The continued resurgence of the many towns and small cities on the river will only benefit from the work of the Hudson Valley Greenway. Keeping the river and its environs safe and attractive for the tourists who bring “economic stimulus” into this region will itself repay this small investment in management many times over. The benefits to the daily lives of current and future residents are immeasurable.

Winter can be tough for a locavore. As fields are plowed under, cover crops planted, and many farmers’ markets close for the season, a collective feeling of resignation sets in as we brace for several months of root vegetables and soups.

Not that roots and soups are bad—our bodies crave and need this hearty fare to get through the winter. But these days there is no reason to forgo a wider variety of foods, as farmers throughout the Hudson Valley have found innovative ways to offer us the bounty of summer (and spring and fall) year-round. When the frost hits, many markets are moving indoors by warm fires, serving up hot cider and coffee, and laying out everything from mesclun to fresh breads, artisanal farmstead cheeses to frozen raspberries. There are even hydroponic tomatoes at some market stands, though I prefer to wait for the stunning array of heirlooms that will arrive next July. For the winter, I’ll stick to the 10 plus pounds I slow-roasted and froze. (For those who didn’t manage to get any preserving done, go ahead and give the hydros a try. I’m sure they’re quite good.)

The point is, we’re lucky here in the Hudson Valley. We can eat locally, year round, and not feel limited. We can avoid the weekly madcap rush through the supermarket, and we can avoid foods that were grown with chemicals and traveled thousands of miles to our plate. And of course I’m sure most of you know our local foods are delicious.

Here’s a rundown of markets where you can get your fix. You’ll find a lot more than crates of butternut squash and sacks of potatoes.

Beacon Farmers Market at the Beacon Sloop Club
Sloop Clubhouse, Beacon, NY
Sundays, 10am-4pm

Step inside the Beacon Sloop Club every Sunday through the winter, warm your hands by a roaring wood fire, and then check out the tremendous variety of locally grown and produced foods: local farmstead cheeses, fresh baked bread, vegetables from Madura Farms, New England Farms’ meat, Adair & Benmarl Wines. And for your kitchen, check out Virginia Piazza’s beautiful pottery.

Blooming Hill Farm Market
Blooming Grove, NY
Saturdays 9am to 4pm, Sundays 9am to 2pm

This cozy market offers crate upon crate of fresh produce, including several varieties of kale, lettuce, mesclun mix and other greens, all grown in the farm’s “hi-tunnels.” The usual root vegetables and squash are available, but in much greater and more appealing variety than most markets. You can also purchase freshly baked breads from New York City’s Balthazar Bakery. Christmas trees and wreaths are available around the holidays.

The Community Indoor Farm Market at Robins Market
Robins Market, Route 32, New Paltz, NY
3rd and 4th Saturday of the month, December –March, 9am to noon
December 20 and 27, January 24 and 31, February 21 and 28, March 21 and 28

Supported by the Eat Local Food project, all whole food items and the main ingredients of the prepared food items offered for sale have been grown and/or raised within 100 miles from the point of purchase. Expect local cheeses, bread, vegetables and more. The market organizers also plan to provide music and workshops.

Red Hook Winter Market
Elmendorph Inn, Red Hook, NY
The Second Saturday of the month, December – February, 10am - 2pm
December 13, January 10, February 14

This market features fruit, cider and produce from Migliorelli Farm and Hearty Roots Farm, meat from Northwind Farm, dairy from Hudson Valley Fresh, and woolen fiber from Hudson Valley Sheep & Wool Co. Awesome Farm, which raises pastured poultry and lamb, will offer eggs, stewing chickens, chicken feet (for the most nutritious stock), and sheepskins. Prepared foods will include jams & jellies from Montgomery Place Orchard, fresh bread from Tivoli Bakery and hot soup and prepared foods from Gigi Market.

Rosendale Winter Farmers’ Market
Rosendale Community Center, Route 32, Rosendale
The first Sunday of the Month, December - May, 9am - noon
December 7, January 4, February 1, March 1, April 5, May 3.

Vendors at this new winter market will include Jody’s Breads, Muddy Farm, Maynard Farms, Adair Winery, Earth & Hand Creations, Rykowski Livestock, Grist Mill Maple, Rock & Roll Artisan Bakery and The Pampered Chef. Enjoy free coffee and tea, and live acoustic music.

Saugerties Holiday Markets
The Saugerties Senior Center on Market Street
On the Sundays Before Holidays, November-April, 12noon-4pm
December 21, January 18, February 15, March 15, April 5

The Saugerties Farmers’ Market is offering this series of special markets conveniently held right before the Winter’s major holidays. Several local vendors will provide pastured meat, greens, root vegetables, dried fruits, maple syrup products, honey, mushrooms and more.

