Episode #1 | Kristin Kimball

Land and

Food and Love

Farmer, Essex Farm & Author “The Dirty Life”

and “Good Husbandry”

We launch our  podcast with  a guest whose life demonstrates all the topics we hope to explore this season. In Episode 1 guest, Kristin Kimball, the Women Land and Food exemplar, talks us through the essentials of being fully nourished, making some bite-size change, and food as a love language on the way to joy.

Kristin’s book “The Dirty Life” was a primary light on our host’s path to Vermont, and Kristin’s second book, “Good Husbandry” was waiting to greet Karen when she arrived. Kristin co-owns Essex Farm, one of the only full-diet, free-choice membership farms in the world.

In this episode, we are treated to readings by the author, glimpses into Kristin’s real, dirty life, and lived wisdom from a woman who made an intuitive leap from Harvard to farming. Join us for a joy-filled excursion into a life quite different than most of ours, and discover some bite-size change through which we can share Kristin’s vitality and wisdom.

Resources

The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball - https://www.kristinkimball.com/
Good Husbandry, by Kristin Kimball - https://www.kristinkimball.com/

Essex Farm - https://essexfarmcsa.com/
Kristin’s Farm Note (Essex Farm’s Newsletter) - https://www.kristinkimball.com/farm-note

Moutoux Orchard Farm - https://www.moutouxorchard.com/

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, Steven Hopp, and Camille Kingsolver http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/book.htm

10 Questions excerpt:
Questions to help readers reconnect with the agricultural basics of their own regions —>
1. When do fruits and vegetables come into season?
2. Which ones keep through winter, and how to preserve the others?
3. On what day will autumn’s first frost likely fall on your county?
4. When should you expect the last frost in the spring?
5. Which crops can be planted before the last frost?
6. Which crops must wait until after the last frost?
7. Which grains are Autumn planted?
8. What does an asparagus patch look like in August?
9. What animals and vegetables thrive in one’s immediate region?
10. How to live well on what thrives in one’s immediate region, with little else beyond flour, salt and coffee?

Approx. 1% of the US population grows food in the US - Source —> https://www.trustinfood.com/2024/04/18/the-one-percenters/

Problems that we face - Source —> https://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/theme-articles/transitions-in-agriculture/drivers-of-agricultural-transition

Resources for Eating Locally
https://www.localharvest.org/organic-farms/ | https://www.localfarmfinder.com/ | https://www.usdalocalfoodportal.com/

5 Fingers of Food - the five parts of every meal

  1. the soil where the food is grown

  2. the conditions that the food was grown in like the weather and season

  3. the farmer and the skills brought to the raising of that thing

  4. the cook and how skillfully can you turn that food into a thing on a plate

  5. the eater and their ability to approach the plate mindfully in a way that they can be fully nourished by it

Double rainbow beauty from ferry ride to Kristin’s Essex Farm.