Essex, New York Guide and Community Blog
Sara Kurak and James Graves operate the Full and By Farm CSA in Essex, NY, sometimes with assistance from temporary farmhands and interns. Why “Full and By”? What does whimsical term actually mean? Here is the definition: full and by (adv.) [nautical]: Steering as close to the wind as possible while keeping the sails full. Nestled between [...]
We have reached the final pickup of the winter share. As we take a break from distributing the trickling remains of last year’s harvest we’re just getting ready to dig in for the new season. Six cute black and white piglets arrived at the farm last Saturday. They have timidly been exploring their new grounds, [...]
The sugaring season has not quite looked up yet. James was reminding us at breakfast that we are officially half-way through (six weeks is generally the amount of time you have before your tap holes start closing up). We’ve only had two not-so-great runs so far, even the warm days aren’t quite warm enough for [...]
This was the first true week of spring on the farm. A week that saw snow showers, pouring rain, hail, and a mixture of all three falling simultaneously while blue sky and puffy white clouds were visible on the southern horizon—like all of spring was being compressed into a handful of moments or days. The [...]
We had a wonderful Saturday in the woods tapping maple trees up at the Hanna’s. The weather forecast promised a full week of warm days and cool nights, each day perfect for a good sap run. Unfortunately we’ve never quite crept above freezing here, the sky’s been blanketed with thick clouds and the sun has [...]
Planning for the coming farm season is well under way. An idea we are working on is for Nathan and Racey to raise broiler chickens for the Full and By CSA this season on their new Jersey Street farm. This would be a great way for us to focus more of our work hours on [...]
We have membership forms for the 2013 farm season ready today. We will hold space for current members until March 14th, please return your form with a deposit by that date to guarantee a spot. After March 14th we will open the share up to waiting list members on a first-come, first-served basis. It is [...]
The thrill of new snowfall last Thursday came and went quickly. I was coat-less by Monday afternoon’s chores and looking out over brown fields once again, with the worry creeping into my mind of what another dry winter means to our springs high up on the mountainside. The clean, high springs were one of the [...]
I’m back on frozen ground this week and looking forward to a nice snowfall tomorrow. I did manage to focus my attentions through the din of city life and place a big seed order. I have planned for bigger plantings of sweet corn and a special request for curly kale, more spring peas and spinach [...]
I am writing from a long way off this week, with James holding down the fort solo. I brought what work I could with me, seed catalogs and previous years’ field maps and calendars–upsetting the northern farmers’ routine of curling up beside the fire, dreaming of lush green growth and ripe, seeded fruit. Instead I [...]
