Living Well in Litchfield County, Connecticut

Adrenaline, Excitement, and Camaraderie
By Clementina Verge

Imagine a place without speed limits, where drivers maintain ultimate control of thousands of pounds of metal and hundreds of horsepower. Now imagine doing so at some of the most prestigious race tracks in the world.

This thrill belongs to Lime Rock Drivers Club members whose coveted privileges include private track driving time, car control clinics, hospitality, guest services, terrific camaraderie, and now, expanded reciprocal privileges.

Domestic track experiences at Palmer in Massachusetts, Thompson in Connecticut, and the National Corvette Museum track in Bowling Green, Kentucky, are just the beginning. Members also have access to exciting international outings, including Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife, Ascari, a private race track in Spain’s Andalusia region, and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, home to the Belgian Grand Prix.

“These are bucket list tracks and moments,” relates LRDC member, Torsten Gross. “The club is giving me access to experiences that I normally would not have been exposed to, and expanding horizons and relationships.” 

Throughout the year, LRDC participates in various events, such as a two-day track driving experience at Watkins Glen International, New York. In 2024, members can participate in a UK weekend and enjoy driving on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent, England, followed by the three-day Goodwood Revival. 

Located south of London in Chichester, on the estate of the Goodwood House, the revival is among the world’s most popular race meetings, recreating the golden era of motor sport from the 1950s and 1960s with its incredible array of classic and historic cars, from vintage Ferraris to iconic Jaguars. 

“It may easily be the best party in the world,” conveys Simon Kirkby, internationally-renowned coach and director of Lime Rock Drivers Club. 

The good times continue year-round for members and their spouses. In winter, fun outings include Monza Karting at Foxwoods, the nation’s only indoor karting track. 

Chasing camaraderies and greatness is nothing new at Lime Rock Park. For 64 years, the world-class racing facility in Salisbury has attracted greats including the legendary Paul Newman, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Gordon, and Skip Barber, founder of the distinguished racing school bearing his name.

It is a legacy that the club and its members cherish. The 1.5-mile Lime Rock course looks simple, but elevation changes and seven adrenaline-inducing turns are no easy feat, especially when milliseconds count. A recently-paved, nearly one-mile proving grounds track used for car control, fully-paved paddocks, new restrooms, gardens, ponds, and spectator areas canopied by beautiful trees add practicality and beauty.

Ultimately, Lime Rock allows drivers not only to challenge personal capabilities, but to experience a car’s maximum potential in an ever-changing environment.

“No day on the track ever gets boring because every track has a life of its own,” Gross reflects. “Tracks are living, breathing, changing experiences shaped daily by temperatures, light, speeds, rubber, and other factors. The more tracks you drive, the better driver you become, and that’s really the Lime Rock Drivers Club purpose: 

You will find people here who will nurture you on your journey at whatever point of the journey you’re in. That’s very special. As long as you have a passion for driving, you’re welcome here.” —limerockclub.com —goodwood.com 

A Rambling Garden Is a Tribute To One Couple’s Love for Litchfield and Each Other

By Paul Marcarelli

Photos by Ryan Lavine

Even before Sylvia and Jay Abbott were given keys to Marshfields, Sylvia had her hands in the soil. Elizabeth Renshaw, the elderly owner of the 1790 Litchfield farmhouse, wouldn’t sign the contract, it seemed, until she could observe how this young mom handled herself in a garden.

What Miss Renshaw didn’t know was that Sylvia is fourth in a line of avid women gardeners. Gardening is in Sylvia Abbott’s DNA. 

50 years later, Sylvia is a revered member of both the Litchfield Garden Club and the Garden Club of America, a floral designer, educator, and recipient of GCA’s Katharine Thomas Cary Medal. But her crowning achievement is Marshfields. 

The garden as it appears today began in 1973 with a yew hedgerow separating the yard from surrounding fields. Asked if she had worked from a plan, Sylvia responds with characteristic modesty. “Over time the garden tells you the plan. I just plant things I like.” Marshfield’s plan is to play with your senses: Countless perennials mingle in harmonious profusion, while buzzing pollinators and the susurration of the surrounding meadows whisper permission to touch plants assembled for texture as much as for their visual attributes. And the individual fragrances from heirloom roses, lilac, and mock orange all take over where the others leave off.

A rare private tour with the owners is likely to start in the ancient barn, once Litchfield’s Catholic church, which was moved from South Street after a fire in the 19^th century. There, Jay hosts game dinners with homemade grappa under a sign that reads “No Whining.” 

