We are always amazed at the beauty of the blend of colors in the foliage at this our favorite time of year. It is time to ready ourselves for the “resting period” of the winter. There are so many things to do before the ground freezes and the snow flies to prepare. As we prepare we can appreciate the fall colors, sleep longer in the morning, harvest the fall crops from our garden, and smell the first wisps of wood smoke from our beautiful old parlor stove in the kitchen. There are new smells under the sugar maple trees on the front lawn. The woods smell different too. I love the blend of hardwoods, hop hornbeam, witch hazel, maples, cherry, various oaks, poplars, shagbark hickory and their nuts with their own distinctive smell. We cut our own firewood from any dead trees along the edge of the woods where we can drive a truck so it can be harvested late and still be quite dry by the time we start having fires in the stove each day.
The less glamorous tasks also need to be done. We winterize all of the tractors and haying equipment and put them in the sheds. We make sure the 2 tractors that can feed hay all winter long are ready to go. We put up the storm windows on our old story and a half Greek revival home. We are STILL fixing fences – this work is never done! We clean up all the veggie and perennial gardens and the pigs rummage through all the remaining vines to look for delectable treats. We clean up the pig and cow barnyards and make our big compost piles to spread on the pastures early in the spring. We don’t like to rake leaves on the lawn so the mower chops them all up to provide nutrients for the grass.
Our priority project is the new barn. We are outgrowing our space for collecting all the farm products and splaying them around us in the old milk house to pack all of your orders. I went on the 2 trips to the city this month and Alan and I spent the travel time planning the layout of the new space, the furnishing possibilities, and the deadline of getting the “new” used freezer hooked up before the turkeys arrive. We saved this freezer from demolition of an old diner that was in town for years and was being smashed for a new building. It is bigger than our existing walk-in freezer and will be a great thing to have ready soon. We are hoping for the time to make Adirondack style tables from our black walnut branch inventory to use for workspace. The closets are tucked under stairs. The closed foyer serves as a drop off point for the farms if we are not there. The doors all need to be wide enough to use carts for moving the coolers and boxes to save Sandy’s and my back from all that carrying. Alan and Colin and Herbie have done all the work so far beginning with the footings and slab foundation, framing, roofing and interior work of wiring, sheathing, installing windows, insulating and sheet rocking the pacing room. We will finally have lots of room, storage, and easy access freezers in a new barn without the cobwebs and combination hay storage area of the Waites Lane barn where everything is now.
enjoy, the Brown's
Monday, December 28, 2009
fall raspberries
News from Lewis Waite Farm
We never seem to time it right to pick the last bowl of the late fall red raspberries. After a couple of frosts, they all are still hanging from the drooping canes looking way darker than they should be and some look a little grey. You would hope that the vibrancy of the berries that are left would be sucked back by the cane to the roots where the energy could be stored through the long cold winter. We love this raspberry that has two picking seasons! But by now all the annuals and some of the tender annuals have been frozen and are standing, browned, and waiting to be cut and piled and carried to the pigs to scavenge any goodness from their stalks. The garden and the perennial gardens cleanup is a big fall job done mostly on the warmer days so your hands don’t freeze trying to work the pruners all day. We still have golden leaves here on our hillside; many other places are bare of leaves except the golden tamarack tress that provide some of the last color of the season. Our maple trees were stunning this year, although way more yellow than their usual red, orange, yellow combination. It’s raining again today and the animals that have shelter, the pigs, horse, donkey, cats and dogs, are all inside curled up sleeping. Our newest batch of five small weanling piglets arrived this week. They are pros at sleeping in a heap, the proverbial pig pile. There are three pink pigs and two brown and black spotted ones. They are still learning the daily routine and getting used to us who visit them multiple times a day which so far scares them into a corner of their big farrowing pen. In a few days we’ll let them have a bigger area with another older pig that has an injured leg. Then they’ll have an older buddy to teach them the ropes. Right now all the fences in the pasture are set up for much bigger pigs so they’ll have to grow a bit before they can go outside ranging with the big ones or they will be trotting all over the place.
