Come Travel The Milky Way Tour 2015

Celebrate National Dairy Month
Come Travel the Milky Way on June 21
Catskills Family Creameries Promotes Small Family Farms

WALTON, NY- Celebrate National Dairy Month with the Catskills Family Creameries! The third annual Come Travel the Milky Way Tour, will be held on Sunday, June 21 from noon to 5 p.m. Located throughout Delaware and Schoharie Counties, this is a self-guided, one-day tour of farmstead creameries in the Catskills region. The six collaborating farms are opening their gates and creameries, inviting the public to meet the cows and goats that produce milk, and demonstrating how butter, yogurt, cheese, milk and kefir are made!

“We feel that the Milky Way Tour is an important way for our community to connect with their local farmers, see where small farm dairy products come from, and learn how they are made,” said Shannon Mason of Cowbella Creamery. “We love giving our customers a true picture of our family’s life here on the farm, and introducing them Buttercup, Winny, Cupcake and our whole herd of cows that directly produce the dairy in our customer’s fridges. All of the farms in the Catskills Family Creameries group are shining examples of why small dairies are such a vital part of our country’s landscape.”

Catskills Family Creameries is a regional collaboration of six small family farm dairies dedicated to collective marketing their products under the Catskills Family Creameries brand. Open houses will be held from noon to 5 p.m. at Betty Acres Farm/Modern Milkmaid (Delhi), Bovina Valley Farms (Delhi), Byebrook Farm (Bloomville), Cowbella Creamery (Jefferson), Dirty Girl Farm (Andes) and Sherman Hill Farmstead (Franklin). Most farms have dirt driveways and, depending on the weather, may be muddy or dusty. Come to the farms in comfortable footwear and jeans or slacks, but please leave pets and dogs at home.

Visitors making on-farm purchases will receive a commemorative, soft-sided insulated cooler (while supplies last). Come Travel the Milky Way will be held rain or shine. For more information about each of the participating farms, the creamery trail and map, your impact of buying local products, accommodations for out-of-town visitors, local and restaurants featuring Catskill Family Creameries products, visit catskillsfamilycreameries.com.

Where Public Tap Water Begets Wilderness, published May 2015

“By paying rural landowners for ecosystem benefits, urban water consumers in New York City and Boston have contributed to building and protecting wild areas outside of city limits. For this sort of wilderness program to be financially fair depends on the water utilities using a progressive rate structure that spreads the cost burden to large commercial users. But the results of these water utility source protection programs are unmistakable: Clean water and wilderness.

That holy grail of urban-rural harmony is still a work in progress. A deer hunter, tracking an animal and thwarted by a Massachusetts Department of Conservation boundary may not be a happy hunter. But over the years, restrictions on human activity in watershed areas have softened. In a pilot program, New York City discovered that it could allow boating and hiking in some areas that had earlier been closed to recreation without sacrificing water quality. In some cases, the state even permits sustainable timber harvesting. The easing of restrictions can be a boom to the local economy. Local wilderness guides running fishing expeditions on public waters and locally-owned kayak rental businesses are on the rise in these watershed areas.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection – which manages New York City’s drinking water supply – promotes the Watershed Agricultural Council’s Pure Catskills label. By building consumer awareness about the benefits of purchasing goods produced sustainably in the watershed, the program encourages local economic development and protects land and water resources.”-National Geographic

Read the full article here.

“Warm weather is here and projects are moving ahead quickly. The 2015-2016 Pure Catskills Guide is hitting stands Memorial Day weekend, the Forestry Education Program is in the middle of planting Trees for Tribs with NYC students in the Croton Watershed, the Agricultural Program had a beautiful day of Farm Tours and the Easement Program closed on nearly 65 acres.”

Read the May 2015 News from the Watershed Agricultural Council here.

(Photo by Andy Ryan)

Yorktown Heights, NY- In an ongoing effort to prevent streambank erosion and to protect drinking water quality, the Watershed Agricultural Council’s Watershed Forestry Bus Tour Program, a part of the larger Urban-Rural School Based Education Initiative (UREI), will be engaging students from four New York City schools and one New York City non-profit in riparian buffer tree planting at Hilltop Hanover Farm in the Croton Watershed.