In Marshfield’s orchards you start to realize just how personal this place is. The old peach tree served as backdrop to Sylvia’s favorite photo of their three grandchildren. The quince tree produces the Abbott family’s favorite Christmas gift of membrillo and Manchego. “The kind of gift that makes it look like you know your stuff,” Jay says with a wink. 

One pear tree has produced just four pears in 50 years. “But we love it,” Sylvia says, patting its trunk for encouragement. And she can’t bear to remove a massive fallen apple tree. “We’ll just see what we can save.” 

Jay then points out a sapling that didn’t take. “This one has to go, Syl,” he says, snapping off a brittle twig for emphasis. 

 “Well, don’t be too mean. Wait and see,” Sylvia replies, still holding out hope. At the mention of a Youtuber that advises against sentimentality while gardening, Sylvia scoffs, “If it’s not personal, what’s the point?” She then indicates a stand of trees and shrubs planted for friends and family near, far, and long-deceased. “That one’s Dot and Clayton’s,” she says. “The one over there we call the Millard’s tree.” She cranes her neck to admire a towering thuja beside it. “Mom brought me that one in a coffee can. And this chestnut tree here went in after a trip to Paris while the chestnuts were in bloom.”

“April in Paris…” Jay whispers wistfully, sharing a knowing look with his wife of 63 years.

In order to ensure this love will live on far into the future, the Abbotts have put 30 acres of Marshfields into a conservation easement with the Litchfield Land Trust. At the parcel’s center sits a pond the couple put in decades ago. “I thought it was nuts,” Sylvia confides, “Then I figured, he doesn’t gamble, he doesn’t drink that much, and as far as I know he doesn’t have a girlfriend, so why not let him have his pond? And anyway, he promised me an island. How many people get their own island?”

A Locavore’s Guide to Mushroom Cultivation and Foraging

By Zachary Schwartz

Litchfield County is not a meteorological monolith. The region hosts a diversity of microclimates across its plentiful hills, valleys, forests, rivers, and lakes. This array of topographies and corresponding weather patterns make Litchfield County an agricultural heartland. In more recent years, one particular genre of farming has exploded in popularity: mushroom cultivation and foraging. Seen everywhere from farmers markets to viral TikTok videos to the HBO hit TV show “The Last of Us,” mushrooms are having a moment.

From Kent to Colebrook, it’s common to identify fungi like morels, chanterelles, amber jelly, puffballs, and turkey tails along forest trails and fields. Mushrooms vary based on characteristics like color, shape, texture, gills, pores, location, spore print, and cap color. There are thousands of species of fungi, and many can be found here in the Litchfield Hills.

In Northwest Connecticut, mushrooms grow all year, though they fruit most frequently in spring and summer. According to horticulturist and forager, Rana Justice, September is the sweet spot for regional fungi growth, particularly for maitake, lion’s mane, and chicken of the woods. She teaches interactive mushroom inoculation workshops at Husky Meadows Farm in Norfolk through their Seed & Spoon culinary program. Students learn how to inoculate logs in the farm’s mushroom yard, then enjoy a meal of mushroom dumplings, crostini, and tea.

Mushrooms offer significant health benefits, including gut microbiome cleansing, cardiovascular support, and energy-boosting traits. “Years ago I started to learn about medicinal mushrooms, like reishi and chaga. All of these mushrooms around us have such a mental and physical health benefit,” says Justice. She forages reishi and chaga locally to be dried, steeped in hot water, and then drained as tea, which can be optionally sweetened with Connecticut maple syrup. They can also be dehydrated, soaked in grain alcohol, and then distilled into anti-inflammatory tinctures. Of course, they can be plucked, sliced, and simply pan fried for a salubrious treat. Aside from edible consumption, mushrooms are touted as a new frontier for sustainable production, as seen through designer mushroom leather handbags from Hermès and Stella McCartney, compostable Styrofoam replacements, and psilocybin used for psychological therapy.

Cultivating gourmet mushrooms at home is low effort and requires short timelines. Beginners can purchase mushroom blocks of mycelium-infused sawdust online from Maine at northspore.com, or from local growers like mushroom expert Gerry Moerschell of CT Wild Harvest. When placed on a kitchen counter and exposed to air and water, mushroom blocks will yield fresh shiitakes to cook at home. “Growing mushrooms is fun and unlike anything else. It’s rewarding, and they sprout fast,” says Moerschell.

