Garden Blogger Geography Project
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Or where in the world am I coming from?
Welcome to St. Lawrence County, NY.
Locally the area is called the North Country. The southern section of the county is inside the “Blue Line” or in other words part of the Adirondack Park. The northern border is the St. Lawrence Seaway. Most visitors call the area in between “a desolate nowhere”. But they really don’t know what they’re saying.
I’m from a place where old appliances are mistaken for yard art. Perennials to buy are hard to find. Winter is long and cold and often without snow. Temps can drop to -40 F. so forget the maps that say we’re in Zone 4 – better to say 3 and be safe rather than sorry after those ‘tender” plants die. But we do have some of the world’s best soil. Can you say Madrid sandy Loam? On the other hand there are the clay flats in the St. Lawrence valley. Can you say yuck to the muck? Great for a farmer if the soil dries out enough to get a tractor out without getting it sucked down out of sight.
Talk about deer! how about an average of 3 deer related accdents daily? I once counted 53 deer in one of my hay fields. Turkeys roam in flocks of 40 – 60. We even have Moose moving back to the area. Planting a garden is risky business even in the villages.
Cows out number people.
Downstate residents don’t even know where we are. In fact when I visit other parts of the state I have to say CANADA in order for them to have a clue where I’m from. We have more cows than people. We do have a Wal-mart and Home Depot but they really were built for Canadians, we’re too poor to shop there. Jobs are for the lucky. If it wasn’t for the Universities and government we’d all be eating tree bark.
But as far as I’m concered – there isn’t a better place to live. On a more serious side the text below is something I wrote for a website I designed for the county chamber of commerce. That site is now gone (the chamber redesigned the site after a couple of years when I could no longer maintain it) The chamber site is: North Country Guide I still have a working draft of the old site up at northcountryguide It’s a bit broken since I’ve started to rewrite it again for my own use but you are welcome to look and compare the professional to the homegrown versions.
This is a place that is rugged and wild yet cosmopolitan and “home” to people from all over the globe. We have a long heritage that is tied to agriculture, forestry, mining, and education. Diversity is the best word to describe both the natural and social resources that New York’s north country has to offer.
The St. Lawrence River, it’s river valley, and the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains define the landscapes. This area is large enough to be included in two of New York State’s 11 Regions. While offering some of the most remote wilderness in the Eastern United States, visitors are only a hour away from two of the World’s most popular cities, Montreal and Ottawa.
The common thread weaving the county together is water.
Nearly every community is set along one of the many small rivers that drain the Adirondack Mountains. The educational and governmental heart lies in the center of the county, dairy farms are sprinkled throughout the county, and the southern portion of the county is the gateway to the 6 million acre Adirondack Park. St. Lawrence County truly does have something for everyone. The area has attracted visitors from all walks of life and many never leave. A high ratio of ‘transplants’ have found the North County and help make it a great place to visit and a better place to live.
Images of the Old West can be found at the Frederick Remington Museum and even Buffalo can be seen grazing in pastures. Local farms welcome visitors on ‘Agri-Tours’ and our Amish and Mohawk citizens also invite you to explore their cultures and visit their shops and museums. And don’t forget the Maple Syrup, the area is one of the largest producers in the country. And did I say FISHING? World class by any stretch of the imagination.
Naturally Fun for 200 Years, the county celebrated its incorporation during 2002. Travelers used to bring the trunks and stay for months. Why not do the same now?
If you have any plans on going nowhere this is the place.
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February 11th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Sounds really like my kinda place, John! Plus of course we share a similarly offbeat sense of humour. Nice job and thanks for participating!
February 11th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Good that we all like our own places in the world! We don’t have those sorts of fish in the Humber!
February 11th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Sounds like a wild and untamed kind of place. You are right, there is no place like home, wherever that is for each gardener
February 12th, 2008 at 9:41 am
The north country is amazing. I grew up here, left and traveled the world and came back –nothing is better than this part of our great land. Nice job reminding us of that fact…thanks, mate.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I think I drove through your part of “nowhere” last summer and it sure looked like somewhere to me. But are there more cows than people?