Winter Sun Farm Indoor Markets & CSA pick-up
Deyo Hall, New Paltz
The Second Saturday of the Month, December-March,10am-3pm
December 13, January 10, February 14, March 14

The College Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
The Third Saturday of the Month, December-March, 10am-3pm
December 20, January 17, February 21, March 21

Winter Sun Farms may be sold out of their CSA shares of frozen local produce, but they’re still sponsoring a great winter markets around their CSA pick-up in New Paltz and Poughkeepsie. At the New Paltz location, vendors include Taliaferro Farms, Four Wind Farms, Phillies Bridge, Veritas Farms, Acorn Hill, Conuco Farms, Bradley Farms, Pika’s Quiches, Threshold Farm, Wild Hive Bakery, Liberty View Farm, and more. Be sure to check out their website to find out how to join Winter Sun Farms next year!

Global warming is turning everybody’s white Christmas to green. For instance, the Rockefeller tree lights are not only LED this year, but also solar-powered. Over in Scotland, where Santa presumably wears a kilt, he’s gone green as well. And there is plenty of green gift wrap for all your eco-friendly gifts this year, although the hard-core will still get creative with old newspaper. Perhaps most important for those who’ve been gifted a fruitcake is environmentally safe recycling methods for this perennial favorite.

It was like three openings for the price of one as the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries’ Center for Environmental Innovation and Education opened its doors to an enthusiastic crowd of environmentalists and local citizens and politicians. The structure, formerly known as Building One, will also serve as a visitor center for the 64-acre Dennings Point State Park, as well as a strong example of sustainable design by Gensler.

A clear but cold day kept most of the celebrants indoors, noshing on goodies provided by Homespun Foods of Beacon and milling about the high-ceilinged space, sometimes pausing at one of the standing computer stations or in front of the multiple large monitors mounted to form an oversize screen on the back wall. The facility is beautiful in an understated way, combining the late-nineteenth century brick shell with lots of sustainable technology, including natural ventilation towers, solar hot water, geothermal heating and cooling, and composting toilets. After indulging in several glasses of semi-local Saratoga Springs sparkling water, I was eager to test the last feature, and I’m happy to report the green loos are more or less user friendly, although finding the button that dispenses the ecologically sound bio-foam took a few moments (it’s completely hidden when the lid is in the upright, or in-use, position.)

The shades that came down automatically as Institute director John Cronin kicked off the program gave everyone a brief scare, but it turns out it was operator misunderstanding that had them going in several directions, and they worked flawlessly, darkening the sunlit space for Jim Heron to give a wonderful fifteen minute slide show history of Dennings Point. Jim clocked in at 14:53, but it’s worth it to get the more extensive version in the book he wrote about this fascinating spit of land on the Hudson. As Cronin said in his introduction, it follows the arc of the American story.

How fitting that Dennings Point plays yet another role in that continuing saga, as host of a 21st century institute that Cronin says is “changing the field of environmental science with REON, its educational programs and the strength of its collaborative partnerships.” REON is River and Estuary Observation Network, a joint effort between the Institute, IBM and Clarkson University to create an integrated network of environmental sensors throughout the 315-mile length of the Hudson River. The sensors will monitor real-time changes in the river’s physical, chemical and biological makeup.

Unfortunately perhaps, this reporter couldn’t stay for the full program, as he had to get back to his day job. But as Congressman John Hall said, “Beacon Institute is a Hudson Valley treasure–the research and innovation taking place here in our own backyard will translate into tangible benefits that will resound throughout the international community.” And thehudsonvalleygreen will be back to bring you a more in-depth look at the Institute in the months ahead.

The crowds were indoors for the Beacon Institute opening on a cold December day.

An early season ice storm hit the Hudson Valley late last week. Here in Beacon, the town itself escaped, but the mountain took on the appearance of a giant sugar-glazed porcupine hunched at the end of Main Street. Climbing up the trail that starts at Mt. Beacon Park on 9D, there is no evidence of the storm until just past the half-way point. I turned the corner on a switchback and the entire forest above me was coated with a thick layer of ice. A few yards further on, so many small birches by the side of the path had bowed over that they formed what looked like a cave made of dripped glass. All around were the pale yellow wounds of  tree trunks and branches not so giving that were snapped off by the weight of the frozen rainwaters.

