Halloween conjures a plethora of different visuals for different people depending on your upbringing and what you enjoy about this spooky holiday. Cute kids in costume. Lots of candy. Apple and pumpkin everything (who doesn’t love apple cider?). Parties. Bobby Pickett’s seminal hit “Monster Mash” bl...

October 12 is National Farmers Day every year, and every year, one day doesn’t seem like enough time to thank them for all that they do. Out of curiosity, I searched “What does a farmer do?” Oddly enough, one of the first links that popped up came from Indeed – that’s right, the job search site. The...

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County and CCE Harvest NY will be hosting a statewide conference on a native fruit called pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ). The conference is taking place Oct. 1 from 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the historic Kallet Theater in Pulaski, NY. Pawpaw is the largest edible frui...

Depending on where you live, your fall fairs may take place before school starts or after school starts. For me, the annual family visit to the Herkimer County Fair always signified one more week of freedom before another school year. But fairs are far more important than simply being a way for chil...

The magic of secondhand treasures, the practicality of thrifting your wardrobe and the importance of sustainable fashion When I write, I tend to veer into nostalgia quite a lot. While that can easily become weary and overdrawn, I just can’t help it. I didn’t have a perfect childhood (who does? and m...

As if we need a reason to celebrate peaches… August is National Peach Month, and the juicy fruits are so tempting, even other fruit organizations take the time to write about them. For example, check out this great post, courtesy of New England Apples : Few desserts or snacks are as sweet, juicy and...

August may induce a little anxiety for the kids who live for summer vacation, but that can be eased by taking advantage of what has been designated Family Fun Month. There are still lots of fun summer activities to take advantage of until the school buses show up again. Hiking is always a good optio...

During the long, hot and dry days of midsummer, nothing hits the juicy spot quite like a slice of watermelon. August 3 is National Watermelon Day, and for good reason. It’sbelieved that watermelon cultivation began in the Nile Valley in northernAfrica as early as the second millennium BCE. Watermelo...

Ogden Nash’s book “The Animal Garden,” published in 1965, is a chuckle to read. The rhyming verse and amusing illustrations tell an upbeat story about a family living in a home where no pets are allowed because the parents suffer from allergies. Roy and Joy try to convince their parents to let them ...

From films like “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact” to TV shows such as “Star Trek” and “Stargate,” heavenly bodies like asteroids and meteorites have had a storied impact on the worlds of fiction. However, unlike many manufactured phenomena that grace our screens, these are very real, and meteorites can...

Today, we are fortunate enough to have quality cameras just sitting in our pockets (or, let’s be honest, never leaving our hands). That makes May, National Photography Month, even more exciting, since we can snap pretty pictures basically all the time. Officially recognized by Congress in 1987, Nati...

In 2005, United Poultry Concerns launched International Respect for Chickens Day to “celebrate chickens throughout the world and protest the bleakness of their lives in farming operations.” The thought was to do an action for chickens. Ideas they suggest include letter writing, handing out leaflets,...

The National Garden Bureau has declared 2022 “The Year of the Garden,” but honestly, gardens both large and small have been receiving much more attention for the past two years. In 2020, when shutdowns led to the vast majority of people staying home, putting in a garden – whether for flowers or for ...

Do you want to get in some good cardio exercise without going nowhere fast on a treadmill or hurting your aching knees? Do you want to see more of your region in the fresh air, not from behind the window in a car? Get on your bikes and ride! May is National Bike Month, and this week, May 16 – 22, is...

May is National Salad Month. Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen. What is arguably the foundational ingredient in salad? Lettuce! USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture ...