My Pick-Your-Own Obsession

By the time you’ve read this, I’ll have exhausted my friends’ and family’s good will and company when it comes to asparagus, and for that matter, most likely have pushed the limits when it comes to strawberries. You’re just in time to jump on the bandwagon with blueberries and blackberries alongside me, so come on in, the water’s fine.

I’m talking about one of my favorite obsessions when it comes to life in the mountains—the pick-your-own farm. Addictive in the best way, fun for nearly everyone who’s willing to stoop or bend, pluck and pick, pick-your-own fruit and veggie season begins in my corner of the Hudson Valley in early spring and runs through the fall—don’t even get me started on apple picking. For me, the locale of choice is Greig Farm in Red Hook, NY, in continuous operation since the 1940s.

What I love about pick-your-own is…well, everything. For one, the perennial New York City slicker in me is still agog every time I get to grab a piece of fruit from a tree when vacationing, and since moving to my mountainside town just outside of Woodstock full-time in 2005, I get an enormous thrill at the idea of selecting my food at its source. For another, pick-your-own is all about possibilities. “What am I planning on doing with x pounds of this?” and if you’re an overachieving home cook like me, possibilities are like foreplay…the more, the better.

With asparagus season, we like to “roast-’tilcrispy” as many tender stalks as possible, but then there’s always pickling, quick sautéing the tips with pastas, puréeing whole for soups hot and cold and loading up omelets. With strawberries, besides the no-brainer shortcake, there’s ice cream to be topped, drinks to be garnished, whole fruits to be dehydrated and enjoyed in distinctly non-strawberry season (believe me when I tell you that a handful of dehydrated strawberries sprinkled on top of oatmeal in the middle of winter is a gamechanger) and of course, in the dog days of summer, an ice-cold bowl of strawberries with freshly whipped cream is really all you need to make any meal magical.

But again, the bounty aside, it’s the whole idea of pick-your-own that’s romantic and fantastical to me. It’s endlessly affordable, so you and you alone decide how crazy you wanna get in the field. Greig Farm, like almost all our local options, is plain ol’ gorgeous and a great place to glimpse those skies everyone’s been painting for decades. Bought yourself a big sun hat and wondering when you’ll wear it? Here’s your chance. Breaking in your new Wellies? Yup, you’ve come to the right place.

Asparagus in early spring is spectacular because for many people, it’s the first time they’ve gotten to dig in the dirt since the former season and it’s…life-affirming.

Berry season? You’ve got the bees buzzing and that smell. That. Smell That, combined with a field full of happy kids smeared in berry juices and everyone licking their fingers? Well, that’s summer in a nutshell. Looking ahead to fall, don’t sell apple or pear picking season short. Yes, you might’ve been schlepped along on a school trip to an apple field, or you might’ve tipped a glass of cider at a pumpkin patch—but a day spent tromping around acres and acres of different varieties of apples and pears, perhaps getting a taste of some early coolish fall air? You’ll be rationalizing your decision to haul home 15 pounds of mixed varieties in no time. Add to that the bonus that many of the pick-your-own apple farms also bottle and serve hard cider and spirits, and you’ll realize it was indeed a very good idea to go picking.

The Insider

• I love Greig Farm for all my summer pickings, but come fall, don’t miss Fix Bros. Fruit Farm in Hudson for one of the largest assortments of apples and pears.

• I know you might’ve missed asparagus season, but there’s still plenty of lovely asparagus to buy in the stores right now and David Chang (of NYC’s Momofuko) has an asparagus with miso butter recipe that no one should truly live without. Spoiler: it has a soft-boiled egg on top. Need I say more?

