Today on 𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒫𝓇𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈 ✿ @loamlove & @amiriofreeman 📚🌱
Kate Weiner and Amirio Freeman found each other as collaborators on this very platform, almost a decade ago. Since then their creative partnership has expanded, and they have *a lot* to say about IRL publishing as a tool for resonant connection, embodied inquiry, and climate resilience. Read our full convo on dark.properties ✿ or at the 🔗 in bio 📖
UPDATE: applications closed! Thanks all.
New opportunity 👩🏻🌾: 2026 Gardener(s) In Residence at @strangefound x @moonrockflowers ! 💐
As we’ve stewarded The Strange since 2019, we’ve evolved our focus to serve ecological practitioners. At the same time, we’re cultivating this plot of Catskills land to be ever-more beneficial as habitat for native species, and as a regenerative space of floriferous beauty—now even offering a floral CSA via @moonrockflowers . With this in mind, we’re seeking a few plant-and-flower savvy individuals to come stay here and help out with the gardens during the 2026 growing season (roughly May–October).
While this is a niche opportunity, it could be a transformational experience for the right person/people. (PS, we will also be opening up apps for week-long Regenerative Retreats soon—those will exist alongside this offering, without the work-trade layer. So if gardening isn’t your thing, stay tuned for that!)
For more info + to apply, head to thestrange.foundation/gardener-in-residence 🐝🌱🌻 and thanks for sharing with your planty people! 💞
Today’s @dark.properties dispatch is a diaristic essay by artist and horticulturist @cortnet_ , who stayed in one of the @strangefound cabins for a month this summer as a gardener-in-residence. In the essay, C.C. reflects on the death of a toxic gardening job, and digging into a strange garden as a way to re-find herself. Read the full essay + subscribe at the 🔗 in bio. ☀️ ☁️
🌿Weeds aren’t an enemy, they’re the beginning of something beautiful. 🌾✨
@rewildyourcampus co-directors Mackenzie Feldman & Sheina Crystal were residents at @strangefound recently, and while on-site in the Catskills, they spoke with @willak of the @dark.properties newsletter about all the reasons why campuses should trade pesticide-laden lawns for vibrant, biodiverse landscapes.
We’ve pulled a few choice quotes from the piece above, but recommend reading the full interview to learn more about what it takes to transition away from toxic sprays towards healthier people, plants, and soil. Link to full piece is in @dark.properties ’ bio!
We’re back with a new offering for spring + summer 2025! Announcing…
✿ 𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓈 ✿
𝐀 𝐃𝐈𝐘 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬
This opportunity is for the stewards, growers, and protectors among us; the ones who point to Earth as a singularly abundant treasure. As you support our planet, we want to support you.
Help spread the word to your most strategic, imaginative, ecologically-oriented pals who could use a restful stay in a cozy cabin in the Catskills.
More info at the 🔗 in bio.
🌷 Apply by March 9! 🌷
I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of @zoeschlanger ’s new book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘌𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, and: The groundbreaking scientific discoveries chronicled in this enchanting, page-turning book blew my mind in all the right ways, even causing me to audibly gasp several times. Zoë has traveled the world to speak with cutting-edge scientists whose collective revelations compel us to rethink our assumptions about plants—that they are docile, simple creatures that mindlessly grow where their seeds land—and instead to understand them as beings with agency, fully capable of intelligently, creatively adapting to their surroundings in order to improve their own circumstances. I hope you’ll read our interview (originally published on @pioneerworks , and included in my newsletter today) as an appetizer to the ideas in the book, and then hustle over to preorder your copy, out from @harpercollins on May 6! ((conversation 🔗 in bio 🌱))
To be blunt, lawns suck. Happily, ecologically attuned people are discovering the benefits of instead installing a garden of native plants, which can keep yards low-maintenance, save water, prevent erosion, and support biodiversity. Designer @elanaschlenker has spent the last ~6 years doing just that in her Pittsburgh yard, and the resulting glow-up (slide 3) showcases the dramatic transformation. For this week’s newsletter, we chatted all about how she learned to garden, how she first dug into this long-term undertaking, and what she’s learned along the way. Thank you, Elana! <3 🌳🌾🌻🍂 (link to read + subscribe in bio)
Today’s dispatch is a grounding conversation with climate journalist and artist @mekdela.maskal 🔥💌
Mekdela was slated to be a @strangefound resident back in the spring of 2020, but multiple health crises—personal, collective, planetary—unraveled our plans, and called her to move back to Northern California. Lately she’s been working for @coveringclimate , a journalism project cultivating “a community of practice around climate journalism that anyone can tap into.” She’s also been learning about fire as a tool for sacred, ceremonial healing (for wildfire-prone land, but also for people), and creating process-driven artworks in dialogue with the land she calls home.
