Green Living Newsletter

In This Issue:

• DEC at the State Fair
• Featured Hike: Mongaup Pond Campground
• Reinventing Recipes with Scraps
• Conservationist - August Issue
• Upcoming Events

Find Your Adventure at The Great New York State Fair

The Great New York State Fair will run through September 2 in Syracuse. This year, the Fair is hosting Family Fishing Days on Thursday, August 22 and Saturday, August 24. Admission is $1 for anyone presenting a valid New York State sporting license at the gate.

Family Fishing Days are presented in cooperation with DEC, which will operate free fishing clinics in the pond from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the New York Experience festival grounds. DEC provides everything needed including equipment and bait, and kids will have an opportunity to win a prize. On Saturday, August 24 visit and have the opportunity to view the Junior Bassmaster Challenge weigh-in, learn about fishing competitions and view the boats.

After the fishing clinics have ended, stop by the new Expo Center for a free seedling from the Saratoga Tree Nursery, check out an authentic lean-to, talk to a forest ranger, and visit the popular DEC aquarium where visitors can see fish, chat with an environmental conservation officer, and more.

Visit the Conservationist booth, and enter a raffle to win a variety of prizes including a kayak!

Hike of the Month: Mongaup Pond Campground

Sullivan County

Combine hiking with camping at this great location for both. Miles of foot and multi-use trails begin in and around the Mongaup Pond Campground and extend into the surrounding Willowemoc Wild Forest and Big Indian Wilderness Area. Popular hiking destinations include Frick and Hodge ponds.

Not counting New York City’s reservoirs, 120-acre Mongaup Pond is the largest body of water in the Catskill Park. After your hike, cool off with a swim at the campground beach, have a picnic lunch, or go fishing or canoeing around the pond. Canoes and rowboats are available for rent, or there is a cartop boat launch for your own boat. The campground also includes several accessible features for those with mobility difficulties.

Reinventing Recipes with Scraps 

Want to stretch your food budget this summer and reduce your household's wasted food? Ask yourself this question - do I really use the most of my food before I throw it away? Although parts of fruits and vegetables like broccoli stalks, chard stems, and carrot tops are included in the price we pay at the register, they are traditionally thought of as scraps meant to be discarded in the garbage or compost bin (if available). However, many of these seldom-eaten scraps are actually perfectly safe to eat and can be made into delicious dishes with a little thinking outside of the box!

If you want to re-purpose your scraps and use more of the food you purchase, use these tips to help you get started.

Tip #1. Think of the produce you cook with the most - broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. - and look up some recipes that make use of all the different parts of those foods. Keep in mind that although using the parts of a fruit or vegetable might not be ideal for what you're making right now, it can easily be part of another dish later on in the week.

For example, after peeling potatoes to make mashed potatoes, you can save the peels to make crispy, roasted potato peels for a snack during the week.

Tip #2. Plan how you will save scraps for later use. For example, some scraps, like the pulp left behind after juicing, can be saved in the freeze for later use. Others, like seeds and peels, are best re-purposed as soon as possible.

Tip #3. To make sure you don't forget about any scraps you saved to re-purpose and use later, label the scraps with the food name, what you want to use them for, the date you saved them, and the date by which you want to use them. For example, saving broccoli stems for cheddar broccoli soup.

This might sound cheesy, but these recipes are grate!

• Broccoli Tots (uses broccoli stalks)
• Polenta with Mushrooms and Lentils (uses celery stalks)
• Roasted Potato Peels (uses leftover peels)
• Brussel Sprout Chips (uses the tough, outer leaves of brussel sprouts)

Conservationist

Be sure to check out the August issue of Conservationist to learn about a variety of outdoor adventures, and read how DEC is making trails more sustainable to protect our natural resources. The article “A Tall Tale” encourages people to participate in Governor Cuomo’s Catskill Fire Tower Five challenge—a great way to enjoy the beauty of these mountains. Readers can also explore the state’s artificial reefs, read about the white, white-tailed deer in Central New York, and gain a greater understanding of Canada Geese. There’s all this and more in the August issue.

Subscribe online or call 1-800-678-6399 to receive the Conservationist year-round.

Upcoming Events

• Family Fun: Full Moon Walk, 9/14 at 8:30 p.m., Five Rivers EEC
• Brooklyn Bridge Family Fishing Clinic, 9/14 at 11 a.m., Pier 5 in the Brooklyn Bridge Park
• Outdoor Skills, 9/14 at 10 a.m., Reinstein Woods EEC
• 19th Annual Fall Festival, 9/21 at 10 a.m., Reinstein Woods EEC
• 38th Annual Five Rivers Fall Festival, 9/21 at 12 p.m., Five Rivers EEC
• Family Fun: Grasshoppers and Crickets Oh My!, 9/28 at 2 p.m., Five Rivers EEC
• Other Upcoming DEC Events