Farming in the Adirondacks

One message I thought McKibben and Schneider made clear in their works was that it is hard to farm in the Adirondacks. Short growing seasons, and poor soil make only about 10 percent of land in the park farmable. Schneider dedicates a whole chapter (Farewell to Farms) to listing all the farms that have failed in just one town; a glimpse into the hardship of trying to live off the land. McKibben's hike meanders through long forgotten orchards and decaying foundations of farms that attempted to survive in the harsh climate of the park. The overall theme was that many tried but most failed at trying to cultivate the land in the Adirondacks. Most farmers in the park found they had no other option but to move out of the Adirondacks and try again somewhere else. 

After this notion was discussed at length both in the books and in class, imagine my surprise when I saw a whole section devoted to food in the Adirondack Almanack. Surely someone forgot to tell these food contributors that farming in the Adirondacks is rarely successful? Curious, I went to explore this section of the blog, and to be honest I did not expect to find much. I was pleasantly surprised to see numerous posts. 

Amy Ivy, a Regional Vegetable and Berry Specialist for the Cornell Cooperative Extensions and the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, writes a post every month. Her posts range from tips on deadheading for local gardening enthusiasts to how to keep blights that could kill a vegetable crop from spreading. There are also not one, but two posts on how to harvest cattails. A plant I never would have consider edible is in fact a reliable source for carbohydrates and protein. You can eat the roots, young shoots, or the thick 'cattail' part of the plant. It can be boiled, baked, or (the roots) can be dried and ground to be used as a flour substitute. Apparently, boiled cattail with butter tastes like corn on the cob. Who would have known? There is no shortage on articles about food in the Almanack.

The tone about food on the Adirondack Almanack is much different than what we have been reading about. It is hopeful, confident, and resourceful. Contributors to the Almanack not only see possibilities within the park but have learned from past farmers. Farming in the Adirondacks is not big-scale farming that we see elsewhere in the US (and that was once tried in the park). Farmers in the Adirondacks run small scale operations but they are making the most out of what they have. For some this means learning all the uses of a cattail plant. Others have taken advantage of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) which lets locals purchase a share of a farm's crop, and every week they are supplied with whatever is being grown. This not only helps farmers distribute their crops locally, but it also helps get the community involved. 

Farming in the Adirondacks is evolving. It is still hard but not impossible. People are still trying. I think this speaks to McKibben's remarks that people who live in this part of the country are among some of the most resilient. They will always keep trying to find a way to make a living. 



Works Cited:

Chase, Diane. "A Bountiful Adirondack Harvest With A Local CSA" Adirondack Almanack Accessed: Sept 9th 2015. http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2015/08/bountiful-adirondack-harvest-local-csa.html

Hetzler, Paul. "Cattails: A Culinary Tale of Nine Lives" Adirondack Almanack Accessed: Sept 9th 2015. http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2015/07/cattails-culinary-tale-nine-lives.html

Ivy, Amy. "Amy Ivy: August in the Garden" Adirondack Almanack Accessed: Sept 9th 2015.http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2015/08/amy-ivy-august-garden.html

McKibben, Bill. Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005. Print.

Scheider, Paul. The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness. New York: H. Holt, 1998. Print.