Roots and Shoots: 15 Years Later…

When I met Kevin Foley, the former editor of Philipstown.info, handing out The Paper at the village farmer’s market in 2012, my family had lived in Cold Spring for two years and I was still early in my gardening life here.

It was unexpected and interesting to live in a small town with not one community newspaper, but two: The Paper, which was the precursor to The Highlands Current; and the Putnam County News & Recorder, then owned by the late Roger Ailes, the CEO of the Fox News Channel.

As I came to know the reasons for dueling papers and to see the differences between them, it reminded me of that scene from It’s a Wonderful Life when George Bailey’s angel, Clarence, takes him to see what the town would have been like if Mr. Potter’s greed and cruelty would have been able to dominate without an opposing force for good. 

What would the Hudson Highlands be if Roger Ailes’ news was the only force shaping our community? Fortunately, we didn’t have to find out. 

I approached Kevin in 2013, fresh out of the Cornell Cooperative Extension master gardener program, eager to put my expanding bank of knowledge, my sense of urgency about climate change and my MFA in creative writing to use. Although I had some gardening experience prior to moving to Cold Spring, nothing prepared me for the challenges of stewarding 10 acres of forest. 

I wanted to learn and needed to do it quickly. Roots and Shoots became one of my channels for research and for interviewing scientists and experts in pursuit of information I needed and could spread.  

This hyperlocal endeavor means I share your woes; it isn’t an abstract connection with gardening. I get the same rainfall, snow, heat and pests. That’s what I truly appreciate about community journalism. Even after all these words, thoughts and hard lessons, it’s my fascination and deep respect for plants and nature that make me feel like I’ve got more to learn and share. 

As a new landowner in 2010, I didn’t know a maple from an oak. The hostas, lilies and peonies left by the previous owners were recognizable, but I didn’t yet understand their lack of value for the forest ecosystem around them. 

At the time, CCE offered a home-visit program in Putnam County, and I signed up. The resource educator, Jennifer Lerner, and a master gardener spent time with us and walked the property. We had a million questions; afterward, they sent a summary that became our guide in making decisions. That experience became the gold standard for me, and I now offer something similar as a garden coach. It’s what I hope Roots and Shoots can provide in print. 

Gardeners can get stuck with a sense of failure when plants don’t thrive. Why doesn’t it look like that photo of the DIY yard on the internet? What am I doing wrong? In so many cases where a person feels anxious or critical, I can find a dozen bright spots. Whether it’s an early-stage planting that isn’t meeting expectations or a mature planting that feels overwhelming, I can pick out ways that planting is filling an ecological need that is greater than our Instagram feed. 

My daughter is currently listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat, which primed me to pick up a used copy of Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature and the Shaping of the American Nation by Andrea Wulf. With Independence Day celebrations happening, it seems appropriate. 

The opening chapter recounts George Washington’s curiosity and passion for learning about the landscape around him. Even while leading troops during the Revolutionary War he focused on the forests and, in his letters, mused over the trees he experienced. He viewed planting native trees and plants at Mount Vernon as an act of patriotism and rejected the fashion of glorifying plants and trees from England and other countries. He saw farming as a path to freedom and independence. 

I found resonance with our current moment in history. As our government’s policies devastate sustainability and ethical land stewardship efforts in favor of development, worsen our climate crisis and threaten gains made in clean-air and clean-water standards, gardening is again an act of rebellion.