Loco-vore

 This book amazed me in its philosophy about living beings, especially moss. After I read this book, I wandered Potic Mountain in search of all the different types of moss we  had on our little spot of earth.  The results were surprising, and quite life affirming.

I love this author-- from BEAN TREES to LACUNA... and now this book.  I totally enjoyed the audiobook. As I drove to work each morning, plus a couple of trips up the Hudson Valley, this 12-disc book inspired me to attempt to eat locally and to perhaps even grow my own food this summer.

And in the midst of all this botany love, I enjoyed everything about Black Horse Farms in Athens, NY. Owner Chellie is a doll, and the plants are brilliant, the soups are savory, and don't get me started on the bloody mary mix.  I'm going to try and 'eat the seasons' this year-- buying produce locally as it comes into season.  With climate change now a reality, food consumption, habitat restoration, and bike transportation are added to my list of eco-friendly considerations. Eating locally offers so many benefits. Taste, community, environment, economics all come into play. And please don't even get us started on local beers.  Crossroads in Athens, NY and Great South Bay Brewery in Bayshore, NY can attest to James' love of a full growler.

Bouler Pfluger Architects is now investigating native plantings for many of their Sandy relief projects.  By using native plantings, habitat can be improved.  Properly considered, the platings can serve as habitat for wildlife as well as improving drainage for flood zones.  Best yet is landscaping that doesn't require mowing or pesticides.  If NYC-LI truly considered strategic wildlife and drainage zones, not only could future storms be mitigated, people could experience the return of wildlife to their backyards.

Going LOCA(L)

Have you ever played the game "What-if-all-the-gasoline-disappeared-how-would-I-survive?" game. Sadly, I've run through the scenario a couple of times while caught in traffic on my way to work. After a few moments of cold panic, I decide, by golly, that I'd just grow my own food in the yard. End of story. Or is it?
Not if monster corporate conglomerate seed manufacturer Monsanto has anything to do with it. No they'd rather create seeds for crops which can't seed themselves, reducing the number of plant species and keeping us chained to them for our food supply.
The way I see it, the only way to combat this type of corporate greed, as well as cut gasoline consumption, is to purchase locally grown, unmodified foods. Of course, those who are part of the growing CSA farming movement already know the satisfaction of putting organic, heirloom produce on their tables. For me, while upstate this weekend I went over to Athens to Black Horse Farms buy a cart of groceries: local eggs, fiddlehead ferns, strawberries, and several bee-friendly flowering plants. Around the corner at Crossroads, I picked up a couple of growlers of locally brewed beer. After making a father's day meal with my local finds, it was not only gratifying to know that my feast supported an ideal in which I believe, but it was exceptionally delicious.

500! Blog Entries

I don't normally put much stock in numerology, but it seems most appropriate to write about Potic Cottage for my 500th blog entry. Bouler Design Group, the blog, started about two years ago in an attempt to chronicle our addition to the cottage and Bouler Architecture's projects. What I didn't imagine was how blogging would take me on field trips, introduce me to other fantastic bloggers (hello modernemama, Ciao, Chessa!, and Tom Judson!), and become a space for me to explore ideas of all kinds. I've used it as a teaching tool, a family scrap book, and a sounding board.
The 500th entry coincides with 10-10-10, a magical number in itself. We celebrated by picking apples at a local orchard and picking up pumpkins at Black Horse Farms. Tom Judson and Jonathan Wilber popped by the cottage to check on the fort. But the big news was that it was also the day where Olivia finished the manuscript and illustrations for her children's book.
Needless to say it is remarkable how my life has evolved over 500 entries, and for that, I am infinitely grateful.

Happy 40th, Black Horse Farms

It's a ritual to head over to Black Horse Farms every time we are at Potic Cottage. Even the kids look forward to stopping in for a spin around the fresh produce, baked goods (especially the baked goods!), and this weekend, the plant department. A family-owned working farm, for the past 40 years Black Horse Farms has sold some of the best produce and local dairy around, but their selection of plants this past trip blew me away. Their impressive variety, their healthy green shoots, I would have snagged at least five flats without thinking; however the reality of having to plant them in Potic's rocky soil stopped me. Instead the kids and I picked out a few small annuals, a lilac, and a flowering dogwood. And wouldn't you know, Liv won this amazing flowering basket in a raffle.

It reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a young man who wondered why I was such a strong believer in shopping locally. Beyond the value of keeping our money in our towns, for those who have never shopped in anything but a chain retailer or a big-box store, it's hard for them to imagine the pleasure of saying hello to the proprietor, of holding a carton of fresh duck eggs from a neighboring town, of watching a store evolve and yet remain the same. These intangibles, which can't be quantified in dollars and cents, are truly invaluable.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know the post is a day early, but I wanted to get it in before I disconnect from the world. The family and I are headed up to Potic Cottage with a couple of good friends for our Thanksgiving weekend. With tomorrow's soup to nuts dinner already ordered from Black Horse Farms, we are all set for some much needed downtime. It won't all be naps by the fireplace, however. With next week's show already framed and ready to go, I've packed up the paints, planning to work on a portrait of Modernemama's house, as well as a painting for The Book About Death show in Brazil.

It's also a good time to reflect on all the blessings I have been given throughout my life. I am incredibly thankful and look to give back as much as I have been given.

A Surprise Arrival

In the mail this week we received a surprise package of photos from James' parents who came to visit Columbus Day weekend. The images captured the beauty of autumn in the Catskills, as well as the easy fun we had wandering through Windham, picking apples, shopping farm stands, and sitting on the porch. Going through the pictures, we lived it all over again.

To Market

Black Horse Farms in Coxsackie, NY remains our favorite farmer's market. It's the kind of market where you could easily spend an hour sampling baked goods, perusing the greenhouses, and now jumping in a balloon-filled wind tunnel. The kids and I stopped there this week and were able to pick up homemade cheese, fresh vegetables, a couple of flats, and some bags of overripe fruit at clearance prices. With my overripe peaches and plums, I simply washed them and squished them into pots, boiling them down to a lovely goo to put over pancakes. No sugar needed. The overripe tomatoes were made into a fra diablo sauce with crabs, scallops, and clams. I love local produce. I even had a waking fantasy that I worked part time at the farm, wearing my Black Horse Farm tee shirt, deadheading all the flowers, getting first dibs on all the overripe fruit. Oh well. I will have to content myself with weekly visits.

Black Horse Farms

SInce we're on our virtual road trip on 9W, there's an amazing farm stand (more like 'superstand') between Athens and Coxsackie. It's packed with all sorts of vegetables and fruits, as you would expect, but also gourmet snacks, plants, gardening tools, freshly baked pies, local cheeses, fudge, smoked salami, small gifts, fresh eggs... heck what did I miss? I get their discount produce for soups, plants for the deck at Potic-- even the kids look forward to stopping. It's got a very welcoming atmosphere where you wander at will. This past trip I bought my herbs for the Islip garden. I have been saving this amazing picture from Victoria Magazine of a kitchen garden for about ten years now. I love its pattern and function, which for some reason reminds me of 16th c. Italian painter Arcimboldo whose portraits are shaped out of vegetables or plants. Anyway, let me be honest here-- my garden will look nothing like this. It will ramble and spread more like an English country garden, but the function will be the same: to provide fresh herbs for the times I can't get to Black Horse Farms.

Columbus Discoveries

If Columbus had actually landed on our shores this weekend, he would have thought he had found Heaven and not India. The Hudson Valley had hit its peak.
After breakfast at the very modest and friendly Marco's Diner, where Olvia vouched for the fluffiness of the pancakes, Saturday was a look at the Hudson River from the banks of Athens. Hudson River Valley painter Thomas Cole couldn't have asked for a more perfect subject to paint. Then at Green Lake, armed with a rig consisting of a twig, found string and hook, and stale potato chips for bait, the kids caught and released a brace of brim.
At Black Horse Farms, we sampled their usual goodies-- handgrown or handmade-- and splurged on handmade mozzarella, goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, apples, and a divine cheesecake by Michele in Freehold. Needless to say, the remainder of the day consisted of wine, food, and tree gazing.
Sunday brought another road trip; this time west to visit Bouler Design Group's parcel of property near Windham. Here the kids were kids, and played by racing leaf boats in the rapid creek, while James and I scouted out possible bulding sites for the Living Machine's House H or House F. Afterwards we touched base with Mary King of Village Greene Realty in Windham and scouted out some properties for several clients.
The only sad note of the weekend was the four car accident our builder Keith Abrams of Green in Greene was involved in. Thankfully he and his family only sustained minor injuries.
As I write this in the golden light of the afternoon, there is a pot of purple mums by my side, a fire in the outdoor pit, and handpainted Halloween cards drying on the table. I guess this is why they call second homes, vacation homes.