Valley Brook Farm

Otsego County, NY. County Road 31 is usually my preferred route to Cooperstown, running down the east side of Otsego Lake. Above the lake is farm country, rich with central New York soil. There are a couple of places along the way that slow me down, rural landscapes that I can't help but admire. Tucked in the lee of a small mountain, under the meadows that descend towards the meander of Shadow Brook, this little farm finds shelter from the winds that push big skies across the central flatlands. I often stop, up on the highway, and let the valley soak in. This land was almost all forest when William Cooper bought it, and sold tracts of land to encourage settlers to migrate to Cooperstown. They broke their backs turning woodlands to fields and cultivated real estate, and the rolling hills around here now are a patchwork of cleared land and leftover clumps of forest islands. Buildings were erected for practical, not scenic,value...sometimes they fit into the landscape, sometimes not so much. There's a lot of homesteads as I travel through, but not a lot of homes. And although my subjects border more on wilder places, I can't help but appreciate the human touch when the elements converge.

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Filename: Valley Brook Farm
Image Size: 4096x1343 / 5.8MB; Valley Brook Fram Copperstown Otsego County farm fields meadow grass valley Shadow Brook
Contained in galleries: Panoramas

Otsego County, NY. County Road 31 is usually my preferred route to Cooperstown, running down the east side of Otsego Lake. Above the lake is farm country, rich with central New York soil. There are a couple of places along the way that slow me down, rural landscapes that I can't help but admire. Tucked in the lee of a small mountain, under the meadows that descend towards the meander of Shadow Brook, this little farm finds shelter from the winds that push big skies across the central flatlands. I often stop, up on the highway, and let the valley soak in. This land was almost all forest when William Cooper bought it, and sold tracts of land to encourage settlers to migrate to Cooperstown. They broke their backs turning woodlands to fields and cultivated real estate, and the rolling hills around here now are a patchwork of cleared land and leftover clumps of forest islands. Buildings were erected for practical, not scenic,value...sometimes they fit into the landscape, sometimes not so much. There's a lot of homesteads as I travel through, but not a lot of homes. And although my subjects border more on wilder places, I can't help but appreciate the human touch when the elements converge.