How do you celebrate spring?
With foot-stomping music, seeds for your garden, a petting zoo with baby goats and calves, and a rhubarb-baking contest! All of this and more will be happening at the Spring on Main street fair in Margaretville this Saturday May 9th, from 10 am to 3 pm.
Music
The Tremperskill Boys will entertain from 10 to noon, then again from 1 to 3 pm, and since it’s virtually impossible to keep your feet still while they’re fiddling, Main Street will be closed to vehicles to accommodate dancing.
Activities for Kids
Children are invited to a free Mother’s Day gift-making workshop at the Catskill Artisans’ Guild, which is located inside the Commons Building. Story Laurie and Ira McIntosh will spin stories from noon to 1 pm. The Margaretville Fire Department will wow little ones with their shiny new fire truck and tot-sized firemen’s hats. At the petting zoo, small guests will enjoy meeting their furry counterparts, kids and calves, tended by Dirty Girl Farm of Andes and Crystal Valley of Halcott Center.
Activities for Grown Kids
The Middletown Historical Society will enlighten visitors with “Pop Up History” at various sites on Main Street throughout the day – check their booth for times and locations. Vendors are selling a wide selection of local, handmade goods. And up the road a piece, the Open Eye Theatre is hosting a rummage sale.
Food
Come hungry, because the culinary arts will be well represented at the fair. Sample toma celena—a cheese made in Cooperstown—at the Cheese Barrel. For the main course, you might enjoy Aba’s Falafel, or the firemen’s famous chicken. Margaretville’s wonderful restaurants will be open if you prefer to rest your dancing shoes awhile. For dessert, try some Lazy Crazy Acres gelato, or sweets from Girl & Bee and Catskill Candies and Confections. At 2 pm, you can swing by Home Goods of Margaretville to find out who won the rhubarb baking contest.
Gardening
Stop in at the Transition Catskills tent (we’ve asked for a place next to the baby goats). We’ll show you how to easily create a raised bed garden using hay bales and the sheet composting technique, which allows you to construct a garden and plant it in one day—even on hardpan.
We have a limited supply of seedlings to give away (if the goats don’t eat them). The seedlings are French heirlooms known as The Monster Spinach of Viroflay. Think Popeye with a beret. We’re also giving away the following heirloom seeds to try in your garden:
- Pencil Pod Yellow Bush Bean – traced back to the year 1900, plants produce yellow pods, green leaves and black seeds. The flavor of these beans is sweet and juicy.
- Tendergreen Bush Bean – this 1922 heirloom has excellent flavor and texture, and the yield is heavy and prolonged.
- Merveille de Quatre Saisons lettuce – so called because this green and red lettuce tastes marvelous, even during a hot summer.
- Strawberry Spinach – an ancient heirloom discovered at a European monastery. The bite-sized leaves taste like spinach, and the tiny strawberry like fruit that grows at every leaf axle adds a bright decoration to salads.
- The Monster Spinach of Viroflay – the first mention of this French heirloom was in a seed catalogue in 1866. It features large leaves that remain tender, even when they reach 10 inches. Give this one plenty of room to grow.
Local Wisdom
We’re compiling a free database of tips, tricks and advice specific to the Catskill region. So if you have special know-how you’d like to share—whether it’s about gardening, home maintenance, surviving the winter, or any other area of expertise—come put pen to paper and add your voice to this useful resource.
Transition Streets
Learn about this award-winning program, where neighbors work together to reduce their bills. On average, households have been able to lower their expenses by about $1,000 per year.
Timeline for the future
Part of what the Transition movement strives to do is envision a positive future that is less dependent on oil. If we know where we want to go, we can figure out how to get there. Come scribble on our timeline, write down what you see in your mind’s eye for the year 2030—imaginings both realistic and fanciful—and be part of the process of making your community happier, healthier and better connected.
See you at the fair!