• The Cosori Stainless Steel Dehydrator is well-priced, does meats and herbs as well as fruits and veggies and it’ll forever change your snacking game. Trust.

roof repair

AAA Roofing 70 Middle Road Hudson, NY 12534 518.828.7302 AAARoofingNY.com

Five Star Roofing Serving Catskill, NY and surrounding area 518.567.4027 FiveStarRoofingNY.com

Klaus Roofing Systems by J Smegal 449 Pittsfield Road Suite 201 Lenox, MA 01240 413.655.7663

JSmegalRoofing.com

Phelps Brothers Roofing

1222 US-9 Castleton-On-Hudson, NY 12033 518.479.4362

PhelpsBrothersRoofing.com

In business since 1978, this family-owned and operated roofing company offers a ten-year warranty on their workmanship.

J and A Roofing 3 Clarendon Avenue Kingston, NY 12401 845.768.3139 JARoofing.com

Chris Ba aini Roofing Company 567 Dalton Avenue, Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.441.4840 CMBRoof.com

Rob Sherlock Roofing Serving Sullivan County and surrounding areas 845.316.2158

RobSherlockRoofing.com

Lyndsey Roofing, LLC 316 Titusville Road Suite B Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.206.0329

LyndseyRoofing.com

must-have survival guide

wildlife home removal

All Seasons Wildlife Removal

Serving Dutchess and surrounding counties 914.621.8574

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Wrex Wildlife 341 Grand Street Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520 914.566.9739

WrexWildlife.com

Hudson Valley Wildlife Solutions

Serving entire Hudson Valley 518.512.0400

HVWildlife.com

Flying squirrels, bats, raccoons and other nuisance wildlife don’t belong in your house, and these certified wildlife experts’ll make sure of that.

Wildlife Busters LLC

Serving Poughkeepsie and Greater Hudson Valley area 855.945.1212

WildlifeBusters.com

Catskill Animal Damage Control

Serving Ulster County and surrounding area 845.389.8841

CatskillADC.com

Cri erex LLC

Serving entire Hudson Valley 845.247.7564

Critterex.com

Gardening equipment

Country Living 325 NY-66 Hudson, NY 12534 518.828.4031

Green Lab Supply 160 Fairview Avenue Suite 72 Hudson, NY 12534 518.828.1083

Lowe’s Garden Center 1941 South Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 845.298.4720

Lowes.com

H Houst & Son Inc. 4 Mill Hill Road Woodstock, NY 12498 845.679.2115

Housthardware.com

The Phantom Gardener 6837 US-9 Rhinebeck, NY 12572 845.876.8606

ThePhantomGardener.com

This one-stop shop for all your gardening solutions also offers gardening events including classes and hands-on workshops throughout the year.

Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center

600 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.0166

WardsNursery.com

Carr Hardware 547 North Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.443.5611

CarrHardware.com

Monticello Farm Home & Garden 420 NY-17B Monticello, NY 12701 845.794.6457 nail salons

Gel Nails 300 Fairview Avenue Hudson, NY 12534 518.671.6666

Nail Art 160 Fairview Avenue Suite 118 Hudson, NY 12534 518.828.3130

Lux Spa Nails 28 Grandview Avenue Catskill, NY 12414 518.943.7000

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Ashley’s Nails 1104 Dutchess Turnpike Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.635.1392

LJ Neon Nails Salon 196 Main Street Saugerties, NY 12477 845.247.7303

Luxury Nails & Spa 489 Pittsfield Road Suite A136 Lenox, MA 01240 413.344.9162

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You’ll feel like royalty the moment you walk in thanks to this nail spa’s zen-like vibe, elegant décor and nonstop pampering.

Polished 264 West Housatonic Street Suite 4 Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.464.8016

PolishedNailandSpa.com

Noel Vincente Salon 57 Forestburgh Road Monticello, NY 12701 845.794.4553

Pool Service

Majestic Pools & Spas 5 Apple Meadow Road Hudson, NY 12534

518.822.1082

MajesticPoolsandSpas.com

Dutchess Pool Pros

Serving Dutchess County, NY 845.436.3358

DutchessPoolPros.com

Holland Pools 46 Noxon Road

Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

845.485.3434

HollandPools.net

This family-owned and operated shop handles all residential and commercial pool needs, including installations, renovations, residential and commercial maintenance, sand blasting and much more.

