Week 4, 2017 | Kristin Kimball | Jan 27, 2017
Mark and the girls and I have been on vacation in Montreal this week. Farmers, like hogs, explore the world by tasting it, so we’ve eaten our way through this beautiful city, from poutine in vieux-Montreal to raw oysters in the Jean Talon market, with tastes of many of the international neighborhoods in between. The children have adapted as children do, shedding their farm selves to try on city ones. One is speaking fake French through her nose. The other is navigating the Metro like a boss and keeping her eyes peeled for the next great sushi place. We managed to see a wide range of the city’s sites and museums between feasts, but the flavors of the world are as important as its artifacts, and at their ages, probably more accessible. I love raising our children on a farm but it’s easy to let the farm be the boundary of their experience, and I fight against that. I want to show them that the world is big and mostly friendly, and that there is more than one right way to do things, say things, cook things. We are so lucky to have this wonderful francophone metropolis within close reach. We’re toting a load of Chinese dumplings home for team dinner tonight, to share a bit of the city with the farmers who kept things rolling so well in our absence. Thanks, team, for allowing us this time away.
I can only tell you the news of the farm from a distance. I know that the piglets are doing well, without any more sign of circovirus, but that Calliope the dairy cow is fighting a case of mastitis. Tractor maintenance continues, with some outside help. Ben has been working on the seed cleaner, to get the corn we harvested this year clear of chaff and broken kernels so we can make some hominy for the share. The team at the Hub on the Hill is planning to process and freeze the rest of the winter squash this week. We’re moving forward with a plan for weekly delivery service for Albany and the Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Tupper Lake areas. Get in touch if you’d like more information about that.
And that is the short news from Essex Farm for this good 4th week of 2017. Find us at 963-4613, essexfarm@gmail.com, on Instagram at essexfarmcsa and kristinxkimball, or on the farm, any day but Sunday.
-Kristin & Mark Kimball
