The Jiffy: Stories From Upstate New York

Julia Whitney Barnes has had a busy year: three solo shows, and a few other group shows – the cyanotypist, historian, painter, and writer blends the creative practices of the arts and sciences so fluently that she’s become one of my favorite artists.

In this episode, she takes us to two of her shows: “Planting Utopia,” at the Shaker Heritage Society in Albany, N.Y., and “The Botanist at Vassar,” at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center in Poughkeepsie.

To hear my previous episode on Shaker Mother Ann Lee: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/podcast/s/the_jiffy_stories_from_upstate_new_york/shaker_mother_ann_lee_a_true_legend

Follow Julia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliawhitneybarnes

Subscribe to The Jiffy newsletter: https://www.thejiffy.xyz

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

Here at The Jiffy, we're in the throes of Breathless Leaf Peeping Season, and this is when I try to spend as much time in the woods as possible.

I've been following a story about the Zena Highwoods in Ulster County, overlapping the towns of Woodstock, Saugerties and Ulster.

In 2023, developers bought 624 acres here to build a private golf community with villas and a helipad. That was scrapped after public opposition, and its replacement plan is a 30-lot subdivision on about 106 acres on the Town of Ulster side.

The only proposed access is Eastwoods Drive, a narrow gravel road in Woodstock that today serves five homes, and it runs through a critical environmental area full of vernal pools where Jefferson and marbled salamanders breed.

Zoe Keller, a Woodstock resident and an illustrator whose detailed graphite and digital drawings of at-risk species have appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, grew up next to these woods.

Zaneta Sykes, a Filipinx sound artist and nature recordist, spent a year recording this forest on each solstice and equinox.

In this episode, they walk with me through the Israel Wittman Sanctuary, a 123-acre preserve in the Zena Highwoods, to talk about their collaborative project: an album and book called "Invitations from the Land: the Zena Highwoods," released in partnership with the Woodstock Land Conservancy.

UPDATE: Since producing this episode, a public hearing on Zena Development has been scheduled in the Town of Ulster, on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. at the Town of Ulster Town Hall at 1 Town Hall Road in Lake Katrine, N.Y. Zoe says all are welcome and encouraged to attend and comment.

To R.S.V.P. to their September 25 event, "Celebration of Zena: An Immersive Forest Experience," visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-zena-an-immersive-forest-experience-tickets-1992515084254

To learn more about Stop Zena Development, visit: https://www.stopzenadevelopment.org

To follow Zoe Keller, visit: https://www.zoekeller.com

To follow Zaneta Sykes, visit: https://www.soundartmagic.com

The following stories from The Overlook were helpful in producing this episode:

"Zena Homes Returns To Woodstock Planning Board As Opponents Pack Meeting" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-returns-to-woodstock-planning-board-as-opponents-pack-meeting/

"Zena Homes Opponents Regroup As Project Advances In Ulster" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-opponents-regroup-as-project-advances-in-ulster/

"Woodstock Officials Blast Ulster Over Zena Homes Development" - https://theoverlooknews.com/woodstock-officials-blast-ulster-over-zena-homes-development/

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

Coming to you from the Leaf Watch Desk in the Woods of the James Cave Instagram Feed to officially kick off this year's Leaf Watch series!

Every year, at around this time, I travel into the woods to give you breathless coverage of one of the biggest seasons for the Hudson Valley: Leaf Peeping Season.

And we look at the changing of the leaves through the experience of a single leaf, our Leaf Watch Leaf. To vote for this year's leaf, become a Friend and cast your vote. I'll announce this year's Leaf on Sept. 14.

Along the way, we'll hear woodland-related stories, such as how artists Zoe Keller and Zaneta are working to save Zena Woods, and we'll spend time with Julia Whitney Barnes, who frequently travels into the woods to collect specimens for her cyanotypes.

It's all coming soon to The Jiffy, a podcast and newsletter about the arts and sciences of upstate New York. Subscribe to the newsletter here: www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

In the final episode of this year's CSA (A Content Series on Agriculture), I talk with Mary Jo Dudley to learn about the H-2A visa farmworker program.

Last summer, I spent a season at MX Morningstar Farm in Hudson trying to understand how they produce their CSA (a community supported agriculture) share. Part of the answer that season was four guys from Guatemala, who came here on H-2A visas.