February 13th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Actually, your place sounds like home abroad, at least for my husband who grew up in northern Sweden. If I ever mention ‘good fishing’ to him I won’t have have a problem luring him over the Big Blue
February 13th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
My first vist to your site, and I’ll be back. While googling ‘Canada Lily’ your site came up and I remembered seeing your comments on some of the other, probably Jodi’s blog. That was your site, wasn’t it?
Frances at Faire Garden
February 16th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Your area sounds as rural as where I live. Only we don’t have much livestock. I do enjoy your sense of humor. It makes great reading.
February 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I know just where you are, one county north of my sister and two from me. Sorry we tend to hog all the snow. We’d send lots your way if we could get the lake to cooperate!
Most people don’t understand that we are closer to Ottawa, Monteal and Toronto than NYC – even with the map.
February 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
wiseacre,
Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m glad that Americans don’t know where you live either, so that we Canadians don’t feel slighted when Americans don’t know where we’re from!
I’m envious of the great soil – it makes me sad when I see housing developments going up on fertile soil of the prairies south of us. Don’t they know there are starving gardeners in Africa…I mean northern Canada! I guess you get really cold like us too, though – keep warm down there!
February 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I think this is my first visit here ? .. hard to remember when I have been doing a marathon of blog fascinations with this project of Jodi’s.
I love your sense of humour and by all accounts you need one to live there ? .. just think that your sanity is being saved (slightly above average) with fewer people to drive you crazy ! LOL .. no, cows don’t count !
We had a few winters with very little snow like you .. drought conditions and water restrictions since we moved back from Holland in 1999. Hopefully with this S*#!&%$ !!! load of snow this winter it will ease up a bit more.
You have me hooked .. I have to come back to grin at your dry gravel humour ! And yes, Canadians spell it that way .. you probably know that already ! haha
Joy
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I just saw this now .. I think my head is really in the next galaxy some where wandering around without the body once again !
Thank you for adding me .. but I still can’t find you on Blotanical .. is it me or are you hiding ? LOL
Joy aka
Dollar Store Diva
PS .. catwomen are ‘special” wink wink
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Thanks for the post, Wiseacre – I’ve been reading Kerri and Apple’s blogs for a long time and you are all showing me a whole new world.
Sandy loam is something from books, and -25 F is the coldest temperature in my experience. I gardened with deer for 5 years…now that’s a bonding experience for gardeners!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Jim, thanks for stopping by and saying hello! So you milked cows way up there? I don’t miss the milking either (I think my husband does occasionally), but it was very sad to see the cows go. We especially miss seeing them grazing in the pastures. Most of the small farms in our area no longer have cows. It’s too bad.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and can see where you got your nickname
Did you notice that Jodi has you listed in Buffalo? Seeing where you really are was quite a surprise for me!
It’s a beautiful area. Yes, it’s easy to ‘Luv NY’
March 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I’m finally making my way through these Geography posts, & I’m glad you did one. I had no idea that you were that far north – really it is more like Canada. Although I think it would be fun to see a wild moose, I can’t imagine that they trip lightly through a garden. Deer are bad enough!
March 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Well this is a fun blog, isn’t it? (don’t answer that.) The coldest I’ve ever been was -80 when I lived in Minnesota, but that was the wind chill. I’m sure the actual air temp was only -30 or -40. Not so cold you can’t get the mail. I’d love to visit your area. I once was in Amherst, MA and it was so gorgeous I’ve yet to wash my eyes, but I imagine–from memoirs I’ve read of folks who live in that area–it’s a pretty good life. Better than the cornfields of Nebraska, where I’m marooned with many a cow and bison.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I’ve always been fascinated with folk who live so far north and it makes me wonder how one ends up in a corner of the world like your own? I love cows. Although more cows than people would probably not be my style. The great soil and getting to deer often are quite appealing. I’ve always wanted to visit upstate NY… no real big desire for NYC … but wow- you are really up there. Great post BTW… thanks.
Meems @HoeandShovel
March 6th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Apple and I share a very similar location so I really feel like we’re “neighbors” and I love finding bloggers who understand that NY is actually more country than city. I love to tell people that I live on a road where cows outnumber people by 3 to 1. I’m a perrenial person myself! Love your sense of humor and I’m hooked so I’ll be back…