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The annual Harvest Festival at the Adirondack Museum will be held on Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2. The event will include wagon and pony rides, music, arts and crafts, demonstrations, a giant leaf pile, and much more. The Adirondack Museum offers free admission to year-round residents of the Adirondack Park in the month of October.
On Saturday, October 1, Radio Disney Albany will be on hand with music, games, and activities with a Harvest twist. Don’t miss Pumpkin Roll Relay, Best “Yee-hah”contest, Guess the Harvest Crop Gross, Scarecrow and Me Contest and more. Plus dress up in harvest themed costumes for a Costume Parade to get a special prize. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Museum’s Harvest Festival
Adirondack Harvest Events Saturday
Adirondack Harvest, the community-based farm and local food development and promotion program, is celebrating the fall harvest season with two major food events in Essex County tomorrow Saturday, September 17th.
These events are hoped to provide consumers with opportunities to meet farmers, visit farms, taste products and become Adirondack Harvest members. Members receive marketing and promotional support, quarterly newsletters, workshop invitations, and various premiums from Adirondack Harvest hats and aprons to our Three Farms DVD, Small Farm Rising DVD, gift baskets and the Adirondack Harvest Cookbook with lots of great ideas for serving local foods. » Continue Reading.
Natural History: The Season’s First Frost
It is inevitable. Regardless of how nice the summer has been, a time comes in September when the first frost of the season coats every exposed surface with a layer of ice crystals and brings about the official end of the growing season.
While this event causes gardeners to panic about harvesting nearly ripened vegetables, and homeowners to cover up, or bring in their delicate flowering plants, it also brings about the demise of the many forms of life that are unable to tolerate freezing conditions. While there are numerous living entities in our region that can’t survive temperatures below 32 degrees, most are capable, after developing special adaptations that allow them to deal with the changes that are soon to come. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Family Activities: Donnelly’s Ice Cream
A choice is something we (as Americans) are used to getting but with Donnelly’s Ice Cream the one thing you don’t get to decide is the flavor of the day. As the Donnelly’s motto attests, “Please pick a size, the flavor has already been decided.”
Over the years that we’ve lived in the Adirondack Park, Donnelly’s Homemade Ice Cream has been the only reason some groups we’ve led hiking in the High Peaks have made it down the mountain. A beacon to many a hiker, Donnelly’s Homemade Ice Cream is a social place as well as ice cream pit-stop at the four corners of Route 86 and 186, commonly known as Donnelly’s Corners, just minutes from Saranac Lake. It doesn’t seem to matter how weary we are on a hike off the mountain we can always manage to muster the energy for a cone of the flavor of the day. » Continue Reading.
Slugs: Slimy, Slow, and Esurient
The arrival of cooler nights with widespread valley fog and heavy dew creates favorable conditions for many creatures that require excessive dampness. Among those forms of life that function best in moisture laden surroundings are the slugs, a collection of invertebrates known for their slimy, unappealing appearance, incredibly slow rate of travel, and ability to wreak havoc in gardens just as produce is getting ready to harvest.
Slugs, along with the snails, are gastropod mollusks. As a general rule, slugs lack the rounded or spiral-shaped exterior shell that typifies snails. There are many different categories of slugs, and attempting to determine the exact identity of an individual can be as challenging as trying to figure out what species of mosquito has just landed on your arm. » Continue Reading.
Dangerous Adirondack Jobs: Produce Manager?
The North Country has been home to some dangerous occupations. If you think for a moment, you’ll probably come up with three that really stand out. The obvious choices are farming, logging, and mining. But let me offer a fourth possibility: produce manager.
Sounds ridiculous, right? Thousands have entered those other three occupations knowing full well the potential downside. Produce manager, on the other hand, seems pretty safe. But what would you choose—a job with the risk of injury, or a job that might one day “produce” your worst nightmare? If you’re squeamish, you’d have to be bananas to choose the latter. » Continue Reading.
This Week Devoted to Combating Adirondack Invasives
Advocates of combating invasive species in the Adirondacks are hoping local residents and visitors will become familiar with invasive species at activities planned for the 6th annual Adirondack Invasive Species Awareness Week, July 10-16.
Invasives Awareness Week provides an opportunity for communities to highlight the threats of invasive plants and animals, ways to prevent their spread and management options. Interpretive walks and paddles, identification support, invasive species talks, workshops for all ages and more are planned throughout the Adirondacks. The schedule of events is posted online. Events are free, but preregistration may be requested for certain events. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Insects: The Spittlebug
After several days without a significant rain, an observant gardener pulling up clumps of weeds, or a perceptive hiker traveling through a pine forest or a meadow near a stand of conifers may notice a glob of saliva-like fluid attached to a wildflower stalk or the stem of a piece of grass.
