Full and By Farm: Fresh Dried Beans

With the help of Joanna, Kathy and Anne we made big progress on our bean threshing and winnowing this past week. We now have red, black and Italian white beans available for veggie members. The beans are sorted, but you may want to give them one more quick look before throwing them in your pot. If you aren’t accustomed to preparing dry beans, you will want to soak them in cool water for eight hours, dump that water, refill the pot with water to cover (about an inch), bring to a boil and then simmer them as slowly as possible. “Fresh” dry beans cook really quickly compared to those purchased in the store. Keep an eye on them if you want beans with more tooth to them in your dish. The texture and flavor can’t be beat!

Whallonsburg Grange Talks Farming

This winter the grange is hosting an exciting lecture series entitled The past, present and Future of Farming in America. The series starts January 29th with SUNY professor David Franzi discussing the deglaciation of the Champlain Lowlands and the northeastern Adirondacks. Andy Buchanon then tackles the history of farming— the domestication of crops up through the rise of agribusiness—in four lectures. On March 5th there will be a panel discussion on the Future of Food with several local farmers (James included) moderated by Richard Robbins. March 12 and 19th will feature guest lecturers discussing the dream of self-sufficiency and feeding the Adirondack farm family in the 19th century. All lectures will be Tuesday evening, 7:30 at the Grange in Whallonsburg. visit www.thegrangehall.org for more information.

Our St. Lawrence intern, Abbie, is back this week to finish out her winter school vacation. She’s been helping render lard, clean eggs and tackling barn chores. Thank her for her extra hard, and extra generous work when you see her at the share!

Full and By Farm Shares

In the veggie share: kohlrabi, rutabaga, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, leeks, winter squash, cabbage, celeriac, beets, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, green kraut, red, white and black beans. Next week: freshly ground blue corn meal.

In the meat share: beef, pork and stew birds in the freezer. Newly rendered lard and leaf lard.

Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm

About Sara Kurak

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!