National Seed Swap Day was made official in 2006 and falls on the last Saturday in January. According to Seed Savers Exchange ( www.seedsavers.org ), humans have been swapping seeds for over 10,000 years. During 2020, as more people were staying at home, many turned to gardening and now many new gar...

As winter goes on, the monochromatic landscape can get dull. One way to extend fall color through this long, snowy season is to plant shrubs with red berries. There are many native shrubs that sport beautiful, red berries. One of my favorite shrubs is “Red Sprite” winterberry. Some winterberries can...

We’re nearing the end of January, and that means that tax season is quickly approaching. Whether you’re a hobby farmer or a full-time farmer, tax prep can be a headache. To help out, we’re listing some assistance options below: Free tax help is available & can help you get your refund faster The IRS...

Today is National Museum Selfie Day, so we at Country Culture are giving into our vain urges and turning the lens on ourselves. We’re also turning the lens on the small, local museums that may not immediately come to mind when you think about museums. Many small and rural communities have local hist...

It is National Cheese Lovers Day and you know what that means. I, your trusty Country Culture editor-in-chief, will be eating the fanciest of cheeses with wild abandon. If you’re like me, you can’t exactly put into words why you love cheese so much. Yes, taste is good. Yes, texture is nice. Some hav...

The village of Richfield Springs in Otsego County, NY, has a population of about a 1,000 people. The borough of Brooklyn has about 2.6 million. Even though Dan Sullivan grew up in New York City, he discovered his heart’s home was the country. Dan said he grew up playing on the streets of Brooklyn, j...

If you’ve ever run into a patch of Teasel plants, you won’t soon forget it. Teasel is a wicked looking plant which is green and covered in spines all summer long. When autumn comes, their spines and flower heads dry out and resemble a medieval mace – not exactly something you’d want to get too close...

Forsythia in February? Impossible, you say! Not so. A vase full of flowers from the garden won’t take much more effort than harvesting some branches to force them to bloom. A good time to take cuttings for forcing is when you’re doing your annual winter pruning. If pruning isn’t on your winter to-do...

New year, new habits – that’s the idea behind National Hobby Month. Every January, we’re encouraged to try something new and, more importantly, stick with it. As a regular rural resident or a new one, there are countless ways to try something new in 2022. If you’re a regular gardener, try expanding ...