Canter Hill
Farm
WHY WE GROW
We grow because we care what we eat. We care even more what our children eat. And we think you care, too. We founded Canter Hill Farm in 2008 with the goal of growing our own food so that we knew exactly what was (and what wasn't) in it. We didn't set out to start a business - we had two full-time careers of our own. But then we started talking to people who read the books that we did and cared as much as we did - and we decided to try to grow for them, too. That's how it all began....
WHERE WE ARE
2138 Valley Hill Road
Malvern, PA 19355
We are open on
Fridays from 12 - 4.
Email: canterhillfarm@yahoo.com
Phone: 610.827.1594
(For a quick response, email is best!)
HOW TO BUY
SCHEDULE
Bryn Mawr:
Every Saturday from 9 am - 1 pm
Location: Parking lot of the Bryn Mawr Train Station (Lancaster Avenue & Bryn Mawr Avenue)
Chestnut Hill:
Every Saturday (starting 4/11) from 10 - noon during April, and then 9 - noon beginning in May. Location: in front of the Mermaid Inn.
Kennett Square:
Get on our "Kennett Dropoff List" by sending us an email
Media:
Email to get on the "Media dropoff" email list. I'll alert you when I'm coming to Media and we can meet up for a pickup.
Meetup on January 2nd, 16th and 30th.
Farm:
Friday from 12 - 4 pm
(or request an appt.)
Have a Ham
Gorgeous spring days mean the produce and flowers are growing inches every day, the chickens are plump, and the sheep are chomping down mouthfuls of grass faster than they can swallow. The only thing my FAMILY hates about this time of year is that I’m in the garden until I can’t see….and then I come in to start making dinner!
Those nights I turn to dishes that are fast but filling – and don’t feel like fast food. One of my favorites (and often overlooked) is HAM. Smoked ham slices have only salt and water added to the smoking process, and their preparation in your kitchen is equally easy. I simply place them in a pyrex dish, sprinkle with some brown sugar (you can top with a jam or drizzle with honey – but add these at the halfway point so that the sugars don’t burn) and bake for roughly 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Ham wedges take just a little longer because they are thicker, so I often throw a piece of tin foil over the pyrex to keep the whole wedge moist. How do you know it’s done? When the juices start coming out from the ham and filling the pyrex around it. As soon as you see “meaningful” juices (not just a drop or two, but maybe a tablespoon or two’s worth), your ham is warmed through. That’s all you’re trying to do.
Pair with any kind of potato salad, pasta salad, zoodles or roasted veggies – and dinner is served.
And we’re offering an unbelievable price on these whole and half slices and small wedges (a small wedge is enough for 2 people – it’s about 1 lb):
Regularly $13 / lb, on sale for $8 / lb this weekend
If you come to the farm today (12 – 4 pm), we also have some slices and wedges whose meat is meager….so they’re free!
From the FIELD:
This has been the BEST week for Strawberries yet! Minimal rain and loads of sun produces super sweet, never squishy – BRIGHT RED BERRIES!
$6 per pint or $12 per quart – grab them! (These are the sweet spring berries that won’t last long. Our Everbearing varieties will continue through the summer, but are a bit milder and less abundant than spring varieties, so if you love to mix a splash of spring with your Prosecco, get them NOW, cut, blend and strain them and make your strawberry simple syrup that will freeze beautifully for THE WHOLE YEAR. The recipe? ½ cup water, ½ cup of sugar, boiled so that the sugar dissolves. Mix with the blended, strained (I hate those little seeds) strawberries. And FREEZE! I add 1 Tbsp of this to champagne, prosecco or to club soda or tonic, with a few crushed mint leaves (when I have to avoid falling asleep in the middle of the day) for an UNBELIEVABLY fresh, tasty beverage.
Last of the ASPARAGUS: $6.50 / bunch, these are dwindling, so grab them now! Chop them and freeze them for a quick add to an egg scramble, or boil them (diced) in water and blend them similar to the strawberries (no sugar, though!) and this blend can be added to risotto to make a “Spring Asparagus Risotto”. (The boiled, blended asparagus gets added at the very end, after the risotto is made. You are boiling the asparagus to bring out it’s green and to soften it enough to blend smoothly. Once softened, spoon JUST THE ASPARAGUS into your blender and then add a Tablespoon or two of the water you boiled it in so that it blends to the consistency of a gravy. This can be frozen and kept all year for mid-winter “Spring Risottos”).
