AGRICULTURE

Friday felt a bit like Bible Day at the farm. The day started with the news which many commentators have described as a story of biblical character, in which inordinately proud or entitled individuals are taught that they are not... Read More ›

Weather forecasts are a wondrous thing. On a cloudless day without a hint of a breeze they can tell you that in twelve or 24 hours a storm will arrive, with 60 mile an hour winds and hail. They do... Read More ›

Only once did I see my mother really cry, full out. It was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, 1960. I was nine years old. As was our custom we got dressed up, far more than on any other day... Read More ›

Today’s Darkness by Mark Scherzer September 11, 2020, dawned refreshingly cool on the farm, but with a dark and foreboding sky. Very different from the crystal clear crispness of September 11, 2001, which we have now come to expect on... Read More ›

In a time of uncertainty, one certainty is that one’s feelings are going to ricochet all over the place. Mine certainly have been. We all wonder what the world will look like in six months or a year, even though... Read More ›

During the last couple of weeks I’ve had a taste of what so many of you have endured for the last five months — being entirely on my own. Troy and Victoria were away becoming newly wed, while my “pand-ami”... Read More ›

Hi everyone, Eric here. It has been 151 days since I relocated to Turkana Farms and 126 days since my last (and only) bulletin “Your Guest is as Good as Mine”. Time certainly flies but, paradoxically, seems to pass over... Read More ›

I skipped doing a bulletin last week. I didn’t have the mental energy. If you had asked me how I was doing, my answer would have been “eh”. I was feeling somewhat down, lost in a sea of uncertainty. I... Read More ›

Thursday, July 16, 2020: the last in a string of delightfully cool days punctuated by not quite enough rain showers. Eric and I, both fighting cabin fever, decided to try an outing. A talented young clarinetist, Viktor Toth of The... Read More ›

“Peter must be spinning in his grave.” That was my first response when, working at my desk Friday morning, I saw that a Turkish court had cleared the way for Hagia Sophia, the great Byzantine cathedral in Istanbul, to be... Read More ›

Among those essential workers who have achieved considerably increased appreciation during the Covid -19 pandemic have been postal workers, who have kept delivering mail pretty well throughout. The United States Postal Service has for decades seemed threatened by obsolescence, only... Read More ›

There are four individuals in our household with very different dietary preferences and food aversions, but it appears we are all united in our love of brassicas — cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, etc. It is a love I now... Read More ›

It was Thursday evening, and I assumed Eric and I would be on our own for dinner. Troy had gone to (where else?) Troy, where he has been volunteering to help build backyard vegetable gardens with Soul Fire Farm (soulfire.org),... Read More ›

Operating in Germantown, NY for over ten years WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK:Coriander and dill, $1/bunchOur lambs are fully reserved for July. We expect to do another batch in September. Reservations for whole or half lambs, cut to your specifications, at... Read More ›

We’re falling into a comfortable rhythm, Lillie and I. Lillie is Eric’s dog, here for a several week stay as her custody is shared with her other daddy, and she is a sweet, smart creature. She knows from past visits... Read More ›

WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK: We are now sold out of chickens. We are arranging for the next lambs to go to market. We are hopeful the weekend storm does not set the garden back too far or kill berries and... Read More ›

There are six adorable greenish yellow puffballs paddling out on and marching around our pond. Since they hatched Wednesday, these goslings have been carefully shepherded at all times by their extremely protective parents, a couple of Canadian geese. It seems... Read More ›

At the Passover Seder we learned again that each generation achieves a new advance in freedom. But somehow I’m not sure that the COVID “resisters” in Michigan are quite what the Haggadah had in mind. Nope, no dictatorial government is... Read More ›

As I ponder on my good fortune in time of great hardship, having become a somewhat permanent guest at Turkana Farms, I sense how little my own will controls my reality. Yes, I am a lucky man. Far away from... Read More ›

If you, like me, are “sheltering in place,” perhaps you are experiencing a similar sense of dislocation. What was once familiar now seems tinged with strangeness. What was once comforting and safe now seems fraught with risk. Take the passage... Read More ›

When a New Yorker is dying every 10 minutes as a result of the Coronavirus epidemic, does the state of life on our farm matter? In a moment of crisis that has upended the lives and routines of hundreds of... Read More ›

What does one say about life on the farm when the world surrounding it seems so fragile and threatened and out of control? The farm has always been my psychological refuge, and by retreating here this week I have enjoyed... Read More ›

I hope you are all well and staying vigilant in this crisis. I wish I had some original insight to provide regarding the COVID-19 disease, but many others have already said it better than I: Practice good hygiene, avoid unnecessary... Read More ›

Last week I spoke of my focus on the farm while the rest of the world seemed focused on the novel coronavirus pandemic. This week, I must admit that the pandemic has gotten my attention too. Two friends told me... Read More ›

In a week when the world has been preoccupied with worries about the potentially catastrophic health and financial consequences of the coronavirus infections rapidly spreading around the globe, I’ve been focused relentlessly on a small patch of 38.5 acres in... Read More ›