April might be my husband, Dan’s, favorite month because that man loves nothing more than pulling on work boots and getting the yard and garden beds ready for high spring and summer. On any given Saturday (and Sunday) morning that the sun is shining, he is up and at ‘em, cajoling me off the couch and away from my beloved piles of weekend newspapers and in-progress books. (Truth: I take great joy in slow, hours-long, pajama-clad reading sessions — there’s nothing better.)
But I get it. It’s exciting to feel the natural world rumbling back to life in the shoots and seedlings, color changes and flowering going on all around us. The palpable, unstoppable fecundity that changes the way the air smells and makes my dog run circles around the yard hunting for who knows what.
A house is never done, inside or out. Which is kind of the fun part, right? There’s always room for change or improvement, a tweak here or a new object there, and always, always constant problem solving. We’ve learned a lot over the years, but maybe the one lesson that keeps coming back again and again is that there’s always more to learn and, if you allow it, a lot of joy to be had in the process.
I thought about that a lot when I was interviewing Danielle Rodgers about the home she and her partner, Taber Loveless, renovated — and are still renovating — in Greenport (p. 50). Not only did this clever, intuitive couple unpeel the layers of their circa 1890 home on Main Street, they found ways to bring more layers of local history and beauty into this gorgeous house, too. And honestly, it got me excited about digging into some projects in my own home — a feeling I often have when wandering amid the beautiful garden pieces, pots and objects at Cifarelli’s Nursery, the glorious garden boutique sure to inspire the blackest thumb or biggest couch potato (aka me). If you’re looking for a little spring shot in the arm, senior editor Stephanie Villani got the story on this outdoor-inspirational family-owned local business on p. 78.
When one of my favorite freelance contributors, Beth Ann Mayer, pitched me a story on building your very own U-Pick fruit garden, I was intrigued! Years ago, Dan and I owned a little cottage near the hospital in Greenport (shout-out to Jerry Cibulski for finding it for us!). It had a postage-stamp sized yard but we really made the most of that little space. One of my favorite and most-missed aspects: the prolific blackberry bush we inherited when we bought it. My goodness, that perennial plant gave and gave and gave. I’m truly looking forward to taking the steps and advice in Beth Ann’s story (p. 66) and bringing that berry-good joy back into my life.
And if doing the actual planting isn’t so much in your wheelhouse? Well, hit up the annual tulip festival at Waterdrinker (p. 38) and learn a little more about how this holla-back Holland event began in staffer Parker Schug’s flower-power story.
As per usual, there’s a whole lot more packed into this Spring Home issue of Northforker and I hope you have as much fun getting out there and exploring it all as we did finding it for you.
Wishing you no small amount of spring in your step, North Forkers!
Amy Zavatto
Editor-in-chief
