Horse Drawn

by | Oct 15, 2019 | August 2010

Honest work at Essex Farm I think of the day the horses arrived as the day the farm came back to life. It was seven years ago, midwinter, and Mark and I had moved here that fall. We weren’t married yet. We were still in that hazy phase of new love—with each other, and...
Seeds of Revival

Seeds of Revival

by | Jun 1, 2017 | June 2017

For 169 years the Essex County Fair has celebrated the region’s agricultural heritage. But lately attendance for the five-day extravaganza of fried food, livestock exhibitions, carnival rides and demolition derbies in Westport has wobbled. One explanation—“Farming is...
Michigans

Michigans

by | Jun 28, 2012 | August 2012

TRAVELING ALONG THE Champlain Valley or across the northern Adi­rondacks, there’s no quicker way to stamp “outsider” on your forehead than to saunter up to a screened takeout window and ask for a chili dog. If you’re craving a spicy condiment around these parts, you’d...