The riparian site, adjacent to a crop field, is now part of Hilltop Hanover’s outdoor educational classroom, providing landowners and workshop attendees with a practical, hands-on example of how land improvements, like strategic tree plantings, can improve property values, decrease flood potential and enhance wildlife populations. The initial planting occurred in 2010 by volunteers from IBM and Pace University. Over time some of the planted trees have died and are in need of replacement. This year the planting effort will expand southward along the surrounding wetland and continue down the stream ensuring expanded streambank and erosion protection.

The 10 year goal for the tree plantings is a healthy river system in which the tree canopies touch, also known as canopy closure. Some of the faster growing trees like the Sycamore are already beginning to touch from the initial 2010 planting. Tree tubes will be installed over every tree to protect them from deer damage, and will be removed when the trees reach 8-9 feet in height. After tube removal bark protection is put in place for further defense. The trees are maintained every spring to ensure healthy growth. Pruning, cleaning of tubes, cutting vines and replacement of stakes as needed, are a few of the measures taken for prosperity.

This year’s participant schools for the Trees for Tribs Bus Tour are: Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 for the Gifted and Talented (located in Coney Island, NY) on May 14th, Middle School 138Q Sunrise (Queens, NY) on May 18th, Irwin Altman Middle School 172 (Glen Oaks, NY) on May 19th, The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria (Queens, NY) on May 20th, as well as The Manhattan-based City Parks Foundation on June 6th, who also received a grant to plant trees with a group of students participating in their Green Girls and Westside Collaborative School SONYC (School’s Out NYC) after school programs.

In addition to digging holes, carefully planting the trees, installing protective tubes and labels around the young trees, the students enjoy hands-on activities that explore the surrounding farm and forest environments. Through forest hikes, water quality testing, and group games, the students discover how trees work to maintain water quality in the NYC watershed. The students also learn about what threatens forests and water quality and what people – like them! – are doing to be good stewards of their watershed. Each school will bring approximately 50 students and several chaperones to conduct a 2-hour planting. This year alone 250 trees will be planted by participating students to advance the buffer started in 2010.

Students participating in this year’s planting at Hilltop Hanover Farm.

Walton, NY- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that on Friday, April 24th, it honored 25 individuals and organizations from New York State with Environmental Champion Awards for their achievements in protecting public health and the environment. EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck was joined by Donovan Richards, Chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, to present the recipients with their awards at the EPA’s offices in Manhattan, NY.

Fred Huneke, a Delhi resident who served as the Board Chair of the Watershed Agricultural Council for twelve years, was recognized for his many years of service and commitment to the New York City watershed agricultural community. Those honored have acted as excellent partners to the wider group of watershed stakeholders. Collectively, recipients have built a strong ethic and awareness of conservation into the fabric of the watershed communities, thereby helping to protect the drinking water for more than nine million New Yorkers.

“The EPA is thrilled to honor the work of these environmental trailblazers,” said Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “These New Yorkers work tirelessly to protect human health and the environment, inspiring us all to strive for a more sustainable future.”

For more information visit: www.epa.gov/region2/eqa

“Spring has finally sprung in the Catskills! The temperature keeps getting warmer and things are starting to turn green.”

Read the April 2015 News from the Watershed Agricultural Council here.

(Photo by Heather Magnan)

East of Huson Farm, Hemlock Hill, featured in “Solar-Powered Watering Systems” article in ACRES USA Magazine showcasing their solar watering system installed by WAC.

“Installing   solar-powered   watering  systems  has  benefits  in  addition to reducing your farm’s carbon footprint  —  it  can  also  provide  access to out-of-reach sources of water and protect local water systems.

Hemlock  Hill  Farm,  in  Cortlandt  Manor,  New  York,  is  among the   oldest   family-owned   working  farms  in  Westchester County.

Eighty-two-year-old John DeMaria works   the   farm   alongside   his  daughter, Laura. In  2010,  a  solar-powered  watering  system  became  a  new  feature on  their  farm,  thanks  to  the  collaborative  efforts  of  John  and  Carrie  Davis,  the  agricultural  program coordinator   with   the   Watershed Agricultural  Council  (WAC).” -Acres USA, April 2015

Read the full article here.

Read about The Watershed Agricultural Council’s 2014 accomplishments in our Annual Report here.

Read the March 2015 News from the Watershed Agricultural Council here.

Read the February 2015 News from the Watershed Agricultural Council here.