blossoming. They grew veggies. But within a few years they found a niche in flowers — just as the...
Five Winning Valley Spots to Take a Dip
If ever there were a summer to make a splash, this is it. From the Outdoor Adventures section of our website, we’ve chosen five spots for chilling out that are less likely to overload our natural resources. And to make the fun...
Huckleberry Picking, An Old Summer Tradition in the Shawangunks
The poor, acidic, and shallow soil on top of the Shawangunk Ridge was never ideal for farming — but it offered a perfect medium for huckleberries and wild blueberries to grow. For a century of summers, from the 1860s into...
Newburgh’s Balmville Tree, a Landmark of American History
Among local trees that have captured the imagination, it’s hard to top the Balmville Tree. Walk, bike, or drive past it now, at the corner of River and Balmville roads in the Town of Newburgh, and it’s essentially a stump....