Farmscape Ecology Program

a Hawthorne Valley Association Program

Publications

Book: The Nature of the Place: A History of Living with the Land in Columbia County, NY (2014) by Conrad Vispo, Adonis Press, 261 pp.

This book is an exciting invitation to explore the rich heritage and nature of Columbia County, and our place within it. It describes forest, field, soil and waters of our County both from the perspective of the diversity and beauty of their inherent nature and also in terms of the way the human head and hand has, for better or worse, left its mark. In the words of John Barnes (editor and publisher of the book): “Written out of love and appreciation both for the land and its human residents – with a contagious empathy that reveals itself not least through its subtle humor – this book is full of original observations as well as historical and factual information. Though based on past history and present condition, it also seeks to uncover the future potential of Columbia County, and it calls upon its readers not only to appreciate its past and enjoy it in the present, but also to become active participants in forming its future.”

While the paper version is currently out-of-print (although a few copies may still lurk in area bookstores), here’s a free .pdf copy.

 

KYPP Nuggets

What is a KYPP Nugget you might ask?  KYPP stands for the Know Your Place Project, and these nuggets are brief thematic excursions into various aspects of our landscape.  They consisted of our monthly Perspectives on Place column in The Columbia Paper, and some background information and ruminations on that theme.

If you have comments or observations, please send them our way, and we’ll post them with the respective columns.

 

Perspectives on Place column in The Columbia Paper.

The KYPP nugget approach faded away in 2012, but we have continued our occasional contributions to the Perspectives on Place column. Below are links to some of our essays. For a variety of reasons (including subsequent re-thinking), these may not be the exact content of what was actually published

 

Other Published Essays and Articles

2013

  • Tomatoes in the Wilderness and Broccoli in the Spiders — by Conrad Vispo, The Natural Farmer, Spring 2013 (An illustrated explanation of our approach to working with on-farm biodiversity.)

2011

2010

2008

2007

A collection of newspaper articles we wrote deriving from our initial report on ponds in Columbia County.

  • Pond Series (available as one PDF)
    • The Life of a Pond by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, July 13, 2007
    • For Some Things, A Pond Is Home – by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, July 20, 2007
    • What Are Ponds For? – by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, July 27, 2007

2006

A collection of newspaper articles we wrote deriving from our initial report on on-farm biodiversity.

  • Biodiversity Series (available as one PDF)
    • Looking at Our Roots — by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, May 26, 2006
    • Life on the Hedge — by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, June 2, 2006
    • Perched on the Edge – by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, June 16, 2006
    • What Frogs Tell Us – by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, June 23, 2006
    • The Content of Streams — by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, June 30, 2006
    • Reflections from a Farmscape — by Conrad Vispo and Claudia Knab-Vispo, The Independent, July 7, 2006

Other

 

Unpublished Essays and Articles