"The thing that makes farming so interesting – and sometimes so heartbreaking – is the unpredictability that is built into natural systems. You really can’t count your chickens before they hatch. As farmers, our impulse is to control as many variables as we can (which is how we … [Read more...] about Farm vs. Storm
Mark Kimball
A Local’s Look at Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life
The Dirty Life is a memoir about Kristin Kimball's transition from an urban life and career in New York City to launching a bootstrap CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in rural Essex, New York with her then soon-to-be husband, Mark Gunther. At one point in my … [Read more...] about A Local’s Look at Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life
Tastes of Spring at Essex Farm
"All the ag rags are leading with news of the weather. "Unusual Weather Patterns Leave Farmers Scratching Their Heads", reads front page of the Farm Bureau organ, Grassroots. This was New York’s second warmest winter on record, and the warmest March in North America since 1895. … [Read more...] about Tastes of Spring at Essex Farm
Farm Hack | Kristin Kimball
"Thanks to everyone who came to the Farm Hack event [at Essex Farm] on Sunday, and to the organizers, Young Farmers Coalition, and to Severine and the Whallonsburg Grange and all the volunteers who put it together. The purpose of Farm Hack is to bring brainy brains … [Read more...] about Farm Hack | Kristin Kimball
State of the Farm | Kristin Kimball
"An end-of-April chill is upon us, and for the next few nights, the tender young things on the farm will have to withstand a dip into the 20s. I shiver for the asparagus, the chicks out on pasture, and the nine piglets that were born on Wednesday. This kind of weather is entirely … [Read more...] about State of the Farm | Kristin Kimball