Peter Treiber Jr. was at a dinner party in Cutchogue last year when a casual conversation opened an unexpected new chapter in his life, and eventually brought the rhythms of North Fork farming to readers around the world.

Treiber, who co-owns Treiber Farms with his father, met Ana Ratner, founder of The Other Almanac, at the gathering. Ratner already followed Treiber’s farm newsletter and admired his writing; Treiber, meanwhile, had long loved writing about the natural world alongside his work in the fields. Before long, the two decided he should become one of roughly 40 contributors to Ratner’s unconventional publication, a modern reimagining of The Other Almanac.

Now, Treiber is the only North Fork farmer regularly contributing essays to The Other Almanac, a small but growing publication launched in 2022 that blends seasonal observations, farming reflections, recipes, poetry and political consciousness into a distinctly modern publication.

‘The Other Almanac’

To understand why The Other Almanac exists, it helps to untangle the often-confused world of American almanacs.

The oldest and best known is The Old Farmer’s Almanac, first published in 1792 and widely considered the nation’s oldest continuously published periodical. Packed with weather forecasts, planting calendars, folklore, recipes, astronomy charts and homespun wisdom, it has long occupied a beloved niche in rural American culture.

Then there is Farmers’ Almanac, a separate publication founded in 1818. Though similar in style and often confused with The Old Farmer’s Almanac, it is an entirely different company with its own editors, forecasts and readership.

Ratner said The Other Almanac was not created because either of those publications was disappearing. Instead, she saw an opportunity to reinvent the almanac tradition for a younger, more urban and more environmentally conscious audience.

“I love the drawings and the poetry,” Ratner said of growing up reading The Old Farmer’s Almanac. But over time, she felt the traditional almanac format often overlooked issues she cared about most: climate change, small organic farming, migrant labor, biodiversity and the changing relationship between urban and rural communities.

“I wanted to figure out how to get people excited about the plants and animals that thrive here,” she said.

A ‘reimagining of The Old Farmer’s Almanac’

So in 2022, Ratner launched The Other Almanac as what its website calls “a reimagining of the Old Farmer’s Almanac.” Alongside gardening advice and seasonal reflections are “buoyant contributions from climate activists, migrant farmworkers, historians, scientists, sex workers, incarcerated painters, borderland midwives and many more,” according to the website. It welcomes contributors from all over the world, according to Ratner.

Where the traditional almanacs often lean toward generalized national weather predictions and rural Americana, Ratner said The Other Almanac aims to focus more specifically on ecosystems, regional farming cultures and environmental realities unfolding in real time.

“He is so seasonally focused and he pays attention to all the small details in the ecosystem,” Ratner said of Treiber’s work. “Even little changes in the soil.”

Treiber’s monthly farm newsletter already has about 1,300 followers, Ratner among them, and his concise entries for The Other Almanac have become meditative snapshots of North Fork agriculture through the seasons.

‘The month of stark beauty’

In roughly 150 words each month, Treiber blends observation, poetry and hard-earned agricultural knowledge.

“This is the month of stark beauty,” he wrote in February 2025. “The trees denuded, looking like so many roots hung up in the air. Just as it looks most bleak, we hear the song of a bird, awakening something in us.”

For Treiber, 37, the publication offers a rare opportunity to unite two passions that are usually kept separate.

“It’s fun and well put together and I can talk about the farm in a way that’s authentic to me,” he said.

Last week, while grafting pear twigs onto 30 orchard trees north of the farm with coworker and experimental orchardist Benford Lepley — whom Treiber jokingly calls “Lord of the Trees” — he was already mentally composing his next installment.

“First, we decapitate the tree, peel back the bark, tape the branch of the introduced variety … and then paint it with wood glue and outdoor latex paint,” Treiber explained. “We’re creating a cellular contact between the two.”

The family’s certified organic farm grows apples, peaches, blueberries, plums, raspberries, blackberries, eggplant, peppers and lettuce.

Treiber’s July 2025 entry captured the fullness of the season.

“Squash blossoms are peaking open and the bees are lazy with pollen,” he wrote. “Bare soil is but a memory. Vines are unfurling reminding us of the miracle that is soil seed water sun.”

Ratner said contributors like Treiber help broaden readers’ understanding of places often overlooked in national conversations about agriculture.

“I think for some of my readers it would be the first time that they’re realizing there are lots of farms out here,” she said.

The next edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is expected this summer. The 2027 edition of The Other Almanac is scheduled for release in the fall — continuing a centuries-old publishing tradition, but through a very different lens.