We are beginning to get ready for the onslaught of the turkeys. Consolidating all of the inventory into the tightest spaces possible to make room for the many boxes which will be arriving around mid November. Please check at your site in the next couple of weeks for the last vegetable delivery date, as some of the CSAs are ending before our Thanksgiving deliveries and you may be having a new distribution site for the week before Thanksgiving.
All of the turkeys and any regular orders for other foods for your holiday eating will be delivered on November 19 or November 21 or November 24.
In our website for you at www.csalewiswaitefarm.com there is a menu option for you to see all the delivery dates. We are making our best effort to keep this up to date and accurate so use this to double check when and where your distribution will be.
Beginning in December we start our once per month deliveries again. Most of your CSAs are participating and have found locations for the winter distributions either at your same summer location or at the home of many of the coordinators. We will enter these schedules soon so you can see the dates on the website as well.
Just a few more weeks left to CSA season – boy did it fly by this year. Hope you all are getting acclimated to the chillier weather – my sister in Boston and my nephew in Maine have seen snow already! So take care, be well, have fun and come and see us when you have a weekend up north! Best wishes, Nancy & Alan
We never seem to time it right to pick the last bowl of the late fall red raspberries. After a couple of frosts, they all are still hanging from the drooping canes looking way darker than they should be and some look a little grey. You would hope that the vibrancy of the berries that are left would be sucked back by the cane to the roots where the energy could be stored through the long cold winter. We love this raspberry that has two picking seasons! But by now all the annuals and some of the tender annuals have been frozen and are standing, browned, and waiting to be cut and piled and carried to the pigs to scavenge any goodness from their stalks. The garden and the perennial gardens cleanup is a big fall job done mostly on the warmer days so your hands don’t freeze trying to work the pruners all day. We still have golden leaves here on our hillside; many other places are bare of leaves except the golden tamarack tress that provide some of the last color of the season. Our maple trees were stunning this year, although way more yellow than their usual red, orange, yellow combination. It’s raining again today and the animals that have shelter, the pigs, horse, donkey, cats and dogs, are all inside curled up sleeping. Our newest batch of five small weanling piglets arrived this week. They are pros at sleeping in a heap, the proverbial pig pile. There are three pink pigs and two brown and black spotted ones. They are still learning the daily routine and getting used to us who visit them multiple times a day which so far scares them into a corner of their big farrowing pen. In a few days we’ll let them have a bigger area with another older pig that has an injured leg. Then they’ll have an older buddy to teach them the ropes. Right now all the fences in the pasture are set up for much bigger pigs so they’ll have to grow a bit before they can go outside ranging with the big ones or they will be trotting all over the place.
We are beginning to get ready for the onslaught of the turkeys. Consolidating all of the inventory into the tightest spaces possible to make room for the many boxes which will be arriving around mid November. Please check at your site in the next couple of weeks for the last vegetable delivery date, as some of the CSAs are ending before our Thanksgiving deliveries and you may be having a new distribution site for the week before Thanksgiving.
All of the turkeys and any regular orders for other foods for your holiday eating will be delivered on November 19 or November 21 or November 24.
In our website for you at www.csalewiswaitefarm.com there is a menu option for you to see all the delivery dates. We are making our best effort to keep this up to date and accurate so use this to double check when and where your distribution will be.
Beginning in December we start our once per month deliveries again. Most of your CSAs are participating and have found locations for the winter distributions either at your same summer location or at the home of many of the coordinators. We will enter these schedules soon so you can see the dates on the website as well.
Just a few more weeks left to CSA season – boy did it fly by this year. Hope you all are getting acclimated to the chillier weather – my sister in Boston and my nephew in Maine have seen snow already! So take care, be well, have fun and come and see us when you have a weekend up north! Best wishes, Nancy & Alan
The crunch is on for the fall and winter preparations to begin. So far we have missed the couple of light frosts that the lower valleys have had already. Our basil however is being all picked today! We have been enjoying the late raspberries too – they are the best! Lots of tomatoes are still waiting to be made into sauce this week too. Luckily between our Tuesday and Thursday delivery weeks, we have a little extra time to focus on farm and garden tasks. So since we’ve had all kinds of time, we decided it was time to finally get that rescue dog we have been talking about so we spend time in training! Lucy, Lucille, Lacy, we are still trying out names for her; she’s a sweet “follow you everywhere” German Shepard with a little something else that makes her tail really long and her legs very prettily shaded. She has black stripes on the top of each toe!
