Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley

In this episode, Tim and Jean sit down with Rosemary Mix, president of the Capital District chapter of Wild Ones. That's a national organization that was an outgrowth of Douglas Tallamy''s idea for a “Homegrown National Park” whereby individuals planted their gardens with native plants to make a network of pollinators and a healthier ecology nationwide. The idea became the “Wild Ones” organization in 1977 at a native landscape conf...

In this episode, Tim and Jean host Kyle Bradford from the Hawthorne Valley's Farmscape Ecology Program. Kyle gave a presentation to the Master Gardener Volunteers of Columbia and Greene Counties on the subject of ants. It was so well received that several MGVs urged the podcast team to invite Kyle to be a guest on the podcast. Kyle holds a MS in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England and a BS in Environmental Scie...

Welcome back to the It's All Greek Retrospective series that contains previously aired short segments about gardening acronyms, jargon, and botanical nomenclature. In this third and last part of a series, Master Gardener Jean Thomas covers plants that have been named after people, a discussion about soil pH, and a range of acronyms.

The first short segment covers the popularity of naming plants for people. It's been going on since ...

In this episode, part 2 of the “It's All Greek Retrospective” series, Master Gardener Jean Thomas talks about jargon and acronyms with the help of some examples from our own New York gardens. These previously aired short segments have been grouped together as they all focus on a common topic: helping to better understand gardening nomenclature.

From the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptrostroboides) to the vast Iris family, nicknames...

Are you bewildered by botanical names, typically in Latin, the jargon, or the acronyms surrounding gardening and most other outdoors activities? This series, It's All Greek Retrospective, consists of previously aired podcast segments that provide some insightful descriptions in an attempt to untangle such language puzzles so we can all use the terms as intended... to describe things more accurately.

In this first of three episodes,...

In this episode, Master Gardener Volunteer Nicole Schmitt of Hannacroix Hill Farm chats with Tim and Jean about her career as a flower farmer. Like so many stories in recent years, her interest in flower gardening came about as a result of the pandemic. Constrained in many ways, Nicole moved to a farm with a few acres and began to achieve many goals. In a previous episode, Tim and Jean talked with Nicole about her mini-farm, which ...

Shane Stevens, Natural Resource Program coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, is our featured guest in this episode.. Shane is also Regional Director of the Master Forest Owners Program of the Catskills and the Lower Hudson. The topic is the Master Forest Owner (MFO) program.

Begun in 1991, the program is a collaboration of Cornell Cooperative Extension with the US Department of Agriculture,...

In this episode, Tracey Testo-Smith, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, is our guest. The topic is a timely one, Carbon and Forests. Climate change and its ramifications have made us aware of the importance of halting excessive release of carbon as CO2 into the atmosphere.

One of the main agents of sequestering and storing carbon on the planet is the ...

In this episode, Master Gardener Volunteer Nicole Schmitt joins Tim and Jean to talk about her mini farm where she raises goats, chickens and hogs amidst an active flower farming operation. Small-scale farming is experiencing a resurgence, and Nicole has hands-on experience to share. Nicole describes how she came into Hannacroix Hills Farm, her ten acre farm based from a nineteen thirties farmhouse, by chance. Since assuming the pr...

Master Gardener Volunteer for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ulster County, Barbara Bravo, joins the Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley podcast to provide some guidance and ideas. This collection of four previously aired Made in the Shade short segments has been consolidated into a single episode that focuses entirely on shade gardening.

The first segment discusses the differences between light shade, partial shar...

In this episode, Master Gardener Volunteers Jean and Tim chat with Joe Behn of Behn's Best Perennials in Malden Bridge, NY. Joe has been our guest multiple times before, on episodes 9, 65 and 66. On these prior occasions, we delved into the world of perennials, as Joe is a respected wholesaler of perennials to the landscaping world. This time, we spoke to him during his winter hiatus and he described his life as being “me in my paj...

In this episode, Jamie Purinton chats with Tim and Jean about some of the finer points of being a landscape architect. A landscape architect is more than a designer. To be a licensed RLA (registered landscape architect), there is an intense educational requirement followed by a lengthy internship, and culminating a three-day exam! This is because the landscape architect must be expert in engineering aspects of structures, grading, ...

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is a National Historic Landmark that includes the former home, also known as Cedar Grove, and the studio of painter Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of American painting. Located in the village of Catskill, NY, Thomas Cole lived and worked there between 1833 until his death in 1848. In 1965, the property was declared a National Historic Landmark and designated a National Histori...

In this episode, co-hosts Annie Scibienski and Taly Louria welcome back Troy Weldy, president of the Columbia Land Conservancy, to give an update on a few of the exciting projects the Conservancy has been up to lately.

First up, recently launched 'Let's Go CoCo' is a website with a wealth of information dedicated to helping people find places in Columbia County to connect with nature. It includes not only the recreational land tra...

In this episode, Kate Brittenham—an ecological landscape designer—chats with Tim and Jean about how native plant gardens can be both beautiful and practical. These kinds of landscapes do more than just look good—they support local biodiversity and give homeowners a sustainable alternative to the typical lawn. Kate grew up surrounded by native plants at Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve, a special place in the southern Catskills ...

Linda Levitt, Master Gardener Volunteer, rejoins Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley with Flower Power Retrospective (Part 3) . In this episode you'll hear two previously aired short segments about flowers that have been compiled together for easier listening.

In the first segment, Linda discusses how to grow popular fall flowers that include Mums, Asters and Montauk Daisies. Including these beautiful plants in your ...

Welcome to Part 2 of the Flower Power Retrospective where the conversation on previously aired short segments is focused on how to select, plant and care for all kinds of flowers. Linda Levitt, Master Gardener Volunteer, shares her knowledge and expertise focused on irises, peonies, marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos.

The first segment concentrates on the iris family. These elegant flowers bring late spring or early summer color to you...

Welcome to another Retrospective series consisting of previously aired short segments on similar topics packaged together for easier listening. This retrospective is called Flower Power which is all about how to select, grow and care for a wide range of flowers. Master Gardener Volunteer, Linda Levitt provides lots of practical tips on how to best select, plant, and care for a wide range of flowers.

The first segment focuses on the...

Learn more about the behind-the-scenes running of a restaurant in Round Top, NY. It's more than just the garden, and the kitchen. Julia Joern, Henning Nordanger, and Dan Hartquis are back on Nature Calls; Conversations from the Hudson Valley to finish their journey to create Julia's Local. There are plenty of business decisions that need to be made to keep a restaurant viable. It started from renovating an old house, that had lots ...