As taught through courses at Husky Meadows Farm, intermediate growers can harvest dried tree logs, inoculate them with mycelium substrate, protect them with organic paraffin wax, and then set them aside in a shaded, humid, and wind-protected outdoor area. “One of the best ways to get started at home is to grow mushrooms on logs outside. The best ones specifically for our area are shiitakes and oysters because they grow well around here,” says Moerschell.

When it comes to foraging mushrooms locally, Justice and Moerschell recommend a handful of best practices to abide by. Only forage if you know the exact mushroom type. Forage sustainably, and always leave some mushrooms behind to support the local ecosystem. Check multiple resources before consuming to avoid poisonous varieties, and don’t eat if there is any hesitation. Importantly, consider taking a course with a local mushroom foraging specialist or mycologist, and then get to foraging in the woods of your own backyard.

Off-the-Beaten-Path Entertainment

By Clementina Verge

Photo by Sarah Farrell

On a narrow backcountry road in New Milford, you’ll find an art center whose motto—”Come curious. Leave inspired.”—does just that considering the long and impressive lineup of entertainment luminaries it has hosted for more than 70 years. 

Upon its inception in 1952, the Merryall Center for Arts began as a private, social club-like gathering place uniting area residents and weekenders from New York City, reminisces board member Dean Gray. Since then, it has morphed into a cultural hub for Litchfield County, featuring eclectic and cutting-edge programming from various genres, including theater, musical performances, film, and lectures. 

 “We don’t know of any other place like this,” notes Gray. “It’s a really sweet spot off the beaten path and we want to invite more people to discover it.”

Those who have graced its stage include artistic greats like Academy-award winning actor Fredric March, legendary contralto Marian Anderson, singer Eartha Kitt—once called “the most exciting woman in the world”—and lawyer and author, Jeffrey Toobin. 

When its 2024 season begins in May, the Merryall will feature three Connecticut-premiering musicals produced off-Broadway and regionally, along with instrumentalists and composers. Also gracing the stage will be singer/songwriters including Nick Petrone, Violet Willows, and Caravan of Thieves, along with contemporary classic composer Gregory Mertl and—hailing from Kyoto, Japan—world-music guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto. 

From jazz, to folk, pop, and classical, the diverse musical offerings represent not just the alluring power of sound, but capture the community’s tastes and interests, notes board member Rob Brereton, a worldwide performer considered to be one of the pioneers in contemporary mountain dulcimer playing. 

With a seating capacity of only 75, the center fosters intimate and energizing experiences.

“The audience enjoys sitting in the same room with an artist, becoming part of the art. Afterwards, artists stay and interact,” explains Ellen Corsell. “It’s a rare, personal connection.”

Sipped under sparkling lights, a glass of wine enjoyed on a beautiful deck overlooking the Aspetuck River is part of pre-performance magic, says Gray, adding that the building has undergone continuous improvements since its origins.

In the 1960s, a stage was added, the heating and plumbing systems were improved, and a lavatory, terrace, and kitchen were installed. Continuous use took its toll and in the 1990s, the building nearly succumbed into the Aspetuck River. Saved by a state grant, total rehabilitation included a new foundation and basement. Improvements continue even today, with new curtains and a computerized lightboard controlling the new theatrical lighting system currently in the works. The nonprofit relies on its patrons and donor generosity as much as ever—every dollar bringing “more music, more theater, more joy.” 

“It really is a place like no other, a one-stop for all entertainment,” remarks Gray. “You don’t need to drive to Boston or New York. You can enjoy it all right in our own beautiful backyard. You’d be hard-pressed to find another place as diverse and accessible to everybody.” ––merryallcenter.org

KMR Arts presents The Spell of Time by Andrew Moore. Opening reception and book signing with the artist, Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2-5pm.

Andrew Moore describes his work: “Here is a forest wading into a river. Here, a tangle of saplings penning a private script. Here is an artist in the act of making a landscape, a picture that feels familiar—didn’t Cole paint that? Didn’t Church? The first American painters in the Hudson River Valley saw the landscape as uniquely wild, a sublime symbol for the vast wilderness of the so-called New World. This world was not new, not wild, not, in the end, even that vast. Images of it went from mysterious to familiar with astonishing speed—until the actual landscapes came to resemble folding picture postcards of themselves. Today, any instagrammer can put herself in the picture. The Hudson River Art Trail offers signage at trailheads saying ‘Step into a landscape painting.’ Snap, tag, post—I was here—and then we too become one more piece of digitized data, one more ghost in the machine.”