Read the full conversation at the link in bio 🦅☀️〰️
DISPATCH #3: Jungwon Kim (@jungwon217 ) uses organizational strategy and storytelling as a way to seed transformation. 〰️
If you struggle to see how you can help “build a better world” as you go on working and practicing your craft, this interview is for you. Hint: It’s all about finding ways to locate yourself within your own personal ecosystem(s) of change. I’m excited about Jungwon’s approach—largely inspired by Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Ecosystem model—which compels us to be intentional about the people and organizations we align ourselves with, and to see ourselves as a piece within a larger, interdependent puzzle. Read the full interview & subscribe to future Dark Properties dispatches at the link in bio. 🌱
The wonderful @pineywoodatlas has launched a brand new book cataloguing small, emerging, and unconventional residencies in the Northeast US! 📘🌎
We’re so honored to be featured within this gem of a publication, among 17 other wonderful and creative residencies—all of which @t0ldi and @carolina.picante visited to experience and document on an epic road trip. For their profile on @strangefound , they talked to our director @willak about our strange history, what we’re trying to do here, and why the name “Strange Foundation” (see last slide for a hint). 💫
Also: you may have noticed we’re pretty quiet lately, so we wanted to let you know that we’re taking this pandemic year off from residency-hosting to work on/grow some other things that needed attending to. We plan to be back to hosting residents in the spring of 2022, so stay tuned—and thanks for all the support along the way! 🌸
You can grab a copy of the new @pineywoodatlas , plus their other excellent books sharing more residencies across the US, via their Instagram bio link or via @flower.press 💕
⚡️SOS: Help save The Strange and Catskill Forest Preserve! 🚨
🤬 A for-profit company from California has made an ill-conceived proposal to flood our valley and build a massive 300-foot dam and 220-acre industrial reservoir that would be connected to the Ashokan Reservoir for the purpose of hydroelectric energy storage. This proposal would unnecessarily destroy highly preserved land, streams, and wildlife in the protected Catskill Forest Preserve, displace our community, threaten NYC’s drinking water, and overall does NOT represent the kind of forward-looking green-energy project that this country needs. While hydroelectric energy storage *will* play a key role in getting NYS to 70% renewable energy by 2030 (a goal we at The Strange are huge supporters of!), these kinds of projects should be located in areas that do not devastate constitutionally protected wilderness and wreak havoc on delicate ecosystems and entire communities.
✏️TAKE ACTION: Right now we need as many people as possible to write quick letters of opposition to FERC, asking them to reject this proposal. We’ve created a sample letter you can use to easily make a comment online in fewer than 5 minutes. Head to the link in our bio to help @SaveCatskillsPreserve and save The Strange from being claimed by eminent domain, bulldozed, burned, flooded, and lost forever!
🎥 Video by Larry Fessenden; drone footage shot above The Strange; river footage shot by @willak up Moonhaw Road 💚
🌎 Earth 1.0 resident spotlight: Gabriella Demczuk (@gdemczuk ) is a Lebanese American photographer whose work looks at the effects of politics and policy in shaping a community, specifically related to migration and the environment. Based out of Washington, D.C. and often working on assignment for places like @nytmag , @nytimes , @time , and @washingtonpost , she’s photographed everyone from Trump to Colin Powell to Kamala Harris—but her passion is documenting our shifting environment. After spending a week at Strange HQ decelerating, we asked her advice for others looking to slow down. Her thoughts: “Cut out the noise and work on something that gives you hope.” 💚💚💚