There has been a little growling with Shadow and Maggie, mostly about food, but we think she is adapting quickly and will be a great pal on herd checks through the pastures.
I’ll make it short this month since there are other announcements to follow.
Please take care, enjoy this lovely weather and fall colors and as always, come and visit!
Nancy and Alan
There has been a little growling with Shadow and Maggie, mostly about food, but we think she is adapting quickly and will be a great pal on herd checks through the pastures.
I’ll make it short this month since there are other announcements to follow.
Please take care, enjoy this lovely weather and fall colors and as always, come and visit!
Nancy and Alan
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Chilly October
The season change has gone from a late warmish trend with our first frost up here on the hill just 2 days ago. Now all of a sudden, it's in the 30's each night and downright chilly and damp each day! Working in the walk-in freezer has been a real thrill with the heat not yet turned on in our north barn where all the packing activity happens. I was able to harvest the last of the basil before the frost and had a giant pesto project the other morning with me furiously picking leaves off the stalks and the blender whirring and a wonderful aroma enveloping the house. The garden clean up is looming soon. The kale, Swiss chard, leeks, broccoli and parsley are very happy to be chilled but now that the root cellar is chilled, they'll soon be sleeping in the dark waiting for the comfort food meals of cold weather.
The wine crop is growing too. The last of the red tomatoes went into a small batch of tomato wine. My nephew still is commenting on the weird appeal the flavor of the wine had for him. It came out tasting like a smooth wine with a tomato finish that seemed odd to your senses! He'll get the whole batch of five bottles next year, not just the sampler one! My best tasting one yet just went into the bottle wine yet was a blackberry-blueberry that was very rich tasting. As I was reading Eating Right for Your Blood Type this morning, I learn that I should be avoiding blackberries! Oh, NO!
This book is written by Dr. Peter J D'Adamo. He and his father have researched the history of the development of blood types and the diets of the peoples who have them. They have discovered that blood types have a big effect on what foods you feel better eating and what diseases you may be predisposed toward because of eating the "wrong" foods for your blood type which is very important to your overall metabolism. Even your style of exercise plays a part in your blood's inner workings. I was surprised that foods that I love, like freshly shredded coleslaw. are not so good for my digestive system!!!Boo! Lucky for me (and my hunter ancestors), grass-fed beef is my best nourishment! Check it out. This book is a good follow up to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.
We hope that all of you are feeling well, staying relaxed, focused and calm. Take advantage of this lull before the holidays to rest and gear yourselves up! Best Wishes, Nancy & Alan
The wine crop is growing too. The last of the red tomatoes went into a small batch of tomato wine. My nephew still is commenting on the weird appeal the flavor of the wine had for him. It came out tasting like a smooth wine with a tomato finish that seemed odd to your senses! He'll get the whole batch of five bottles next year, not just the sampler one! My best tasting one yet just went into the bottle wine yet was a blackberry-blueberry that was very rich tasting. As I was reading Eating Right for Your Blood Type this morning, I learn that I should be avoiding blackberries! Oh, NO!
This book is written by Dr. Peter J D'Adamo. He and his father have researched the history of the development of blood types and the diets of the peoples who have them. They have discovered that blood types have a big effect on what foods you feel better eating and what diseases you may be predisposed toward because of eating the "wrong" foods for your blood type which is very important to your overall metabolism. Even your style of exercise plays a part in your blood's inner workings. I was surprised that foods that I love, like freshly shredded coleslaw. are not so good for my digestive system!!!Boo! Lucky for me (and my hunter ancestors), grass-fed beef is my best nourishment! Check it out. This book is a good follow up to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.
