Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley

Episode 136: Patch to Plate Retrospective (Part 1)

It’s harvest time and also time for some more retrospective episodes. These are a series of previously aired short segments on a common subject that have been packaged together for easier listening. In this case, it’s all about Patch to Plate, which provides lots of ideas on how to prepare all the fresh produce from your garden and/or local farmer’s market and make delicious meals in your home kitchen. Annie Scibienski, discusses how to prepare multiple seasonal vegetables to awaken your taste buds.

The first segment features root vegetables such as radishes, beets, carrots, etc. Carrots love butter, sugar, lemon, maple sugar, etc. Maple- glazed carrots anyone? Similarly, have you ever heard of a hidden beet pound cake that uses pureed beets to add nutrition to a basic cake recipe? Annie provides lots of tips on how to do this and what to check for to ensure that the batter is just right.

The next segment focuses on winter squash (e.g. butternut, acorn, honeynut, etc.), and cabbage. These squashes are delicious served roasted, or in soups. Sage, onion, garlic, and salt, butter, nutmeg, lemon, lime, can complement and enhance the squash flavor. Cabbage wedges can be roasted.  There are easy ways to prepare cabbage which can then be served with walnuts and/or toasted seeds.

The third segment features winter vegetables like sweet potatoes, onions and dried beans. Annie describes a recipe that combines all three of these ingredients that goes great with pasta. Garlic, onion, chili peppers, and dairy (cheese, butter, etc.) complement these main ingredients. But they can also be used to create delicious scones. One of the keys to success is to ensure that each scone is of a consistent size so that they bake at the same rate.

The fourth segment in this episode focuses on potatoes. Annie talks about the nutritional benefits of potatoes, as well as the need to focus on serving size. There are lots of different types of potato, including starchy potatoes for baking, or others for general purpose uses. She provides lots of great tips on how to successfully bake potatoes so that they have a crispy skin and a nice, fluffy interior. Tips including not wrapping them in foil or microwaving them to avoid steaming them. Listen to her suggestions on ingredients to combine potatoes with and let your imagination savor the flavors.

Host: Jean Thomas

Guest: Annie Scibienski

Photo by: Teresa Golden

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Resources

Episode 135: Nutrition

At the most basic level, nutrition is about eating a regular, balanced diet. Good nutrition helps fuel your body. The foods you eat supply the nutrients your body needs to maintain your brain, muscle, bone, nerves, skin, blood circulation, and immune system. Proper nutrition also helps protect you from illness and disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis.

For optimal health, science supports following a plant-based diet like the Mediterranean-DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet or MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet. Plant-based diets have been shown to have various health benefits and are linked with a lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. As a general rule, these diets tend to recommend:

• Eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains
• Choosing fat-free or low fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts and vegetable oils
• Limiting saturated and trans fat intake, such as fatty meats and full-fat dairy products
• Limiting drinks and foods that contain added sugars
• Restricting sodium intake while increasing consumption of potassium, magnesium and calcium

Following a healthy diet has many benefits, including building strong bones, protecting your heart, preventing disease, and boosting your mood. A healthy diet typically includes nutrient-dense goods from all of the major food groups including lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables of many colors. Healthy eating habits also include replacing foods that contain trans fats, added salt, and sugar with more nutritious options.

Rebecca Polmateer, Program Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, rejoins the Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley podcast to talk about good nutrition and the programs and resources that are available to help residents eat healthy. Listen as she describes how to find the most nutritious foods starting with fresh local produce, frozen vegetables, fresh produce from more distant locations, followed by canned foods. Whole foods are always better than packaged/processed ones. ‘Superfoods’ (e.g. blueberries, quinoa, etc.) tend to be packed with more vitamins. Lean meats are also preferable. She also talks about the importance of food labels on packaged foods.

There are multiple governmental programs that can help ensure your family gets good nutrition. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) issues electronic benefits that can be used like cash to purchase food. SNAP helps low-income working people, senior citizens, the disabled and others feed their families. New York State also offers a special supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) which offers nutrition education, breastfeeding support referrals, nutritious foods.

We’re wishing you more thoughtful and healthy diets in the future!

Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas

Guest: Rebecca Polmateer

Photo by: MyPlate Graphics | MyPlate

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Resources

Episode 134: Ravensbeard Wildlife Center

Ravensbeard Wildlife Center is located in Saugerties, New York. The center is a non-profit (501(c)3) organization that provides wildlife rehabilitation for injured, ill and orphaned animals in order to return them to the wild. For over two decades, Ravensbeard has been supporting the wildlife from the surrounding communities of Woodstock, Saugerties and Kingston. In caring for animals, they promote community awareness, education, appreciation, compassion and acceptance of the circle of life. They also offer volunteer opportunities to work with many different species in order to experience their true nature.

Ellen J. Kalish is the Founder and Executive Director of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, a wildlife rehabilitation and educational center that focuses on rescue and release for wild birds and other wildlife. In 2017, Ellen was given the William R. Ginsberg Stewardship Award from the Woodstock Land Conservancy, for her service of rehabilitating and releasing wild birds back into nature, and for her educational programs with wild, non-releasable birds of prey. She’s also served as a board member for the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (NYSWRC). Through NYSWRC licensed wildlife rehabbers work to inform, educate, support in field work and promote conservation.

At Ravensbeard, Ellen currently cares for some unreleasable birds that she utilizes to educate the community about the environment, the interconnectedness of all life, and the reliance on each other for long-term survival. The birds used for educational programs cannot be released due to injuries that would be fatal if left in the wild. So, they have become ambassadors in wildlife education.

In this episode of Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley, learn more about the wildlife rehabilitation center as well as Rocky the Owl, a Saw-whet owl, one of the smallest owls in the northeast, who was rescued from the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. Back at Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, Rocky was given fluids and all the mice she would eat, was checked by a vet, and ultimately was released back to nature.

Hosts: Jean Thomas and Teresa Golden

Guest: Ellen Kalish

Photo by: Ellen Kalish

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Robin Smith

Resources

Episdoe 133: Ecological Gardening

An ecological garden is a thoughtfully designed space that is harmoniously integrated with the surrounding environment. Ecological gardening is a sustainable approach focused on understanding and enhancing the interactions between plants, insects, soil, water, and other garden elements. Achieving a successful ecological garden requires a mindset shift to actually work with nature to foster a vibrant plant ecology and rich biodiversity.

A key element of ecological gardening is ensuring the soil is nutrient-rich, alive, and chemical-free. The use of organic (versus chemical) fertilizers will release nutrients slowly, ensuring that the plants have a steady food supply while nurturing the soil's health. Understanding the unique light, moisture, and temperature conditions within your garden is also important in plant selection.

Choosing native plants supports local wildlife, requires less water and also minimizes the need for pesticides. Native perennials are the steadfast friends of the garden. Once they've settled in, they return yearly, offering both beauty and function. Investing in these perennials lays the groundwork for a sustainable, vibrant garden for years to come. Companion plants and herbs also play an important role in the health of a garden. They both help to repel harmful pests and, at the same time, lure beneficial insects that can aid in pollination, and help to create an ‘immune system’ with integrative pest management principles.

Committing to an ecological garden approach is also a commitment to aligning our green spaces with nature's rhythms, fostering a sustainable balance between plants, insects, and other organisms.

Learn from Jennie Cramer how you can the transform your home landscape into a habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. Jennie is an educator with Cornell Garden-Based Learning. She is an ecologist turned enthusiastic horticulture educator with a quarter of a century’s experience in organic gardening, regenerative agriculture, natural history and botanical education. She is especially fond of teaching students how to create a resilient, abundant, and beautiful garden ecosystem by applying ecological principles. She joins Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley to help all of us turn our landscapes into ecological gardens.

Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas

Guest: Jennie Cramer

Photo by: Cornell Garden Based Learning

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Resources

Episode 132: The Art of Rocks

Rocks are any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals. There are three major types of rock:

• igneous which are formed through the cooling of lava
• sedimentary which are formed by the accumulation or deposition or mineral or organic particles
• metamorphic which result from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock as a result of extreme temperatures or pressure

Studying rocks provides us with a primary record of much of the geological history of the Earth. Geology describes the structure of the earth and the processes that have shaped that structure. By studying the earth’s structure, geologists determine the relative ages of rocks found at a given location. They use a wide variety of methods to understand this, including fieldwork, rock description, geophysical techniques, chemical analysis, and more.