What else?
We have FRESH GARLIC (super mild, great sauteed with all those spring veggies you don’t know how to prepare)
First Snow Peas
Salad Greens
Broccoli Heads (just a few!)
Blackberries
Blueberries (just a few)
And the FLOWERS are COMING!!
What’s FRESH?
We have fresh chicken, fresh sausage, fresh steaks (Delmonico, NY Strip, Filet and Skirt) along with new supplies of lamb that include perfectly sized boneless lamb shoulders and legs and bone-in legs just right for a dinner party of four.
Pre-Order for Produce:
We have limited quantities, so please consider pre-ordering (and definitely pre-order for Chestnut, as we only send pre-ordered items).
Hours:
FARM: Friday from 11 – 4 pm
BRYN MAWR: Saturday from 9 am – 1 pm
CHESTNUT HILL: Saturday from 9 am – noon
Don’t forget to PRE-ORDER if you want to ensure we have what you want and need! Email canterhillfarm@yahoo.com with your list and pickup plan.
FLOWER FUN:
Coming in July….F^6
(Yes, I’m a bit of a math nerd. That’s F to the sixth power. It stands for):
Fabulous: Flowers, Farm, Friends, Food & Fridays.
Someone with more marketing abilities than me is WELCOME to win a free bouquet for suggesting a better name! Bring a friend, a bottle, a snack and some creative inspiration as you cut gorgeous flowers from our garden and arrange them as you sip and savor while the sun sets over our fields and your exquisite bouquet.
Can’t wait to see you at the farm or the markets on Saturdays: Bryn Mawr (9 am – 1 pm), Chestnut Hill (9 am – noon)
Our Mission:
We founded the farm on a simple premise:
Before chemicals, labs and factory farms got involved, God had created a perfect, workable system. We will learn about it, respect it, and we will naturally and successfully be able to be "beyond-organic" in our food supply.
New to farming, we had no pre-conceived ideas about raising animals or vegetables, and sought out farmers across the globe to learn what we did and didn't want to do. We quickly saw that most food systems raising just one type of offering needed external inputs - fertilizers, corn and sadly - sometimes chemicals and antibiotics. That's why we raise a variety of animals. Each has been chosen to serve a function for the others.
Over the last 10 years, we have grown and in addition to our home-base farm in Malvern, we lease 180 acres of grazing land from old family friends in Lancaster County. During the summer, we rotate half of our sheep flock through this land, and most of our steers call this land home. All of the land we graze is 100% free of any chemicals or sprays and we re-plant every other year to manage soil compression, erosion and to preserve a diversity of forage.
Canter Hill's beef and lamb is 100% grass (or hay) feed, and supplemented only with salt licks. We de-worm our sheep flock once annually, after lambing season (at the same time as sheering - typically the first week of June) and do not introduce any other chemicals or antibiotics. We have not experienced the same need to de-worm our steers. We have been migrating our sheep flock from Dorset to Katahdin, and therefore most of our sheep are now 50% or more Katahdin (a hair sheep), because we believe the meat tastes nicer! Our beef is both Black and Lowline Angus. We are shifting towards Lowline Angus which is more tolerant of 100% grass feeding and generally very hardy.
Canter Hill's poultry and pork is either pasture (for poultry) or forage fed (our pigs dig in the forest, and our turkeys also tend to roam!). They are supplemented with organic, soy-free feed. How much feed vs. forage do they consume? It depends on the weather. If it's raining or cold, more feed than forage. On warm days that aren't drenching, almost entirely forage. This is why we raise from March - November.
We STRONGLY encourage you to open your minds to frozen meat. If you're committed to pasture raising, recognize that you can't have fresh meat in the dead of winter, and purchase a great freezer!
We are committed to pasture-raised, antibiotic-free and chemical-free poultry, lamb and produce.