The wind was calm when I went up several days after the storm, but the quiet was constantly broken by the sounds of branches cracking and ice tinkling to the ground up and down the hillside. At one point a branch shed its glistening skin directly above my companion, who covered her head and emerged unscathed except for a few ice crystals in her hair.

Small trees bent to the ground form a cave of ice.

The towers on top of Mt. Beacon got a coating, too.

Most of the trees will spring back when the ice melts

Now extinct at CNN, the Cable News Network: The entire science, technology and environment news staff. “Now that the bulk of our environmental coverage is being offered through the Planet in Peril franchise, which is produced by the Anderson Cooper 360 program, there is no need for a separate unit,” said CNN spokesperson Barbara Levin. The Planet in Peril programs may be entertaining–with exotic locales, buff adventure-style reporters, and “sexy” topics like gorillas, sharks and rare diseases, it’s like a super-hyped version of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. But it’s going to leave the network without the resources to cover some of the most important issues of our times. Hello? Have they heard about Obama’s plans to stimulate the economy, just to name one small thing? Somebody give these people a newspaper.

Hudson Valley Green Drinks held its final monthly meeting of 2008 right back where it all began in April of this year, at Mahoney’s Pub in Poughkeepsie.  Green Drinks is a networking organization that brings together people in an enviromentally related job or business, or those who are interested in sustainability or are “eco-curious.”  The original Green Drinks took place in 1989 at the Slug and Lettuce pub in Northern London.  Here in the Hudson valley, over 40 people attended the year-end holiday edition, according to event organizer Marie-Celeste Edwards. She said that after a year of Tuesdays, the event will be switching to Wednesday evenings in 2009. This is to accommodate the venues that emphasize locally grown ingredients, which are often not open earlier in the week. The next event is at 6:30 on Wednesday, January 14th at Locust Tree in New Paltz.

We need to tackle global warming with a project on the same scale as the space race, the war on cancer, or even the cold war. That was the message from Andrew Revkin, who writes the Dot Earth blog for the New York Times, when he spoke Saturday at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. The program here was part of the Global Day of Action, a series of events and demonstrations around the world, usually held on the Saturday midway through the U.N. climate talks. The Beacon program was hosted by a heavy-hitting posse of organizations including Beacon Institute, Beacon Sloop Club, Clearwater, Climate Crisis Coalition, Garrison Institute, Mid Hudson Progressive Alliance, Philipstown for Democracy and Scenic Hudson. The event was coordinated by CCC steering member Connie Hogarth.

Revkin referred to the last 150 years of human development, where we learned to extract and burn fossil fuel on a scale that led to the industrial revolution, as our “cow-tipping frat boy phase.” But with a projected world population of 9 billion souls by 2050, all clamoring for the good life, there’s no more time for fooling around. He emphasized the need for reducing our individual footprints and creating green jobs including science teachers, entrepreneurs and engineers, but that these efforts would amount to little more than a pleasant-looking “green screen” if it wasn’t accompanied by the focused effort and massive funding that characterized the large scale projects we undertook in the previous century.

But even all the best and brightest technology won’t make things whole again if we don’t also look at our values. “We have this grab it and go instinct. How much is too much? The answer to that question is vital. Suppose we invent cheap solar panels, greatly increasing the technology alone. We’re in trouble if we don’t start to examine religion and ecology and attempt to build a new relationship with our planet.”

After a musical interlude by Linda Richards (with some assistance from the jack of all trades Revkin on guitar and back-up vocals), Dan Rosenblum, an energy and environmental attorney at the Pace Energy Project who launched the Carbon Tax Center almost two years ago tried to engage a somewhat fading crowd on the benefits of revenue-neutral carbon taxation. He explained the difference between that and the carbon cap and trade. Rosenblum said it was a regressive tax, but with refunds and other assistance, it would not place an undue burden on the poor.

• Seventy percent of the world’s toys are made in China.
• Well Virginia, Santa may be okay, but there’s a good chance Rudolph is DOA.
• Can’t decide on the perfect gift? Ask Jesus.
• Light up the holidays in green.
• More than you will ever need to know about Christmas trees.

As the article in the New York Times points out, town planning meetings can be contentious. By having non-partisan outsiders come in beforehand and objectively documenting the things that are important to the townspeople, it’s possible they could do something of an end-around much of the fussing and fighting.  Starksboro has a population of 1,900, making it smaller than many towns in the hudson valley, and we have already seen much of the willy-nilly sprawl and development they are trying to plan, but there is certainly the possibility of scaling it up for towns in this area, whether through curriculum at one of the local colleges, or even as a high school social studies project.