Occasionally referred to by some people as snake spit, or frog spit, this common frothy deposit of whitish, watery liquid is neither associated with a snake or frog, nor is it produced by the salivary glands of any creature. The spit-like fluid seen on various plants during the early days of summer in the Adirondacks is a form of protective enclosure that surrounds a small insect known as the spittlebug. » Continue Reading.
Essex County Grange Hall Farm Mixer
The Greenhorns, a national nonprofit organization led by a self described “raucous posse of America’s new generation of farmers,” will host a grange hall mixer at the historic Whallonsburg Grange Hall on the shores of Lake Champlain this Saturday, June 25th beginning at 10 am and continuing into the night.
More than 150 aspiring, young, beginning and veteran farmers from the Hudson Valley, Champlain Valley, Capital Region, Adirondacks, and even some Vermonters are expected to attend this inaugural event. » Continue Reading.
Eating Local Workshops in Plattsburgh, Canton
Eating locally grown and raised foods is becoming increasing popular in the North Country. To help locavores shop for local products, plan meals, and prepare local vegetable dishes, the Cornell University Cooperative Extension associations of Northern New York have set the dates for the Northern New York Eating Local Yet? summer workshops.
A series of three hands-on classes will be held in Sackets Harbor at The Farm House Kitchen, in Canton at the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, and in Plattsburgh at the CV-TEC Culinary Kitchen. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga’s King’s Garden Opens
The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga opens for the season today, June 1 with the colors of the bearded iris and other early blooming perennials and annuals. The garden celebrates the history of agriculture on the Fort Ticonderoga peninsula with tours, programs and special events throughout the season. Opportunities include hands-on family programs, adult learning, daily guided tours and quiet strolls through the scenery, volunteer initiatives, and a garden party.
The first program in the King’s Garden Workshop Series on herbs takes place on Wednesday, June 8th at 1:00 PM – Nature’s Wild Herbs Discovery Walk with local herbalist Nancy Wotton Scarzello. » Continue Reading.
Bolton Plants a Community Garden
From the outside looking in, Bolton Landing is a tightly knit community. Jane Neil Caldwell, who’s lived in Bolton for almost 40 years, says she’s still searching for that community.
“We may be part of extended families, or be involved with the school if our children are students, or belong to clubs or a church, but we never seem to come together in one place, for one purpose, as a true community should,” she said. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Family Activities: Farmers’ Markets Start to Open
Like most gardeners my little plot of earth was mud until recently and now has just become the holding place for the dismal looking storm windows the insulators found hidden in the crawl space. (I am curious if whether the windows were placed there as a substitute for the lack of any insulation or for some other nefarious reason.) Thankfully struggles with the weather does not stop professional farmers and craftspeople from showcasing locally produced items at Farmers’ Markets around the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
Northern NY Agricultural Development Numbers
With $300,000 in funding now secure in the 2011-2012 New York State Budget, the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is moving ahead with 2011 on-farm research and outreach projects in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.
A 2010 NNYADP Impact Statement provides a snapshot of the NNY region’s agricultural industry: approximately 4,200 farms, 1.11 million acres, a farm employee payroll of $52.9 million, Northern New York farm products’ market value more than $595 million. » Continue Reading.
Warren County Extension to Produce Farm Guide
Cornell University Cooperative Extension Warren County was awarded a New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets grant to develop a Warren County Farm Guide and encourages farmers to participate.
The Warren County Farm Guide is expected to allow for more information to be made available to the public in their search for locally grown products and educational farm tours. The guide will include a listing of farms along with potentially a listing of Warren County farmers’ markets, ongoing ag events and festivals, a harvest calendar, information on Why Buy local, and important agricultural facts. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
- Woman Killed In Accident With Police Car
- Tupper Works Fast On Pro Baseball Field
- Town Wants to Sell Trees Cut at Van Ho
- Local Catholic Diocese Hit With 14 Abuse Suits
- Canada Sweeps US Women in Hockey Finale
- Lake Champlain Sailing Barge Ceres for Sale
- Hearing Set On Short-Term Rental Law
- Adirondack Murderer Glanda Dies in Prison
- Police Investigating Prison Escape Attempt
- Man Seriously Hurt After Rental Boat Hits Kayak
Latest Adirondack News
- Woman Killed In Accident With Police Car
- Tupper Works Fast On Pro Baseball Field
- Town Wants to Sell Trees Cut at Van Ho
- Local Catholic Diocese Hit With 14 Abuse Suits
- Canada Sweeps US Women in Hockey Finale
- Lake Champlain Sailing Barge Ceres for Sale
- Hearing Set On Short-Term Rental Law
- Adirondack Murderer Glanda Dies in Prison
- Police Investigating Prison Escape Attempt
- Man Seriously Hurt After Rental Boat Hits Kayak
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack's contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The Almanack is the online news journal of Adirondack Explorer. Both are nonprofits supported by contributors, readers, and advertisers, and devoted to exploring, protecting, and unifying the Adirondack Park.
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