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters who created a realistic, detailed, and sometimes idealized portrayal of nature, often juxtaposing peaceful agriculture and wilderness, which was fast disappearing from the Hudson Valley just as it was coming to be appreciated

The study of art along with geology can provide insights into the past culture, especially when you combine the Hudson River School paintings with our local geologists, Robert and Johanna Titus. By studying the paintings of Thomas Cole, Frederic Church and others, the Tituses help to provide additional insights into some popular tourist and cultural locations in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley.

Robert Titus, PhD, is a paleontologist by training, and a retired professor at Hartwick College in the Geology Department, who has don considerable professional research on the fossils of New York. Johanna Titus, MS, has a degree in molecular biology, also a retired professor from SUNY Dutchess. Together, they have authored multiple books (The Hudson Valley in the Ice Age; The Catskills in the Ice Age; The Catskills: A Geological Guide; and The Hudson River Schools of Art and Their Ice Age Origins). They are also regular columnists for The Mountain Eagle newspaper.

They joined the Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley team in a delightful conversation about the Art of Rocks.

Hosts: Jean Thomas and Teresa Golden

Guests: Robert and Johanna Titus

Photo by: Jean Thomas

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Robin Smith

Resources

Episode 131: Roses

Dr. Abbey Cash is in her 20^th year as a Master Gardener Volunteer and has a passion for growing Roses in Columbia County. Trained as an educator, having taught in elementary, and at the college level, Abbey is also an avid hand-fan collector as well as a grower of annuals, perennials and bulbs. She joins the podcast, Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley, in a discussion about demystifying the challenges of growing roses in Zone 5 in New York State.

Understanding hardiness zones is key to the selection of a rose that will grow well in the Hudson Valley. Abbey takes us through the many things to look for when picking a good, healthy rose to purchase. There are many different types of roses to choose including hybrid teas, floribundas, climbing roses, miniature roses and tree roses. While not discussed in this episode, make sure to avoid the multiflora rose, an invasive species in our area (see more information in the resource section).

Once you bring a rosebush home, the fun is only beginning. There are many things to consider in selecting a site where the rose will thrive.6 hours of morning sun with one side protected is ideal. Creating a soil ‘formula’ (with cow manure, compost, peat and slightly acidic soil) is also a key to success. The planting process is also multi-faceted but will improve your odds have having a beautiful rose to grace your landscape for years to come.

Once the rose if planted, however, you are not ‘done’. Keeping your new roses healthy and free of insects and/or diseases may involve the use of fertilizers, sprays or powders that need to be applied periodically. Roses also require some TLC (tender, loving care) and grooming. Understanding the basics of pruning will help to keep your roses producing either individual stems, climbers, or a beautiful hedge throughout the season. But water only when really needed, keeping the water at the base of the plant, not on the leaves, to avoid the dreaded ‘black spot’.

There is also work to be done to prepare roses for the winter, cutting them back (except for climbers), burying the knob at the base of the plant with soil, and spreading the area with pine needles and pine branches and/or straw. These actions are reversed in the spring to prepare the plants for another growing season.

Listen to this episode of the podcast, Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley, to improve your odds of successful rose growing!

Hosts: Jean Thomas and Teresa Golden

Guest: Abbey Cash

Photo by: Tim Kennelty

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Robin Smith

Resources

Episode 130: Good Plant/Bad Plant Retrospective (Part 3)

Tim Kennelty returns with Part 3 of his Good Plant/Bad Plant Retrospective. In this episode he continues with a wealth of information about native plants that are beneficial to the environment, as well as others that tend to be invasive or noxious. Today, Ironweed, Japanese Barberry, Asters, Tree of Heaven and Viburnums are featured.

Ironweed, is a great native, pollinator plant known for its purple flowers and impressive height that will add ‘presence’ to any garden. Ironweed prefers rich moist acidic soils but will grow in average moist to wet soils in full sun. Use in a rain garden, cottage garden, meadow, along streams or ponds or the back of the border.

By contrast, invasive Japanese Barberry is not such a good choice for a garden as it creates a great habitat for the white-footed mouse which is known to be a carrier for tick-borne diseases

Asters, once known as New World asters, are now classified under a different genera, particularly Symphyotrichum. These native plants offer vibrant colors in purple, pink and white while also supporting late-season pollinators, making them an excellent addition to your garden.

On the flip side, the invasive Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), is a non-native plant that has wreaked havoc in many ecosystems, including New York’s. As Tim describes, it’s critical to manage this troublesome plant, which also serves as the primary host for the destructive spotted lanternfly. Listen and learn how to identify, control, and support your local ecosystem.