Moore’s work is represented in public collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, among others. Four monographs of his work have been published: Inside Havana; Russia Detroit Disassembled and Andrew Moore: Cuba. 

2 Titus Rd, Washington Depot, kmrarts.com

By Bosco Schell

Photo by Zandria Oliver

Where should you go to see a close up of the difference between a gray squirrel and a flying squirrel, the wingspan of a red-tail hawk, and the nest of a Baltimore oriole? To the Pease Museum of Natural History at the Douglas Library in North Canaan. 

In the library’s airy ground floor in a white clapboard building on Main Street, neatly arranged books dominate. Head up the stairs in the back, and suddenly you are in a world of warblers and wood mammals, butterflies and hummingbirds, raptors and reptiles, all beautifully mounted in glass cases and on the walls. 

Charles H. Pease (1867-1953), a prominent local printer and publisher, wrote in his diary that around 1892 he came upon the colorful remains of a red-winged blackbird and decided he needed to preserve it. He found a taxidermy text and was off with a new hobby. “My collection grew until I had more than 100 specimens,” he wrote. To house them he made a deal with the town fathers in 1925: if they built an upper story on the addition for the new library building, he would give his collection to a natural history museum, on condition it accepted donations from others. And so, the museum grew.

Says librarian Norma DeMay: “Today school classes come to study it, artists make sketches. It is a unique representation of local fauna.” —douglaslibrarycanaan.org

By Sean Kunic

Samplers are more than thread stitched through cloth. As objects of art, samplers tell stories of creativity, instruction, and skilled work. As historical records, they document the lives and experiences of thousands of young women, histories that might otherwise remain unknown. As one of the rare samplers known to have been made by African American girls, the Heuston Genealogy Sampler does just that.

Measuring 17.5” by 29.5” in its frame, this large sampler was created by one of the children of Mehitable and Francis Heuston, a free Black family living in Brunswick, Maine. Through marriage, birth, and death dates, the work records the family, but also showcases the practice and skill of the girl who made it. 

Known abolitionists, the Heustons aided African Americans escaping slavery. Today, the Heuston Burying Ground is a part of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing.

The Heuston Genealogy is just one of the many samplers included in the Litchfield Historical Society’s latest exhibit With Their Busy Needles: Samplers and the Girls Who Made Them. This new show features works from the sampler collection of Alexandra Peters, displayed alongside Litchfield examples from the Litchfield Historical Society’s textile collection. Peters, a sampler historian and collector, serves as guest curator of the exhibit.

With Their Busy Needles is on display April 26 through December 1, 2024 at the Litchfield History Museum. Admission to the museum is free. —litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org

By Kerry Conroy

Situated on 125 acres in Litchfield, Forman School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students with identified learning differences, such as dyslexia, executive function difficulties, and/or attention deficits, in grades 9-12 and PG. The school’s expert faculty deliver unparalleled education to 215 academically-motivated students. Forman has a 100 percent college placement rate and prepares students to become educated, confident, self-advocates throughout life.

Adam K. Man started as the ninth Head of School in 2008 and will retire at the end of this school year as the longest-standing Head of School in the Housatonic 13. Man advanced the school’s mission, cultivated an environment where students with learning differences thrive, fostered a community grounded in core values of truth, respect, and kindness, and transformed the campus footprint. 

Amy Clemons will join Forman as the tenth Head of School on July 1. Clemons brings with her a considerable amount of independent school leadership. She currently holds the position of the Head of School at Woodlynde School, an independent day school in Strafford, PA, serving students in grades K-12 with learning differences. 

“The concept of educating the whole person, forming minds and hearts, has driven my commitment to education over the past 24 years,” Clemons says. “It will be an honor to serve the Forman community.” —formanschool.org

Charles Dubow

One visit to New Milford’s Good Eats Restaurant & Bar is enough to convince any diner why it deserves being voted into Litchfield Magazine’s Reader’s Choice issue for two years in a row. Under the ownership of Edward Maynard and Brian Cabrera, chef Kevin DeLuca’s inventive spin on traditional American food makes everything that comes out of his kitchen special. Take, for example, the humble pita; in his hands this pillowy, chewy bread comes out grilled and served with a side of whipped butter, honey, radish, and Maldon salt. So simple yet so creative. Similarly, his pork belly “Scotched Egg”with daikon radish and honey crisp apple elevates this pub staple to gourmet levels. Even his hamburger, served with cheddar cheese, house-made kimchi, Asian pickles and scallion ginger aioli, is utterly unique and absolutely delicious. The same can be said for everything else on the menu. 

