Essex Farm, Essex, NY

Essex Farm started in 2003 when Mark and Kristin Kimball moved to Essex, NY. They operate a CSA-model farm with help from an always eager rotation of farm hands. The farm is powered by fifteen solar panels, nine draft horses, man-power (ten full-time farmers), and three tractors.

The farm currently cultivates 600 acres of farmland. They use no synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides on any farm crops, and the livestock eats feed grown on their own pastures or supplemented by local hay and local, certified organic grain.

Essex Farm’s Mission

We strive to produce an abundance of high quality food while fostering the health and resiliency of the farm, the farmers, the members, and the community. Our desire is to build an agro-ecosystem that is sustainable economically, environmentally, and socially. We work to make a farm that is better tomorrow than it is today. (www.essexfarmcsa.com)

CSA Membership

Essex Farm sign (Credit: Kristin Kimball) — Essex Farm Sign (Credit: Kristin Kimball)

Essex Farm currently serves over 200 members, and accepts new applicants at any time. Just what does membership in the CSA entail?

Essex Farm offers a year-round, full diet, free choice membership. We produce grass-fed beef, pastured pork, chicken, eggs, fifty different kinds of vegetables, milk, grains and flour, fruit, herbs, maple syrup, and soap.

Members come to the farm on Fridays, from 3pm to 7pm, and take what they need for the week, in any quantity or combination they choose. We sometimes limit scarce items, like maple syrup or the year’s first tomatoes, but most food is available on an all-you-can-eat basis. Members are encouraged to take extra produce during the growing season for freezing or canning, to supplement what is available from the root cellar during winter and early spring.

In addition to food, we offer members the opportunity to hike the farm, visit fields and animals, and join us as volunteers for harvest and field work. (www.essexfarmcsa.com)

For those who aren’t interested in a full share at the farm, you can still stop by the Farm Stand to pick up a few items. The stand is open daily 8am – 6pm and sells seasonal vegetables, eggs, chickens, milk, maple syrup, lard soap, etc.

Additional Resources for Essex Farm

The Dirty Life, a memoir by Kristin Kimball — The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball

Go to Kristin Kimball’s blog (www.kristinkimball.com) or the farm’s website (www.essexfarmcsa.com) to learn more about the farm and membership. If you are interested in becoming a member, please email essexfarm@gmail.com or call 518-963-4613.

Also be sure to check out The Dirty Life, an autobiographical tale of Essex Farm’s beginnings and Kristin Kimball’s transition from city to farm life. Kimball’s memoir continues to generate interest in this Adirondack Coast CSA.

The farm hosts tours and events periodically throughout the year. If you’re interested in a close look at the crops, tools, animals, and farm life in general, then check out their events page to find out about upcoming tours.

Having trained many new farmers during their first decade operating a CSA, the Essex Farm Institute was created in 2013 to formalize farmer training. Learn more at www.essexfarminstitute.org.

How to Find the Farm

Find your way to the farm located at 2503 NYS Route 22, Essex, NY, 12936 using the map below. The farm is only one mile from the Essex-Charlotte Ferry.

View Discover Essex on Lake Champlain in a larger map