We hope that all of you are feeling well, staying relaxed, focused and calm. Take advantage of this lull before the holidays to rest and gear yourselves up! Best Wishes, Nancy & Alan
Friday, August 21, 2009
A story from a summer visitor
Mooooo! I am Laurence the calf. I live at Lewis Waite Farm. I am all black and I am part dairy cow. I love romping around the pastures, getting fed out of bottles, taking naps in the shade, and untying people’s shoelaces. I have some friends in the herd even though a mostly live in the barnyard with my adopted mother. Oh, look its Nancy coming with a bottle of milk! This milk is really good I am going to butt my head to see if I can get any more. This milk has given me much more energy. I am going to do my little dance. Jump, skip, wiggle. Rats, Nancy is leaving. I know what would stop her, I will go run into her! READY, AIM, FIRE! Crash. Ha ha she is laughing and petting me but, she is still going. I think I will go lay down in the shade over there it is getting awfully hot. Maybe I will go for a walk tomorrow with Nancy, but now I am going to go to sleep. Goodnight.
- Laurence the calf
- Laurence the calf
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sweet Corn Season
August 4th - Today was a challenge right from 6 am. This is the first time we have ever had to perform mechanics, swap the whole load from one van to another and still take off by 8 am to make the delivery to 12 stops throughout the city. Yesterday we had a dilemma, do we fix the big brown van's alternator and fan belt or fix the white van's wheel bearing and be confident enough to drive to NYC without much of a test drive? We chose the big brown van even though the load was smaller than usual and gave it a test drive around the farm roads but I guess the drive was not far enough. This morning by 6:15 Alan and Colin were in the van all packed up and ready to go! After a few miles they decided to turn around and not risk the journey. They got here, made a phone call to the NAPA parts store (who opened early for them) and Colin dashed off to get the wheel bearing repair kit. In the meantime Alan and I took off all the boxes, bags, eggs, route sheets, lunches and beverages for the day and packed them back in the white van, hoping that the repair would go smoothly. Miraculously, Colin pulled it off without any bashed knuckles in a very short time. They were off by 8:30 when they intended to leave by 6:30.
Once they were off, then I finally could focus on the day's activities here. The herd check went smoothly with Lawrence the calf finally drinking a bottle this morning. For the last 3 feedings he was not hungry and I was thrilled to think that a sympathetic cow had taken him on besides her own calf and was letting him drink. This morning seeing him be thirsty makes me wonder but we'll just keep checking on him with bottles to spare twice daily and see what happens next.
Without our farm help this week, I am here holding down the fort. This letter will be short today so I can head out to feed the pigs, check the herd in their new pasture and find Lawrence again. Hope you are enjoying the nice weather between the storms and hoping for a real windup to the summer.
Take care, Nancy
Once they were off, then I finally could focus on the day's activities here. The herd check went smoothly with Lawrence the calf finally drinking a bottle this morning. For the last 3 feedings he was not hungry and I was thrilled to think that a sympathetic cow had taken him on besides her own calf and was letting him drink. This morning seeing him be thirsty makes me wonder but we'll just keep checking on him with bottles to spare twice daily and see what happens next.
Without our farm help this week, I am here holding down the fort. This letter will be short today so I can head out to feed the pigs, check the herd in their new pasture and find Lawrence again. Hope you are enjoying the nice weather between the storms and hoping for a real windup to the summer.
Take care, Nancy
Summer Visitors
The pace is really picking up at the farm this month. We have lots of visitors from the City and our family members coming and going this month. Our visitors from the city include:
Astoria Hellgate members Jim, Laura and their new son Luca. It's been a long time since such a small baby was at the farm and he is very cute. Our farm was a mid-trip rest stop on their way to Mont Tremblant in Canada for a wedding.
Astoria Arrow members Stacey and David who come north each summer to visit and work at the Fort Salem Theatre. The play Corn, The Musical was performed last weekend; written and performed by a variety of local folks. David also teaches music to children while he is here for the summer. Luckily Stacey's work is flexible enough to allow her multiple visits here and when she is here she helps at our farm. We had her packing orders last week and picking blueberries as a treat.
Chelsea member Frances is here to volunteer for the Salem Historic Courthouse fundraiser, the Al Fresco dinner. This annual event feeds about 500 people under tents on the lawn with all locally grown foods. This is a lovely summer evening community event. Frances loves the hustle of the activity in the certified kitchen of the courthouse where the food is prepared. The average distance the majority of the food travels is 12 miles (except for the olive oil - which makes the average 125 miles!). It is definitely fresh and delicious.
