Full and By Farm: Heat Good for Hay

We spent the weekend and early part of this week bringing hay into the barn. The conditions were great for drying and baling—no threat of rain was looming, and the strong sun dried the grass in no time. It was rough on people and horses though. Such intense heat and humidity drained the life out of all of us. We are all most excited for the cooler weather being forecast and another dry spell on the horizon to hopefully finish up the first cut.

A van load of our favorite Texans is showing up on Sunday for this summer’s work week. We’re finishing up details on the roof we put up last year and starting in on painting and siding the bank barn, along with lots of smaller projects. Feel free to come out anytime during the week if you want to pitch in on a project. All skill levels are welcome. An extra tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner, all provided by James’s mom, are all included in the work day. It’s great fun to work with these guys and satisfying to lend your hand on one of the farm projects.

In the Farm Shares

In the veggie share: carrots, beets, peas, broccoli shoots, baby beet greens, bunching onions, lettuce heads, loose-leaf lettuce, mesclun mix (lettuce with baby kale and spicy mustard greens), radishes,bbasil, herbs, flowers, dry beans and cornmeal.

In the meat share: whole and half broiler chickens and beef.

Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm

Carrot Top Soup Recipe

Gretel is passing along a recipe for carrot top soup out of Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors cookbook. The greens are best from early season carrots, so this is the perfect recipe for right now.

6-10 small to medium carrots, tops and roots
2Tb butter
3 Tb white rice
2 leeks (I’ve used onions, green and white)
2 sprigs thyme
2 Tb dill and parsley
Salt, pepper
6 cups stock (veg or chicken)
Pluck leaves off carrots stems (I’ve used whole tops finely chopped).
Grate or finely chop carrots roots. Melt butter. Add tops and roots, rice, herbs. Cook for several minutes, stirring. Then add stock. Bring to boil, then simmer 16-18 minutes till rice is cooked.
(I find the greens/tops add a lemony flavor you can add to just about any soup.

Full and By Farm: Harvest Woes (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
DaCy Dinner with Chef Kevin McCarthy (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Full and By Farm: Good News and Bad News (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Essex Farm: Excellent, Considering (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

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!