DeLuca’s interest in imbuing Asian flavors into his cooking grew from his time working under James Beard-nominee Doris Choi at Silvia in Woodstock. “I’ve become more adventurous since we opened and our guests seem to like it,” he says. “We change our menu quarterly and spend a lot of time tweaking our dishes to get them just right.” At this rate I expect Good Eats to keep winning a Reader’s Choice award for many years to come. Open for lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch. 

300 Kent Road, New Milford, goodeatsrestaurant.com, 860-799-6611

Litchfield County, Connecticut is magical all year, but especially so as everything comes back to life each spring. Here are 25 fun things we can’t wait to do in Litchfield County this spring!

1. The town of Kent has planted tens of thousands of daffodils. Enjoy shopping, dining, and art galleries while enjoying the narcissus. kentct.com/daffodil-daysKentct.com for more info.
2. For a powerful nature fix, Kent Falls inside Kent Falls State Park is never more impressive during the spring runoff. But please resist getting into the water. It is dangerous.
3. ALL the peonies are at Cricket Hill Garden in Thomaston … so many they’ve dubbed it Peony Heaven. 
4. Baseball season beckons. Take the family, or yourself to the Hit Club in Thomaston where you can hit 90 minutes for just $10.  
5. Naturally, the season calls for spring rolls. Try takeout from Thai Charm, or sit inside their cute orange Colonial along Kent Rd. in New Milford. 
6. The time is ripe to join a CSA. Search the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s CT Guide for the farm closest to you.  
7. There’s never an off-season for antiquing. Consider Charles Haver in Roxbury for a curated experience, and Housatonic Trading Co. in Bantam if you want volume.

   

8. For a less commercial brush with history, make an appointment to tour Seven Hearths, the pre-Revolutionary house museum in Kent.  
9. Try to fly fish or keep your canoe afloat at Housatonic Meadows State Park. 
10. Hit up Natureworks Garden Center in Northford for monarch-attracting plant seeds and all the advice you’d ever need to grow butterflies. Start now, and you’ll have plenty of flittering visitors come summer.  
11. See if you can spot the Blue-winged Warblers nesting in Southbury’s Bent of the River Audubon sanctuary.  
12. Shopping in New Preston is always a delight: Pergola, Privet House, Plain Goods, J. Seitz, The Smithy, Dawn Hill Antiques, DK Schulman… just make sure it’s not a Tuesday—that’s the day they’re all closed.

    

13. Don’t miss out on the annual Library Luminaries fundraiser for Gunn Memorial Library on June 8.
14. Fork over a $10 donation to take in all that is spring at the Hollister House Garden in Washington.
15. Celebrate the 7th Annual Spring Arts and Fine Crafts Show at Merwinsville Hotel in New Milford on April 26-28 and May 3-5.
16. Libraries are brimming with virtual events… gardening how-to sessions, and book talks. Check the calendar of the one closest to you.
17. Stop by the fourth annual Litchfield Art Festival featuring fine functional art and fine non-functional art. Free and open to the public.
18. Fish, hike, or picnic in one of the 25 preserves maintained by the Roxbury Land Trust. 
19. Practice for summer with a flight of four handcrafted beers at Housatonic River Brewing.
20. Don’t miss the gardening lover’s weekend of the year at Trade Secrets at Lime Rock Park. This philanthropic sale draws more than 60 vendors—specialized growers, small nursery owners, antique dealers, and artisans…with proceeds going to Project SAGE in northwestern Connecticut.

    

21. Bring your camera to Wigwam Road in Litchfield on a sunny day in April or May and take a walk through the 15 acres of daffodil plantings at Laurel Ridge Farm. 
22. Enjoy the sounds, sights, and smells of spring on a boardwalk hike through the wetlands at White Memorial Conservation Center.
23. Enjoy a picnic at one of our many wineries. Hopkins Vineyard, Spring Hill Vineyards, and Sunset Vineyard are some of our faves.
24. Support our local restaurants. Many have outdoor seating and provide take out.
25. Enjoy an ice cream cone! Arethusa Farm Dairy in Bantam is a very popular spot. People literally line up around the building. Peaches N’ Cream in Litchfield is another family favorite.

By Brandee Gilmore