Viburnums are a very admired and fast-growing flowering landscape shrubs or small trees with a large number of cultivars available. Bloom times span from early spring through June, followed by attractive fruit and great fall foliage. However, not all viburnums are created equal. Learn about the differences between the native and non-native species

Host: Jean Thomas

Guest: Tim Kennelty

Photo by: Tim Kennelty

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Episode 129: Good Plant/Bad Plant Retrospective (Part 2)

Welcome back to Part 2 of the Good Plant/Bad Plant retrospective that includes previously aired short segments on beneficial plants as well as invasive ones. In this episode, Master Gardener Volunteer, Tim Kennelty, talks about the benefits of dogwoods, milkweed, and coneflowers, as well as the challenges associated with garlic mustard, multi-flora rose, and mugwort.

The first segment features a family of about 50 species of trees/shrubs/sub-shrubs that grace the landscape with multi-season interest with spring flowers, berries in mid/late summer and fall color. Dogwoods are fairly easy to grow and have great spring flowers for pollinators, nutritious fruit for birds and many are host plants for butterflies and moths. In contrast, the non-native garlic mustard is an invasive herb. It is a biennial, maturing over two years. In its second year, it produces thousands of seeds (that can be viable for 10 years), which when they germinate, they push out beneficial native plants, inhibit growth of other plants, and quickly become dominant in the landscape.

The second segment features milkweed, a butterfly magnet, which offers both ornamental and wildlife value. As you probably know, milkweeds are the only host plant for monarch butterflies. Milkweed flowers are rich in pollen and nectar and are extremely attractive to native bees, wasps and beetles, as well as more than 400 different species of insects. With more than 70 species of milkweeds in North America, there's a milkweed for you. On the other hand, the multiflora rose is a perennial shrub from Asia that was once planted for erosion control, wildlife enhancement and to deter roaming animals. But today, multiflora rose is considered an invasive plant as it quickly forms thickets, pushing out native plants and inhibiting nesting birds. A single plant can produce up to 500,000 seeds per year, viable for up to 10 years, and dispersed by birds and other fruit eating animals.

This episode ends with a segment about featuring the purple cornflower (echinacea purpurea), a favorite New York native garden perennial, beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds. Seed heads, if not removed, become a great food source for birds in the winter. Tolerant of heat, drought and poor soils, the flowers look great in a mass planting or in flower arrangements. But Tim also discusses the challenges of dealing with mugwort (artemisia vulgaris). Mugwort is a perennial weed in the daisy family. It grows in loamy or sandy soils in forested areas, and along roadsides. It spreads by rhizomes and can form dense mats. This plant has been listed as invasive in several states.

But remember, if you want to support wildlife in your yard, make sure to plant natives.

Host: Jean Thomas

Guest: Tim Kennelty

Photo by: Teresa Golden

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Resources

Episode 128: Good Plant/Bad Plant Retrospective (Part 1)

This retrospective episode consists of previously aired short segments that have been compiled here as they all relate to a common topic. It’s called Good Plant/Bad Plant because each segment focuses on two plants: one that support pollinators, birds and other animals and one plant, or plant group, that is an invasive or noxious weed.

In this episode (Part 1 of 3), Master Gardener Volunteer, Tim Kennelty, covers native species like oaks, monarda, serviceberry, and willows. But he also advises against invasive species such as Japanese knotweed, Japanese stiltgrass, Asian bittersweet, and Asian bush honeysuckle.

In the first segment, oaks (genus quercus) and Japanese knotweed are put under the microscope. The mighty oak refers to the many oak trees that are native to New York. Oaks can grow to about 100 feet and can live from 200 to 400 years. Oaks are generally relatively easy to grow and thrive in well drained acidic soil in full sun. They're really beautiful, majestic trees, often with attractive fall foliage in shades of red, gold, and orange. Oaks support more than 500 different caterpillar species, which of course turn into butterflies and moths, but are critical food for young birds as well. And they produce acorns that are eaten by squirrels, deer, turkey and other birds.

If the oak is the king of beneficial plants, the queen of invasive plants is Japanese knotweed. It can grow from three to 15 feet and has bamboo like stems. Knotweed thrives in disturbed areas like drainage ditches, wetlands, streams, woodland edges, and along roadsides. It spreads rapidly through underground rhizomes. Knotweed forms dense thickets that crowd out and shade native vegetation, reducing species diversity while also adversely impacting ecosystems and wildlife. Management includes repeated cutting, and most likely will require herbicide application.

