Where in the World is Upstate NY?

Jodi at Bloomingwriter has challenged her blog friends to share a little about the area they call home, and several have taken up the challenge. You can find all the posts by clicking on her blog link. This is an interesting way for us to learn a bit about the vast and varied world we share with other gardeners.

Everyone has heard of New York City, but some people don't realize that it's only a very small part of NY state.

As you can see, NY City (AKA The Big Apple) is at the bottom tip. Once you get past the suburbs (roughly most of the cone shape), everything above that point is considered 'upstate NY' (that's my best guess).

It's actually a tourist's paradise, with loads of attractions: Two beautiful mountainous areas - the Catskills and the Adirondacks; the Finger Lakes area above Ithaca (the home of Cornell University), where there are wonderful vineyards beside gorgeous lakes; The Thousand Islands area is up the top on the St. Lawrence River; and the most famous of all, the spectacular Niagara Falls way out west, near Buffalo; not to mention NY state borders 2 of the Great Lakes - Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, with the historical Erie Canal stretching between Albany and Buffalo; Gorgeous Letchworth State Park, below Rochester, deserves a mention, with the Genesee river cutting a canyon through its 17 mile length. This gorge is known as
"The Grand Canyon of the East".

But centering in on our little corner of the world - we're in the brown area you see on this map. The CL stands for Central Leatherstocking. If you're curious to know what the other regions are called, this link will answer you questions.

The Leatherstocking area is rich in Revolutionary War history. We're close to the Mohawk Valley where many historic battles were fought. The picturesque village of Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, is not far away and is packed with tourists during the summer months. This was also the home of James Fenimore Cooper, author of the well known book, "The Last of the Mohicans", which was also made into a movie. Erie Canal Village, in Rome, close to Utica, is full of history and a great place for a family day trip.

This is just a small sampling of the many interesting sights to see in this pretty area of central NY.

I did another post in April of 2006 about NY state which you can find here if you're interested in reading a little more about our area and seeing a few more photos of the farm.

Here's the sight we awoke to this morning...a winter wonderland! Most area schools were closed after another snowstorm yesterday and overnight. As tired as most of us are of the long, cold winter months, a world covered in fresh white snow never fails to delight me. It's gorgeous! The birds were busily filling their tummies at the feeders, and the breathtaking scenery beckoned me to pile on the layers of clothing, grab my camera and go outside to capture some of the beauty. It was hard to decide on just a few snow pictures for this post!

This photo was actually taken back in November, but I've included it to illustrate just how long our snowy season lasts. Sometimes we have snow in October and we can usually count on some in April too.

All good things come to those who wait, and spring does eventually bless us with bright green grass and dandelions....after the mud!

This is the time for field work on our farm....planting corn, oats and alfalfa.
We no longer have a dairy herd, so the crops are grown to sell.

In the nearby woods I find gorgeous patches of marsh marigolds and other wildflowers.

There are always geese honking on the river that runs below our farm. I see mating pairs and search for their nests, hoping to see the eggs, but haven't been lucky enough to find one yet.

If you look closely, you can see the river below the farm in this photo.

In July the orange daylilies bloom gloriously by the roadsides, beside the fields of corn.

The colors in our gardens change through the seasons. In June these early daylilies blend beautifully with the wild harebells.

Early July brings the first blooms of the Gloriousa Daisies/Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) and the Shasta Daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum), among other lovelies.

A little later the mid-season daylilies add their Wonderful colors to the mix......

......and very soon the gardens are alive with blooms of every description!

Our soil here varies throughout the yard. That garden in the background, and the fence garden down by the road both have heavy soil with some clay which we're gradually amending. This triangular garden just across the driveway has much better soil, and further up toward house the soil is much drier. We're lucky to have wonderful compost heaps up behind the barn, and keep adding some each year to the gardens.

September brings a tinge of sadness, with thoughts of summer's end and another long winter to endure, but there are still some beautiful October days to look forward to before the frosts kill off all our wonderful color. We do sometimes get frosts in September, but last year, much to my delight, the hard frosts held off all through October.

But before we leave summer behind, let's look at the wildflowers around our neighborhood that make walking a pleasurable experience. The Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) and Goldenrod (Solidago) make gorgeous displays in the fields. No need to grow these in my gardens!

I love the mix of glorious greens against the clear blue skies. And there's our farm down the road.

This field of Goldenrod is still going strong in late summer.

The sumac is sporting its lovely dark red seed heads, and the hay has been baled.

September brings some of the loveliest days...

......but near the end of the month the first leaves begin to change.....

....and a couple of weeks into October our woods are alive with the blazing colors of Autumn, or fall, as it's called here in the US.

Here's that same lane shown in the picture above with the field of Goldenrod, but in this photo it's a month later.

The red behind our barn is Sumac in its fall splendor.

But here we are back to today's snowstorm, still yearning for spring, and the growing cycle to begin once again.

I find I can endure the long, cold months, with their snow storms, frigid winds, and even the wicked ice which makes walking a dangerous adventure, if I can only keep those dreams in my mind centered on the delights awaiting us when spring emerges once again after the long sleep.

Our gardening friends in the south covert our lovely summers, and we covert their mild winters, but all in all, I have to say this valley is a beautiful place to live and garden....which is why, after the winter is finally past, I can smile and say, "I love NY!"