Bumble bees, the teddy bears of the insect world, aren’t just cute–they’re pollinating powerhouses. The first bumble bees that visit our gardens each spring are typically queens, big bees gorging themselves on nectar and pollen after a winter of hibernation. They eat to build their health and muster the strength to lay eggs. When their […]
Margaret Tomlinson
Posted inGardening
Overlook
Native Viburnums in the Catskills: a Primer
A variety of viburnums, among the best-loved shrubs in Northeast gardens, are native in Greene and Ulster counties. They have showy white flower clusters, leaves that turn gold, purple or wine-red in fall and berries that attract birds. Their common names often came from early settlers who recognized traits they found useful, such as flexible […]
Posted inGardening
Saugerties
Secret Garden Tour in Saugerties Benefits Historical Society
A Secret Garden Tour on Sunday, June 14, will visit seven gardens in the Town of Saugerties, including two public gardens and five rarely seen private gardens, some hidden behind stone walls and others down long private driveways. The self-guided tour will begin at the Kiersted House, home of the Saugerties Historical Society. Ticket holders […]
Posted inNews
Overlook
Farmers Markets Return to Woodstock, Windham, Phoenicia, and Saugerties
Farmers markets return to Woodstock, Phoenicia, Saugerties and Windham this month, each with its own character, and most on a different day of the week. The Woodstock Farm Festival market opened May 13 and will run every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. through Oct. 14 at the Mountain View Parking Lot in Woodstock. The […]
Posted inArt
Saugerties
Jane Street Art Center’s “Matter Out of Place” Turns Waste Into Art
“Matter Out of Place,” an exhibition at the Jane Street Art Center in Saugerties, brings together six artists who use discarded materials to explore waste, destruction, and environmental change ahead of Earth Day. The show, on view through May 8 at the center at 11 Jane St., features work made from found and repurposed objects. […]
Posted inGardening
Overlook
Annual Garden Day Classes Set for April 11 at SUNY Ulster
Garden Day, an annual day of gardening classes presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, will return Saturday, April 11, at SUNY Ulster in Stone Ridge, with several instructors from Saugerties, West Hurley, and nearby communities helping lead the program. This year’s theme is “Create and Cultivate.” The keynote speaker, Kim Eierman, will present […]
Posted inHistory
Olive
Ethnoecologist Justin Wexler Traces Lost Wildlife of the Catskills
The Catskills once held passenger pigeons in such vast numbers that their flocks darkened the sky, along with wolves, cougars, martens, elk and other wildlife no longer found here. That vanished world was the focus of a March 21 lecture at the Olive Free Library, where ethnoecologist Justin Wexler explored how Indigenous communities lived alongside […]
Posted inCommunity
Olive
Olive Free Library Nears Sustainability Certification
The Olive Free Library is nearing the final step toward official certification as a Sustainable Library, an effort Library Director Melissa McHugh took on soon after starting the job in 2023. If approved in June, the library would become the third in the Mid-Hudson Library System to earn the designation through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative. […]
Posted inHistory
Saugerties
Acclaimed Sculptor Augusta Savage’s Life in Saugerties: Art, Honors, and Chickens
One day in 1953, the acclaimed sculptor Augusta Savage gave a gift to the Finger family, her white neighbors near the same Saugerties road that now bears her name. It was a bust she’d made of their six-year-old son, Wesley. Wesley Finger, now 79, still has the bust. It’s a treasured reminder of a childhood […]
Posted inArt
Woodstock
Woodstock School of Art Series Spotlights Marielena Ferrer’s Migration-Inspired Work
Marielena Ferrer told an audience at the Woodstock School of Art in February that she became an artist “by accident.” Born into a working-class family in Venezuela, Ferrer said she had always been drawn to art but did not see it as a profession. After fleeing Venezuela for Spain with her children and later settling […]
Posted inPoetry
Woodstock
Woodstock Poetry Society Extends Three-Decade Run With February Reading
The Woodstock Poetry Society’s February session hewed loosely to a Valentine’s Day theme, with authors exploring love and loss through readings and an open mic session The February 14 session at the Woodstock Public Library, free and open to the public as always, began with a performance by multimedia artist Zelda, known as Judith Z. […]
Posted inGardening
Overlook
Indigenous Crops That Shaped What We Eat Today
Schoolchildren often learn the familiar story of the Pilgrim settlers and the Wampanoag man Squanto (whose real name was likely Tisquantum), who taught them how to grow corn. Maize, better known as corn, was unknown to the Pilgrims. Around 9,000 years ago in Mexico, the wild teosinte plant was domesticated and developed into an ancestor […]
Posted inGardening
Overlook
The Fruit Trees That Need Winter
Many fruit trees need winter’s cold in order to flower and fruit well in the growing season. New York State is known for its excellent apples, a fruit tree with a particularly high chilling requirement. Pears, cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, and other fruit trees must also experience a minimum number of chilling hours over the […]
Posted inArt
Woodstock
Six Exhibits Open at Woodstock Artists Association & Museum
When Nicole Goldberg stepped into her role as executive director of the Woodstock Art Association & Museum five years ago, she had no idea how many artists lived and worked in the area. For an organization devoted to artists within a 50-mile radius, that abundance carries a responsibility to support them—and a joy. “Every opening […]
Posted inGardening
Overlook
Winter’s Hidden Gifts for Gardeners
Winter has officially arrived, and with it the familiar sense that the gardening year has gone dormant. Nights have dipped well below freezing, snow has already appeared, and most beds look settled in for the long pause before spring. But beneath the surface, winter is quietly doing some of its most important work. This is, […]
Posted inArt
Hurley
Winslow Homer’s Hidden Hurley: An Exhibit Uncovers Local Ties to the American Master
“Hurley is a tiny village with a big history,” says Gail Whistance of the Hurley Heritage Society. Founded in 1662 and settled by Dutch immigrants, Hurley still preserves 26 of their stone houses. Its Main Street is a National Historic Landmark today, but was already considered historic by 1872. That year the New York Evening […]
Posted inOutdoors
Woodstock
Pollinator Pathways Blossom in Woodstock
Insects are in trouble. A 2019 study found that, worldwide, 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction. Another survey found that up to 60% of the insects that pollinate crops in New York State are at risk of disappearing—the rusty-patched bumble bee already has. When Woodstock resident Georgia Asher attended a lecture by entomologist […]
Posted inEnvironment
Shandaken
Pollinator Fest to Bloom at Catskills Visitor Center
The Catskills Visitor Center in Mount Tremper will host its first Pollinator Fest on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., celebrating the center’s new pollinator garden. Director Katie Palm described the event as “a new, one-day celebration designed to highlight the importance of native pollinators and inspire our community to protect and […]