The second segment in this episode focuses on monarda and Japanese stiltgrass. Monarda didyma, known by a number of different common names including bee bam, Oswego tea and bergamot, is native to eastern North America. It is a great addition to butterfly gardens and bird gardens. By contrast, Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) is a widespread invader of woodlands, roadsides and trails. It is an annual grass, but a prolific seeder, that germinates in the spring and dies back each fall. Once introduced, it is extremely difficult to remove from a site.

Serviceberry and Asian bittersweet are featured in the next segment. Amelanchier spp. is a native North American shrub that is sometimes grown as a small tree. There are many species of this native that grow in full sun to part shade, have small five-petalled white flowers that emerge before or at the same time as the leaves, and have small edible berries that darken to a deep reddish-purple to black when ripe. Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is a woody, deciduous, perennial vine has since naturalized and become an extremely aggressive, capable of damaging natural areas. It chokes out desirable native plants by smothering them with its dense foliage and strangling stems and trunks.

Willows and Asian bush honeysuckle are the conversation topics for the last segment in this episode. Most, shrubs and trees of the Salix genus, are mostly native to north temperate areas and are valued as ornamentals, as well as for their shade, moisture control, and wildlife attributes. By contrast, invasive bush honeysuckles originated in Eurasia and Eastern Asia, and were introduced in the U.S. for ornamental landscaping, erosion control, and wildlife habitat. Unfortunately, bush honeysuckles self-seed aggressively and rapidly escape into natural areas. Although the fruits have poor nutritional value for wildlife, birds disperse them widely. Native vegetation is displaced as bush honeysuckle blocks sunlight and exudes chemicals into the soil that are toxic to other plants.

Learn more about these plants on this episode of Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley. Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 of this Good Plant/Bad Plant Retrospective series.

Host: Jean Thomas

Guest: Tim Kennelty

Photo by: Tim Kennelty

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski

Resources

Episode 127: Native Lawns

Episode 127: Native Lawns

Have you ever given serious consideration of the limited value of traditional suburban lawns? Sure, they add a certain beauty to the landscape, but is there a better way to incorporate more native plantings to our lawns? Are their native lawns that could become alternatives to the typical field of turf grass that creates a monoculture that is not supporting of pollinators?

Todd Bittner, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, joins the Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley podcast to share his perspective on more environmentally sustainable Native Lawns.

As the Director of Natural Areas for the Cornell Botanic Gardens and a Lecturer in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University as well as today’s guest, Todd Bittner furthers our understanding of natural systems, environmental sustainability, and natural resource conservation, management, and use. The Cornell Botanic Garden’s natural areas program is responsible for the protection and management of a system of preserves spanning nearly 3,600 acres across 40 natural areas. As part of Cornell’s educational mission, the natural areas include examples of the natural community plants and the rarest plant habitats in the New York’s central Finger Lakes Region. The holdings include one-third of Cornell’s iconic campus landscape, including two massive gorges, scenic Beebe Lake, and a renowned wildflower garden. Todd leads the organization’s native biodiversity conservation efforts, while facilitating compatible educational, research, and recreational uses across these outdoor classrooms. 

Native Lawns, or lawn alternatives, are a designed plant community that, when compared to traditional turf grass lawns, require minimal mowing and watering, no pesticides and fertilizers, yet more biodiversity to support pollinators and other invertebrates. In the research being conducted by Todd Bittner, the goal of the native lawn was to be aesthetic, able to handle a moderate amount of trampling, and require minimal hand weeding as well as to address the environmental objectives (minimal watering, mowing, chemical supplements, etc.). There was also a desire for native plants to comprise at least 85 percent of the land area. Plant species were selected that are suitable for both full sun and shady as well as wet and dry conditions Danthonia spicata and Danthonia compressa (poverty oat grass) are dominant in the planting. Penstemon hirsutus is also widely planted. Twenty nine native species have established spontaneously from the adjoining natural area or seedbank, including a number of violet species, several woodland asters including calico, heart-leaved, and frost asters, and Lobelia siphilitica, or great blue lobelia, which is a very attractive valuable pollinator species. Tune into this episode to hear what has been learned over the last 15 years in moving towards a more environmentally sustainable native lawn. 

Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas 

Guest: Todd Bittner 

Photo by: Cornell University CALS 

Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski