I sat down this week to peruse and place the big annual seed order, one of the coziest and most delightful of winter tasks. Last year I nestled in close to a warm fire, with wind and snow whipping against the windows, the view a sheet of pure white. This year, not so … [Read more...] about Full and By Farm: Choosing Seeds
Agriculture In and Around Essex, NY
Full and By Farm: Community Thanks
A cold and quiet week has passed at the farm. Entering numbers into computer programs and trying my best to decipher employment tax forms, finally getting to a field plan for next season's vegetables and putting in a potato order (a seed crop that is in drastically … [Read more...] about Full and By Farm: Community Thanks
Surprisingly Warm
"Marco came over [to Essex Farm] this week to teach Ashlee and me how to artificially inseminate dairy cows. I learned several things. 1. A cow’s rectum is a good place to warm your hand. I was in the house when Marco arrived, so threw my big barn parka over the cashmere … [Read more...] about Surprisingly Warm
Going Back to Horse Power
For Essex Farm, "[w]inter is the time we consider what comes next, as a family and as a farm. Mark and I go on a retreat every February, to talk about what we’ve done and what we want to do. But this year we’re starting early. We’re already calling 2012 The Year of the Horse. We … [Read more...] about Going Back to Horse Power
End of the Year at Essex Farm
"It’s been a week of tidying up for the end of the year, both physically and financially. The team put a big effort into moving all the equipment to winter storage, to get ready for the snow and the plowing that comes with it. The popcorn is in, shucked, and drying. The laying … [Read more...] about End of the Year at Essex Farm