5 learn & community in Columbia County, New York.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving both counties from its Extension Education Center in Hudson. Programs span agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, gardening, climate change, and 4-H youth development. Master Gardener Volunteers staff a horticulture hotline. Also operates the Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra (Greene County). Active livestock and vegetable specialist support, farm business management, and CSA resources for producers.
The annual Columbia County Fair, held in late August/early September at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Chatham. Features demolition derbies, tractor pulls, agricultural exhibits, 4-H competitions, live entertainment, rides, and local food. A beloved annual gathering of the Columbia County farming and rural community.
A textile arts workshop program on a 200-acre farm in Chatham, Columbia County, 25 minutes from Hudson. Offered by Jill Duffy, specializing in fresh leaf indigo dyeing and botanical printing from plants harvested on the farm. Workshops cover fresh plant dyeing, natural dye science, and sustainable fiber practices. A rare hands-on immersion in living plant dye methods.
Agricultural education nonprofit headquartered at historic Empire Farm in Copake — a 220-acre working farm that once served as the personal residence of Henry Astor. FarmOn! connects the next generation to sustainable farming through its Farm Academy incubator, seed saving and banking program, farm store, CSA shares, cooking classes, and public hiking on 220 acres. Biodynamic seed program sources air-pollinated, open-pollinated varieties. Annual events include Camp FarmOn! and the Hootenanny agricultural festival.
A Hudson Valley school of herbal studies offering foundation courses in Western herbal traditions. Co-founded by Lauren Giambrone who also opened the Good Fight Herb Co. in Germantown. Seeds of Herbalism is a 5-month, 60-hour foundational herbal medicine program taking place in and around Hudson, NY, covering botany, bioregional plant ID, medicine making, first aid, self care, and the cultural and spiritual dimensions of plant medicine. An important regional resource for anyone learning plant medicine in the Hudson Valley.