Our sister-in-law MaryNell brought her niece and grandniece from Americus, Georgia to see the animals. Kelly, age six is interested and wary of the animals at the same time. The cows, horse and donkey are pretty large from here perspective.
Our cousin Joan and her son Zachary are arriving today for the weekend from Minnesota, They are on a week long friends and family trip through New England.
My sister Beverly and Laura came again last week to see and help care for the new calf we are bottle feeding. "Lawrence" is so cute and well trained. We brought him out into the pasture with the herd and other new calves after a week of feeding in his stall nearby. The first two time I had a halter on him and a leash and we walked around and got used to being out and able to run. The next time I brought him to the field and when he was distracted from sticking by me and trying to suck the empty bottle, I headed for the fence and let him stay with the cows. Ever since then, about two weeks ago, he comes running from the pasture when we arrive and call him. We feed him two or three times a day with the half gallon giant baby calf bottle full of milk. He is growing quickly and has graduated to three-quarters of a gallon already. When hungry the calves are very gaunt just past their ribs, in front of their hips, yet whether he is gaunt or not, Lawrence devours the entire bottle and will keep sucking for quite a while before giving up. It is great to see that he naps and runs and butts heads with the other calves since his mother is at the dairy farm and cannot teach him herd etiquette.
We have been eating well with all this company between our lush vegetable gardens, giant blueberries and picnics and dinners at our house and my sister Judy's along the Battenkill River and even dinner out on occasion. We hope you too are enjoying the bounty of the season - we are eating all the fresh corn that we can! hope each week brings you rgeat foods and great ideas for delicious recipes. Take care, Nancy and Alan
Astoria Hellgate members Jim, Laura and their new son Luca. It's been a long time since such a small baby was at the farm and he is very cute. Our farm was a mid-trip rest stop on their way to Mont Tremblant in Canada for a wedding.
Astoria Arrow members Stacey and David who come north each summer to visit and work at the Fort Salem Theatre. The play Corn, The Musical was performed last weekend; written and performed by a variety of local folks. David also teaches music to children while he is here for the summer. Luckily Stacey's work is flexible enough to allow her multiple visits here and when she is here she helps at our farm. We had her packing orders last week and picking blueberries as a treat.
Chelsea member Frances is here to volunteer for the Salem Historic Courthouse fundraiser, the Al Fresco dinner. This annual event feeds about 500 people under tents on the lawn with all locally grown foods. This is a lovely summer evening community event. Frances loves the hustle of the activity in the certified kitchen of the courthouse where the food is prepared. The average distance the majority of the food travels is 12 miles (except for the olive oil - which makes the average 125 miles!). It is definitely fresh and delicious.
Our sister-in-law MaryNell brought her niece and grandniece from Americus, Georgia to see the animals. Kelly, age six is interested and wary of the animals at the same time. The cows, horse and donkey are pretty large from here perspective.
Our cousin Joan and her son Zachary are arriving today for the weekend from Minnesota, They are on a week long friends and family trip through New England.
My sister Beverly and Laura came again last week to see and help care for the new calf we are bottle feeding. "Lawrence" is so cute and well trained. We brought him out into the pasture with the herd and other new calves after a week of feeding in his stall nearby. The first two time I had a halter on him and a leash and we walked around and got used to being out and able to run. The next time I brought him to the field and when he was distracted from sticking by me and trying to suck the empty bottle, I headed for the fence and let him stay with the cows. Ever since then, about two weeks ago, he comes running from the pasture when we arrive and call him. We feed him two or three times a day with the half gallon giant baby calf bottle full of milk. He is growing quickly and has graduated to three-quarters of a gallon already. When hungry the calves are very gaunt just past their ribs, in front of their hips, yet whether he is gaunt or not, Lawrence devours the entire bottle and will keep sucking for quite a while before giving up. It is great to see that he naps and runs and butts heads with the other calves since his mother is at the dairy farm and cannot teach him herd etiquette.
We have been eating well with all this company between our lush vegetable gardens, giant blueberries and picnics and dinners at our house and my sister Judy's along the Battenkill River and even dinner out on occasion. We hope you too are enjoying the bounty of the season - we are eating all the fresh corn that we can! hope each week brings you rgeat foods and great ideas for delicious recipes. Take care, Nancy and Alan
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