Happy and healthy New Year!
Gardens are ephemeral. That’s a simple fact, and one I was quickly made aware of by my first job after horticultural school. I was hired by Columbia University to restore, as best I could, the landscaping on a historic Hudson River estate it had turned into a research campus some 30 years pr…
READERS’ COMMEMT
NatureWatch columnist Thom Smith answers reader's questions about the types of squirrels seen in the fall and winter; the ash borer and how to draw birds to heated bird baths.
Not all insects die with the onset of cold winter; many spend the winter over in leaves, under bark, or elsewhere outside. The wooly bear caterpillar, or woolly worm, is the caterpillar we look to for a prediction about the coming winter. The story is the narrower the rust-brown stripe in th…
Garden columnist Thomas Christopher discusses Dr. Enrique Salmón's new book "Iwígara: The Kinship of Plants and People" (Timber Press 2020)" and what we can learn from native people about native plants in our area.
Do not doubt the blue jay! It is a Corvid, along with crows and ravens, and all are well known as intelligent birds. They have helped spread oaks by spreading acorns, and even as intelligent as they may be, blue jays do on occasion misplace an acorn and other seeds, as do squirrels. I imagine that sometimes one may die before gleaning its cache.
“We naturally fear most what we understand least,” explains Merlin Tuttle, “and bats are among the least understood animals.”
Are there any inexpensive bird seed mixes that will attract local birds? Thom Smith says probably not ...
Fear of snakes stems from superstitions, but can stimulate a response that causes panic among some people.
Many of the flowers we plant and treat as annuals in our home landscape are not annuals at all. By definition, an annual is a plant that completes its life cycle, i.e. from seed germination to seed production and death, within one growing season.
In this week's NatureWatch, columnist Thom Smith answers your questions about winterberry; smaller birds "mobbing" larger ones, and when the "snow birds" are expected to arrive.
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PITTSFIELD — Leaders of the Berkshire Museum hope to fully reopen this summer with new gallery spaces and a revamp of its second floor, fruit of a $3.5 million investment of proceeds from its 2018 sale of art.
The final three productions in the Williamstown Theatre Festival Season on Audible will be released this spring.
Send some love, and possibly a smile, this Valentine's Day with a homemade card for one of Berkshire County's seniors. Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc., is asking residents to make and donate Valentine cards to be distributed through the organization's Meals on Wheels Program.
Erin Sherriff's work is art that requires and rewards "close looking."
It requires "forensic attention to detail" as "things often aren’t quite what they seem," says Robert Wiesenberger, associate curator of contemporary projects at the Clark Art Institute, where Sherriff's work is now on view in its public spaces where patrons can view it without admission to the Clark.
Here's what's playing -- Jan. 22-28 -- at movie theaters and on virtual cinemas in the Berkshires and environs. Where films have been reviewed, the capsules include the name of film critic and the day the full review was posted on berkshireeagle.com. All reviews are by Associated Press critics.
Sometimes, you've got to dance with the one who brought you to the party. For me, that would be my trusty crockpot.
My earliest cooking chops were formulated in restaurants on Cape Cod many years ago. At that time, it was almost unheard of to not have New England Clam Chowder on the menu, so I made a lot of chowder in those days.
Here we are at the very beginning of a new year, and so far, it’s not much different from the coronavirus pandemic, socially distanced, isolated old year — although, hope is looming on the horizon.
There was a time in my life when I made a stand for custard over pudding.
Just when New England is at its bleakest, many bright, sunny citrus fruits are at their peak.
If you open my fridge on any given weekday, you will almost always find a dozen hard-boiled eggs and at least one (if not two) cartoons of uncooked eggs.
Need a break from reality? (Don't we all these days ...) Try one of these book suggestions from New York Times best selling author Aimee Molloy.
WEST STOCKBRIDGE — If your children are looking for a new adventure, author Carolinda Goodman suggests looking to the night sky, where once a month a full moon "gleams in the sky."
In Robert Jones Jr.’s “The Prophets,” Samuel and Isaiah are two enslaved men in love on a Deep South plantation. They spend their days caring for the animals in the barn, which has also become their haven. It is where they can be together, where they can retreat into one another for comfort …
WILLIAMSTOWN — During a holiday season when many of us feel isolated, writer Regina Velazquez offers a story that may soothe the soul.
Hello! I’m Aimee, and I’ll be taking over this space once a month to talk about books. I’m a novelist, as well as the author of a few non-fiction books, and my favorite pastime/potentially-most-irritating-quality is constantly telling my friends what to read. The kind people at The Berkshire Eagle are now letting me pitch book recommendations to you, my fellow book nerds of Berkshire County.
Soledad Fox Maura's first novel took 12 years to write.