I spent time with them in the fields and in the house where they lived, and I sat in on a few interview sessions run by Mary Jo Dudley.

Mary Jo Dudley has worked alongside farmworkers in New York for decades. She's the former director of the Cornell Farmworker Program and now directs Migrant Advocacy and Support.

To get in touch with Mary Jo, you can contact her here: [email protected]

CSA Part 1: "Cow Parade"

https://www.thejiffy.xyz/podcast/s/the_jiffy_stories_from_upstate_new_york/cow_parade

CSA Part 2: "Betsy And Brona"

https://www.thejiffy.xyz/podcast/s/the_jiffy_stories_from_upstate_new_york/betsy_and_brona

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

I took a boat ride out to the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse to catch up with my friend Rodney Russo.

Rodney volunteers with the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society to provide history and information to touring visitors. His station is at the top of the lighthouse, mostly on the catwalk outside the lantern room.

"I walked all through the lighthouse, and then I got up here, and I says, 'Oh, there's nothing better than this,'" Rodney explained.

To book a tour, visit https://halps.org/saturday-lighthouse-tours

To read my recent article about the Hudson Athens Lighthouse preservation project, visit: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/p/hudson-athens-lighthouse-2026-update

Sign up for The Jiffy newsletter here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe

Support The Jiffy by becoming a member here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

Over at The Jiffy Newsletter, I've been working on a series that looks at the culture and industry of the local cinema scene here in the Hudson Valley. I'm calling it "The Jiffy's Summer At The Movies."

In part one, I interviewed Mike Burdge and Diana DiMuro, who closed their Story Screen Cinema in Hudson to much heartbreak for us moviegoers.

In this episode, I sit with Paul Sturtz, co-director of Upstate Films, to learn about how a nonprofit organization stays alive.

You can read my interview with Mike and Diana here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/p/what-really-happened-to-story-screen-cinema

Follow Upstate Films here: https://www.instagram.com/upstate_films

Sign up for The Jiffy newsletter here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe

Support The Jiffy by becoming a member here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

It's part two in this year's Jiffy CSA (A Content Series on Agriculture).

And we're at Hawthorne Valley farm in Ghent, New York, on a day that experienced an "Emergency Heat Warning" declaration from the National Weather Service.

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

Every year, cows across the Hudson Valley skip, prance, spin, and leap into grassy pastures for the first time of the season.

At Hawthorne Valley in Ghent, New York, this event is a rite of spring.

To kick off my annual CSA series (A Content Series on Agriculture), I head to the cow laneway, standing out of the way and hoping Dolomite the bull doesn't run me over, to share the experience of watching cows sprint to fresh grass after an especially long winter in the Loafing Shed.

And to help us experience this more fully, Stacy Szymaszek reads from their poem, "Epilogue: Cow Parade," from their collection "Essay."

You can purchase "Essay" here: https://asterismbooks.com/product/essay-stacy-szymaszek

To learn more about the Hawthorne Valley dairy herd, visit: https://farm.hawthornevalley.org/our-dairy-herd/

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

Independence Day in America, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. I spent the morning riverside at Umpachene Falls with my friend Monique Tyndall.

Monique (Lynx Clan [maternal], Citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans; We’zhinshte-Earth Clan [paternal], Umoⁿhoⁿ) is an Interdisciplinary Cultural Worker. These are her thoughts on "America at 250."

Come sit by the river with us.

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy

While producing an upcoming series on agriculture, I'm sharing this special episode featuring local news and gossip from the Rough Notes newspaper of the 1800s, available through the New York State Newspapers Archive.

I'll be back to normal programming soon.

These news items are from the following issues:

This episode is sponsored by: Reuter's Life Syrup. Discovered by Old Nurse Bertrand, it purges the bowels. It purifies the blood. It invigorates the liver. It heals the kidneys. It strengthens the stomach. Old Nurse Bertrand used to give it away for free to crowds of people outside her house. And now I'm able to give it to you at a discounted price of 10% off your first order when you use code James Cave at checkout. You can find it at Allen Cady, Veterinary Surgeon, Member of the Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Surgeons, Malden Bridge, Columbia County, New York, while supplies last.

Send me a voice note! I'd love to hear from you, and your recordings may feature in an upcoming episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/thejiffy