At this point in our farm’s life there is no such thing as being truly prepared for winter. With our swiss cheese barn siding, missing window-panes and more than a few questionable corner posts it’s still a finger-crossing season for us. Every year though we are a little more prepared with improved winter animal housing, better access to water and another season of work stabilizing on one or more of the buildings. We get a little farther ahead on field work each season too, better preparing the soil for a winter of blowing winds and laying the groundwork for a jump start on next year’s mud season.
We’ve spent a week checking little last things off of our winter list. Preparing the round bales at the field edges for feeding out, moving the horses to their winter pasture and setting up frost-free water. Swapping the heifers in the barn for the bull, taking down thousands of feet of fencing and picking up and washing out all of the buckets, hoses and feeders that were used throughout the season to be stowed in the granary. Abbie has been no small help this last week, jumping right in to whatever project we throw at her and doing it thoroughly to the end.
Celeriac–one type of Full and By’s current produce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you haven’t done so already chime in on Abbie’s semester project looking into the local food movement. She is interested in hearing from you on what you see as the costs, benefits and ethics of this movement. She will be at pick-up tonight or email her at ammciv10@stlawu.edu.
The Farm Shares
In the veggie share: brussel sprouts, leeks, kale, winter squash, cabbage, celeriac, beets, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and sage. Coming soon: more new roots.
In the meat share: Beef, pork and chickens all in the freezer. Coming soon: scrapple and leaf lard
Egg share: we are still rich in eggs, take extras if needed.
Sara Kurak is one of the owners and operators of Full and By Farm in Essex, NY. She shares updates from the farm with her CSA members and also contributes those letters to the Essex on Lake Champlain Blog to share the news with a wider audience. Learn about farm life week-to-week through her reports!
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