Editor’s letter:

Welcome to spring! Well, hopefully. There are still early-March snow piles at my house. But I’m sure spring is buried there somewhere.

New spring, new ideas. I’m hoping to spend part of Our Country Home this year looking at, talking about, who we are. What are the deep stories of our communities? A home, after all, is more than the buildings we live in: it’s the place at large. We’re starting off with a meditation on the geography and history of our region. It’s a bit different, and I hope you enjoy it.

But that’s only part of each issue. Our Country Home is about creating our country homes, and along the way we’ll talk to the people who make that happen.

We welcome Chicken Librarian Kristin White, her flock and her homesteading experience to our pages. And photographer Sharon Peduto has graced us with images from her garden and the flowers and vegetables she grows.

Barbara Winfield is back with tips for readying our homes for spring. And we have an interview with garden expert Brenda Miller from Cornell Cooperative Extension on how to launch your own first garden.

And finally, Jonathan Charles Fox is back with beautiful photos from our pandemic fall and winter, to remind us all that there’s so much to love in this world.

Annemarie Schuetz, Section Editor

Our Country Home