News from the Noteworthy from Sustainable Otsego

Bennett: A Garden Cannot Grow Itself

A garden cannot flourish without love, labor and imagination. The effort put into it is what makes it thrive.

T’nette Kuzminski was a prodigious gardener, of plants and of people. Her love, labor and imagination brought “The Life of the Land” column into being three years ago. Her idea was to write about small family-run farms applying innovative agricultural practices to grow healthy food, and, importantly, affording the farmers a living—something difficult in today’s world of corporate agriculture.

Raised in Manhattan, T’nette fell in love twice in the arboretum while attending Smith College. She loved studying in the Botanic Garden, and she fell in love with Adrian Kuzminski, who visited the college and garden to study with her. Her agricultural and romantic interests bloomed there and continued throughout her life.

She and Adrian married, moved to Hawaii, and lived for several years in an essentially transparent tree house with flora and fauna always on display. In 1980, her agricultural interests expanded when she and Adrian moved to their farm in Fly Creek. As she practiced medicine at Bassett Hospital and Adrian taught philosophy at Hartwick College, they both embraced using their land for sustainable agricultural purposes. Letting it sit fallow was not an option.

T’nette had limitless intellectual interests and deep emotional connections to nurturing and growing things, animal or vegetable. She and Adrian raised sheep for seven years. They raised beef cattle for the same amount of time. They raised ducks, chickens, and Guinea fowl. From her orchids and other lovely house plants to her spectacular flower gardens and her lush vegetable gardens, T’nette relished bringing ideas and things to life and helping them flourish. One idea still going strong is the ongoing Kid Garden at Cooperstown Elementary School that she helped found in 2008, teaching children the fundamentals of plant cultivation while encouraging them to eat their vegetables.

In 2007, in the spirit of improving and protecting Otsego County’s rural environment, Adrian was joined by other like-minded people to create Sustainable Otsego. The organization embraced three guiding principles to influence public policy: sustainable living, economic independence and home rule. All of these ideas resonated with T’nette. After retiring from medicine in 2016, T’nette joined in directing Sustainable Otsego.

T’nette’s goal with this column was to keep Sustainable Otsego relevant in these times. She invited me—Larry Bennett, also a Sustainable Otsego member—to cowrite. Our subjects ranged widely, including regenerative agriculture, high tunnels, fish farming, organic farm education, A2 milk, CSAs, riparian buffers and more. We spent many hours together driving around the county to interview farmers. T’nette nurtured our column, and she profoundly valued the insights of the farmers, agricultural specialists and others who shared their time and wisdom to help build it.

T’nette was like the sun shining down on fertile farmland. Friends and family faced toward her, basking in her warmth. In fact, what T’nette nurtured best of all was loving relationships, with her plants, her writing, and her people. I learned much about gardening from her, and much about farming. Most importantly, I learned how one remarkable person can encourage everyone and everything around her to grow.

Authored by Sustainable Otsego. Since 2007 we have promoted ecologically sound practices – locally, regionally, and nationally. Our platform calls for sustainable living, economic independence and home rule. Visit us at sustainableotsego.net or facebook.com/SustainableOtsego.