Rural Living

This will be an ongoing topic for a potpourri of things pertaining to rural living in general. It could be sharing your new adventures with chickens, what you've been up to on the homestead, or perhaps asking a question. Pretty much anything goes here.

Another gardening season has come and gone ( for most of us anyway ). Like many gardeners, you may already be thinking about lessons learned and what you may do when Spring 2026 arrives. This is an ongoing topic.

After hibernating through a long winter, groggy black bears across New York State are beginning to venture out of their dens, stretch their legs, and look for their first meals of spring. For people living in or visiting bear country, March is time to become bear wise again! According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ( DEC ), adult male bears are usually the first to emerge and may have lost up to 30 percent of their body weight, while females with nursing cubs emerge later and may have lost up to 40 percent of their body weight. Bears are especially hungry in the spring due to depleted fat reserves and will search extensively for easily obta…

The 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show’s opening day on Saturday started bright and early for many visitors. Carrie Shreve of Derry Township and her granddaughter Macie Lilley, 9, of Harrisburg, arrived at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg at 7:30 a.m. “It took barely anything to get in here. We parked in the main lot,” Shreve said. “I never missed a Farm Show in my entire life.” The two started their day with a breakfast of champions — potato doughnuts and milkshakes — before following their annual tradition of taking in the opening day sights. Visitors have eight days to attend the Farm Show, which runs through Jan. 17 under the theme “Growing …

In the garden, herbs are forgiving plants. They aren’t fussy about soil pH, almost never need fertilizer, and can power through if you occasionally forget to water them. But when the weather turns cold and their outdoor beds become inhospitable, I grow some of my culinary friends on a sunny kitchen windowsill, even as they become more needy. I say “some” because herbs are tricky plants to grow indoors. Dill and fennel have large root systems, making them impractical contenders for indoor pots. Basil tends to grow straggly because it requires intense sunlight, which is just about impossible to achieve indoors. And the way lavender and chamomile spread makes them best left …

MITCHELL, S.D. - 2025 brought another unprofitable harvest in the Heartland, where soybean farmers were already dealing with high equipment and fertilizer costs due to inflation and tariffs. Kevin Deinert grows soybeans and corn and also raises cattle on his family's farm near Mitchell, South Dakota Kirk Siegler/NPR Kevin Deinert farms the same land his great-great-grandfather did near Mitchell, South Dakota, about 80 miles from the Iowa state line. "I'd be probably the fifth generation, I've got sons, that'd be the sixth that possibly would want to take over the farm," Deinert says over the hum of his tractor. Lately it's a fight to just stay in business one year to the…

The Sun is out , the shears , lopers and pole pruning pole blade are all sharp so it’s time to get out there and prune those apple trees . Yes , a bit early as some recommend mid Winter as the optimal time for this chore but by that time , and at this stage in my life , my mind ( whats left of it ) is buttoning up for the Winter ! Now with leaves having gone its easy to see all the ones I missed last year like the so called “ water sprouts “ , those pesky straight up to the sky non apple producing new branches that pull a lot of energy from the rest of the tree , clip em low as the are not going to give you anything but more headaches later ! And those inward growin…

Tour Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm and get his thoughts on the current state of farming in America in this video:

Really....I can't believe this was a story on the news. I guess it was a REALLY slow news day But in case you are wondering.... here are the tips: Don't jump in old leaf piles Wear long sleeves and pants Check for ticks afterwards .... Honestly... I just can't 🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍂

Read more about it here.

Winter is coming here at 45 degrees north. That means my township’s solid waste transfer station will be reducing its hours and removing the seasonal bins for large items. Through the winter, we will still be able to haul our regular household trash and recyclables there on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. But the window is closing for disposal of things like the worn-out, lumpy mattress and box springs we wanted gone. Not that long ago, many rural families had a place out back where stuff like that got dumped. It wasn’t ideal, but it’s not like there were many options. Nowadays, local government units are responsible for ensuring “easy access” to appropriate s…

You can read the rest of this column here. While written about the Adirondack region, this no doubt pertains to other areas of the state. What do you think about the author's thoughts?

by Donna Kallner Home gardens pay off in produce to enjoy in season, produce to put by for winter, and produce to share with neighbors.(Photo by Ray Shrewsberry / Unsplash) For many rural families, including mine, this does not feel like a year to be cavalier about what we have put by for winter. Grocery prices have not gone down. Availability feels uncertain. I can feed my household better for less than the cost of the “cheap” processed and prepared foods that have become the norm for many families over the past 40 years. But that takes some effort. And the growing season is short here at 45 degrees north. So we went into it with slightly more ambitious plans than in ye…