Summer Garden Days

Like many before me, I am taking inspiration from the garden these days.  The bursts of color, the blossoms turning into food, it's all such a happy summertime metaphor about life's bounty.  But it needs tending, of course.  The watering, the weeding, and the harvesting is dividing among our family, making it a communal experience.  Best yet, we are eating healthful food-- zucchini practically every day, cucumber salads, tomato soups, and the like make this season's experiment in eating local food even more successful and delicious.

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.

Native Planting at Seatuck

 Jackson helps lay out the plants before digging some impressive holes.

 Tags are used to help educate the public about best plants to use on Long Island.

 Landscape designer Sue Avery shows Liv how to space the plants.

 Meanwhile, a local Boy Scout troop was rebuilding coup for the quail restoration project.

Quail getting ready to move into their new home.

Bouler Architecture is proud to support the native planting project at Seatuck, a nature preserve and education center in Islip, NY. Running along the Great South Bay, the preserve features a landscape that is a diverse mix of wetlands and woodlands, and is now developing a native planting scheme that will not only add beauty to the property, it will teach the public about what we should be planting in our Long Island yards. Jackson has been very interested in plants ever since he received a gardening book for attracting birds, so Olivia and I joined him by getting our hands dirty and planting some ferns, viburnum, mountain laurel, and blueberries under the direction of Seatuck's Chairperson of Landscaping, Sue Avery. Sue Avery, a biologist and landscape designer, has been working with fellow members of Seatuck and Long Island Native Plant Initiative to create a garden scheme that will enhance the landscape while restoring habitat.  LINPI has been traveling to untouched areas across Long Island and harvesting plant seeds to cultivate new plants before the species is lost forever. The value of native plants is to not only preserve the species, however, but they work better in our climate, thriving without human intervention.  They also help combat invasive plants.  From bamboo to mustard garlic, invasive species choke out native plants and tamper with our ecosystem.  Unfortunately, in the process they often choke out plants that provide food or habitat for wildlife.  Seatuck's quail restoration project is another effort to restore the balance of our habitat.  Having lost open space, their numbers in the wild have been depleted.  Coupled with the desire to curtail the tick population, Seatuck began raising quail a few years ago, and the results have been phenomenal.  As we rode our bikes home from our morning at Seatuck, I reflected on how lucky we are to be a stone's throw from such a beautiful spot.

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.

North Fork: Planting Vines

The kids and I needed to get some sunshine today so we took a ride out to the Vivianos' farm in Cutchogue, NY to check out their new grapevines. I suppose being surrounded by North Fork vineyards can inspire folks to swap out their usual crops of tomatoes, garlic, and strawberries, to give winemaking a shot, which is exactly what the Vivianos have chosen to do. True, there's lots of vegetables and flowers in the greenhouse ready to go for their two farmstands, but the majority of the property is now a youthful field of merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes.

My favorite part of the trip, however, was the chicken coop, where we were able to sneak past the turkey and gather up a half dozen eggs. Sounds like dinner to me.

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.

After Hours

James and I agree that you can really get to know a town by who comes out at night. Hudson is no exception. It's a college town without the college-- vibrant and a bit scruffy around the edges. We started our night at a great restaurant Swoon Kitchenbar, whose menu changes regularly. By using Hudson Valley artisanal farmers, it not only offers some of the freshest ingredients, but helps support the sustainable agricultural movement. James said his duck was amazing, and I was really impressed with the shiitake risotto, especially the fiddlehead ferns on top. After dinner we strolled up the street to hear some live music at the Spotty Dog. With a mix of people crowding the bookstore, the music opened with a soulful jazz vocalist, followed by an acoustic trio. What surprised us was just how good their original songs were and how well the bookstore was able to accommodate live music. We followed up with a nightcap at Jason's Upstairs Bar, which has an active lineup of upcoming events. We can safely say that Hudson at night can be as entertaining as Hudson during the day.