Rainbow Pools & Spas

1807 NY-52 Fishkill, NY 12524

845.896.8320

RainbowPools.com

Chuck The Pool Guy Serving Ulster County, NY

845.246.4662

ChuckThePoolGuy.org

Berkshire Pools & Patio Co. 996 Pecks Road Pittsfield, MA 01201

413.445.4939

Mountain Pools

257 Tinker Street Woodstock, NY 12498

845.679.7213

MountainPools.com

Happy Penguin Pool Care 28 Dinan Street Beacon, NY 12508

845.219.9515

Pest Control

Meerkat Pest Control

One Taconic Place Chatham, NY 12037 518.390.1002

MeerkatPestControl.com

Thomas Pest Services

205 Fairview Avenue Hudson, NY 12534 518.267.7218

ThomasPestServices.com

Pestmaster Services

15 Barbarossa Lane Kingston, NY 12401 845.340.9700

Pestmaster.com

Best Pest Control

81 Maple Wood Drive Brewster, NY 10509 845.278.8625

GetThePest.com

Action Pest Management

1 Center Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.442.9489

ActionPestVT.com

Serving Berkshire County since 1987, they also have wildlife experts who are trained to remove/trap nuisance pests such as bats, raccoons, woodchucks and squirrels.

Orkin 1186 NY- 9G Hyde Park, NY 12538 845.366.1546

Orkin.com

Tony’s Pest Solutions

Serving Dutchess and Putnam counties 845.905.6336

TonysPestSolutions.com

New Age Pest Control, Inc. 538 Fenn Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.441.9369

Fox Pest Control-Hudson Valley 1944 NY-22 Brewster, NY 10509 914.984.5967

Fox-Pest.com

Heating/Cooling

American Heating & Cooling 1103 Dutchess Turnpike Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.473.1966

American-HeatingAndCooling.com

Rycor HVAC 135 North Chestnut Street, New Paltz, NY 12561 845.742.5110

RycorHVAC.com

Rycor’s team of experts specializes in installing the state-of-the-art energy saving Mitsubishi minisplit HVAC system for optimal climate management and offers a free consultation.

LePrevost Plumbing Heating & Cooling 18 Run Way Lee, MA 01238

413.243.1777

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WTPI Services Serving Berkshire County 413.281.0592 WTPIServices.com

Kool Temp Heating & Cooling 11639 US-9W Coxsackie, NY 12051 518.731.6878

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Long Heating & Cooling 27 Railroad Avenue Hudson, NY 12534 518.822.8716

All Season Experts 799 Main Street Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.285.0219

AllSeasonExperts.com

A-Team Comfort Systems 310 NY-28 Kingston, NY 12401 845.246.5454 ATeamComfort.com massage therapists

Massage By Maren 488 Freedom Plains Road Suite 125 Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.418.2980

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Partner To Heal 436 Main Street Beacon, NY 12508 845.244.1780

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Hudson Valley Body Works 101 Hurley Avenue Kingston, NY 12401 845.331.5759

HudsonValleyBodyWorks.com

Sakinah Irizarry, LMT 382 Main Street Saugerties, NY 12477 845.594.2084

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BODHI Spa 543 Warren Street Hudson, NY 12534 518.828.2233

BODHIHolisticSpa.com

Luna Faun Bodywork & Botanicals

150 North Street Suite 28, Room 1 Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.841.9419

LunaFaun.com

Body & Soul Day Spa 184 Maple Avenue SR23 Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.6465

BodyAndSoulGreatBarrington.com

Founded in 1987, this was the very first day spa in the Berkshires; it’s located in a charming vintage house just outside Great Barrington’s village center.

Woodstock Massage Works 83 Mill Hill Road Woodstock, NY 12498 347.693.9340

WoodstockMassageWorks.com