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 from 9 - noon. 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.
Farm:
Friday from 12 - 4 pm
(or request an appt.)
Belly Rub
The produce is popping, and the first flowers are blooming – Salvia, Rudbeckia, Zinnias, Snapdragons and EVEN the Dahlias! Our “youngster” guinea hens have finally left their starting coop, spent a week “cooped” again in the barn (to try to teach them this is home) and today got to wander with the adult guineas and explore! They were super excited, unbelievably loud and overwhelmingly skittish. And getting them back in the barn reminded me of the expression: “herding cats”. Let’s just say it was 90 minutes of rigorous exercise.
Right now, the guineas are just for fun, tick control and predator alarms – maybe someday we’ll be able to keep them from being picked off or literally up and disappearing and we’ll offer them again for food! We keep trying!
FRESH this week:
Chicken (whole and cuts)
Turkey (cuts) – small amounts, so email ahead!
Sausage
Steaks
Recipe to Try:
Sometimes I get inspired by a restaurant dish, but to translate to home (and practical), it has to be tasty and easy. This one is:
Oven Baked Pork Belly Strips:
Pork Belly is just un-smoked (ie, it’s “raw”) bacon. Slice it in thick slices, warm the oven to 400 degrees, toss a piece of parchment paper (tin foil works too) on a pan, spray with non-stick to make the whole process easier, and lay the strips on the sheet. Sprinkle them first on one side, then the other with the below spice mix and BAKE for approximately 15 minutes, turning once so the other side gets crispy:
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp of each: onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and brown sugar
¼ tsp of each: salt & pepper
Mix up this spice blend and use it to sprinkle. It’s SOOOOOOOO good!
Produce Line-Up:
Just a FEW bunches of asparagus, as their season is reaching it’s close
Strawberries: we eeked out another week!
Blackberries: sweet & juicy!
FRESH garlic (fresh garlic is mildly flavored and juicy. It’s ideal for a GENTLE garlic taste in stir fry, risotto or with spring greens to add a bit of flavor without overwhelming).
FRESH onions (again, fresh onions are milder than those cured in the sun)
SNAP PEAS: the PERFECT healthy, tasty snack food that can add flavor and crunch to hummus, dip and easily transports to work or camp.
Broccoli and Cauliflower: Limited cauliflower heads, as these are slower growers, so order ahead!
Blueberries: just a few!
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.
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.