This week we have apples picked, washed and ready to press! Bring a jar to take some cider home for real this time. We headed down to Kathryn Kramer’s orchard in Westport last Thursday to pick drops for the press, but were sadly turned away due to a commercial being filmed in the picturesque little orchard. The apple drops on the ground were part of the picturesqueness, and could not be collected ahead of time. We are loaded up now though and will have the press running.

New Calf on the Farm

We welcomed a new calf last Friday morning from our Jersey Winter. Little Weston has been full of energy since his earliest hours and travels a long way into the barn with his mom each day at milking time. They cross a field and pass through a small stretch of woods to reach the barn yard. The worn down path is narrow with scrubby brush on either side, Winter’s big round belly and pendulous fifth-calf udder swing from side to side to fill the entire pathway. Weston, always at his mother’s side, does everything he can to share the space with her, but his head hits just at the widest part of her belly and bounces against it with each step she takes. They are a devoted pair and even as the path widens on either side of the woods he sticks right close, on occasion stopping to investigate an unknown sound or a stirring movement. Within seconds Winter makes an almost inaudible little moo which sends him scurrying to catch right back up.

Barn Progress

The barn is coming right along—siding and exterior trim on the lower level is all done and the window sashes are being installed right now. We are hugely in debt to Corey, Nick and Kevin Boyle for the beautiful work they are doing to help us keep the barn work on track before winter hits.

In the Farm Shares

In the veggie share: Pac choi, spinach, tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, onions, bunching onions, swiss chard, kale, carrots, beets, lettuce, eggplant, peppers and wheat berries. Fresh cider! Bring a jar to take some home. Next week halloween pumpkins and baby gourds. We’ve had light frosts the last two nights, but the sensitive plants are so far unaffected, we’ll have the warm loving plants for awhile more.

In the meat share: Fresh broiler chickens in the cooler. We worked into the wee hours of Saturday morning making up two kinds of sausage—Ginger Sage and our house specialty Bourbon Fennel. Bacon will be smoked tomorrow and sliced and wrapped for next week’s pick-up.

Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm

Related articles

• Full and By Farm: Fall Gifts (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Full and By Farm: Bank Barn Winter Preparations (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Full and By Farm: Cider Making (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Full and By Farm: End of Summer Field Work (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Full and By Farm: Summer and Fall Intertwine (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)