“Boy, that’s one good potato” is a sentiment expressed around our house a lot lately. It’s been a few weeks since we dug into the bags of russet potatoes and I haven’t wanted to look back since. Moist, firm, waxy, dry and mealy are the terms bandied about in seed catalogues to describe potato varieties. I have to admit, not being the fine chef that many of you are, these terms have always meant little to me. I’ve simply tried to choose a few varieties across the board to meet all potato preparation needs. However in the last few weeks I have firmly determined that “dry, mealy” is the way to go for me. Whether baked, roasted, mashed or pan-fried these russets have been dry and fluffy, never starchy and undeniably “potatoey” in flavor. Now that I have been won over to the subtlety of potatoes I am going to also put out the other “moist, firm” variety for all of your “moist, firm” potato needs.

The update following last week’s rather controversial and popular farm note is that Hal, along with 4 pigs did make their way to the cooler on Sunday. We had a great amount of help from many friends to get everyone into the barn and hanging in one day. We’ll have fresh pork in the share this evening–roasts, chops, ribs, and hamsteaks–both spicy and sweet Italian sausage to follow next week. There is one package of oxtail for a lucky household, the rest of the beef will be coming down the line.

If you didn’t run into him last week, say hi to Jeff, a student with the St. Lawrence Adirondack Semester who is here for a three week internship. After living in a remote yurt village, the group of students wraps up their program by living and working with small business owners around the park. Jeff has been a huge help during this extremely busy time around the farm, pitching in with winter fencing and water projects, butchering, harvesting and when he isn’t busy with other projects, moving manure around the farm.

In the veggie share this week: leeks, brussel sprouts, kale, celery, parsnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, daikon radish, winter squash, potatoes (two kinds!), sweet potatoes, onions, garlic and kraut.

In the meat share: fresh pork in the coolers, beef and chicken in the freezers. Organ meats, stock, lard and leaf lard still available.

See you all tonight between 4 and 6, we’ll have the fires burning on this cold evening.
Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm