Your pick-up may be a little faster today, and the roots a little less scrubbed (at negative five the water freezes too quickly to wash in), but dreams of a heated, indoor csa room are extra vivid on such cold, crisp winter pick-up days. James reminds me that in NYC there are outdoor greenmarkets all winter and all day long. Workers stamp their feet and blow on their hands for 12 hours straight before piling themselves into trucks with the heat blasting for their long drives home to upstate farms. The cats seem to be the real winners in this weather—with no living, feeding or working required of them outdoors they spend their days napping behind the wood stove and only when it gets too unbearably hot to stay put, do they slowly crawl out to lay in front of the fire box for a spell.
Farm Volunteers
We have big plans in the next couple of weeks to winnow and thresh dry beans, render lard, grind corn for meal and hand-harvest the field corn to store for the spring piglets. Extra hands are always welcome for this work, it’s amazing how a few additional people can make a huge difference in the time it takes to get this food where it needs to go. If there are any days that you can lend a bit of time to the projects please let us know, we are here and happy for the help!
Rutabaga (Photo credit: Farmanac)
In all of the fiscal cliff and farm bill negotiations that have been going on in Washington and over the airwaves, there have been frequent threats of the potential “doubling of milk prices” if a new farm bill is not passed soon. It is a good reminder that our small-farmer prices do not reflect any governmental subsidies that larger farmers receive to help cover the real cost of producing their food.
Reminder: If you did not pay in full, or make special arrangements, the remaining balances on the winter share are due today.
Full and By Farm Shares
In the veggie share: kohlrabi, rutabaga, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, leeks, winter squash, cabbage, celeriac, beets, carrots, potatoes, onions, and garlic.
In the meat share: beef, pork and chickens in the freezer.
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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