Category: Farm of the Month

Farm of the Month: The Maple Guys

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By Jan Sevene, Monadnock Localvore Project

The Maple Guys
146 Schoolhouse Rd
Lyndeborough, NH 03082
603-487-3292
Toll-Free: 1-888-627-5349
themapleguys@yahoo.com
http://www.mapleguys.com

It is a story of sweet success, because their quality products speak for themselves. What began as a backyard hobby, boiling sap in a “homemade rig,” steadily evolved into a thriving maple sugaring business-twice awarded the Carlisle Trophy for the best maple syrup in New Hampshire. Maple Guys owner Chris Pfeil, assisted by his wife Kim, and with support from part-owner Chris Schoen, continually expands product lines to better serve customers.

Along with tempting traditional maple syrup products, The Maple Guys offers customers numerous items. Informative books teach maple sugaring and candy making. Custom gift baskets are available for personal and business gift giving, and wedding guests or party goers can take home a sweet remembrance of New England in the form of a Maple Guys unique and stylish maple syrup wedding or party favor.

The Maple Guys offers maple sugaring equipment, and accessories and supplies, ranging from buckets and spouts to sugarhouses and evaporators. The Pfeils firmly believe in the need for the sugaring industry to rely more on a local, sustainable fuel source. When searching for a clean, energy efficient wood-fired evaporator to replace their aging unit, they found one that exceeded their expectations. Recently installed, it will be in production this sugaring season. This fulfills their objective to have the first clean wood-burning gasification evaporator in New Hampshire.

Give them a call, or better yet pay a visit to The Maple Guys Open House during New Hampshire Maple Weekend, March 27 & 28, 2010.  Visit their website for details, and while there, view their many products. Support a local sugarer!

Other maple sugar producers:

Boutwell’s Sugar House
Lee and Judy Sawyer
192 Main Street
Jaffrey, NH 03452
603-532-7621

My Old Farm Pure Maple Syrup
Harold Bigelow Jr.
70 South Scofield Mountain Road
Winchester, NH 03470
(603)239-6751.

Stonewall Farm
Glenn Yardley
Chesterfield Rd.
Keene, NH 03431
603-352-0457

Stuart & John’s Sugar House
Eleanor Adams
Jct. Rtes. 12 & 63
Westmoreland, NH 03467
603-399-4486

Webbers Sugar House
Bernard Webber
450 Dublin Road
Marlborough, NH 03455
603-876-4554

Farm of the Month: Long Ridge Farm

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Article by Jan Sevene, February 2009

Long Ridge Farm
Jack and Nancy Zeller
Westmoreland, NH 03467
603-313-8393
longridge@myfairpoint.net

On Long Ridge Farm in Westmoreland, Jack and Nancy Zeller raise the rarest breed of sheep in North America. The quality of their sheep’s sought-after fleece continually stirs comments from repeat customers: “The fleece colors are lovely,” or “It feels very soft,” or “It is beautiful.” And Nancy Zeller, proud of her flock of CVM/Romeldales, knows why.

Together with their natural beauty, hardiness and wonderful dispositions, Nancy described: “Their fine wool…. anyone who is a fiber person says, ‘I love this CVM wool.’ And a fine crimp, which is just as tight as can be, giving [the wool] a springy light, fine handle. It is just beautiful to work with; it is super, super soft.”  And, she added, its heavy grease weight, makes it most desirable to spinners.

Nancy explained how the white and natural colored Romeldales, a cross between Romney rams and Rambouillet ewes, were created on a California farm over 50 years ago.  “Pendleton had bought the entire raw wool fleece every year for their woolen goods.” In the 1960s, the breeding of two mutant multi-colored Romeldales created the CVM/Romeldale (California Variegated Mutant), a breed known for its distinctive coloration pattern referred to as “badger” markings.

Visit Long Ridge Farm’s website at http://www.longridgefarm.com, and learn more about the fascinating CVM/Romeldale breed. Click on the farm’s Online Store, which offers Earthues natural dye extracts and kits. Raw fleece is available annually, along with roving, “Washed and ready to go,” Nancy said.  Nancy reserves all white Romeldale fleece for yarn (not available raw).

Supporting a local farm, helps support a local economy.

Other farm direct offerings:
Clement Family Farm
Bruce & Ellen Clement, meat
91 Mt. Gilboa Rd.
Westmoreland, NH 03467
(603) 399-4923
bclement@cheshire.net

Bear Mountain Farm
Joanne and Ray Smith, 3469 Kent Hollow Road
West Rupert, Vermont 05776,
(802)-394-7852
bearmountainfarm@earthlink.net

Painted Knoll Farm
Nadine Chounet & Glenn Davis
750 Coolidge Woods Road
New Hampton, NH
603-744-3851
tinyfarm@metrocast.net

Farm of the Month: Brookfield Farm

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By Jan Sevene, January 2009

Brookfield Farm
Holly and Christian Gowdy
460 Old Drewsville Road
Walpole, NH 03608
(603) 445-5104
Cdgowdyco(at)aol.com

Looking for quality organic meat, but prefer buying small quantities? Husband and wife team, Holly and Christian Gowdy of Brookfield Farm in Walpole, N.H., are making it easy to fill your order.

Although large quantities are available, to accommodate today’s smaller families, Brookfield Farm’s butcher creates smaller retail cuts. All vacuum-packed and frozen, their hamburg is sold in smaller portions of approximate one-pound packages. Most small steaks and roasts weigh-in no more than a convenient three pounds.

Certified organic, their grass-fed beef receive no grains, hormones, or antibiotics.
“It’s really good meat. Customers appreciate it is grass-fed, very lean and flavorful,” Holly says. “Mostly, I think, our customer base is focused on supporting a local farm. They appreciate the fact that the animals are right here in Walpole.”
In transitioning to include other meats, this past summer Brookfield Farm nurtured humanely raised veal and lamb, both grass-fed. Currently expanding to dairy production, the 200 certified organic acres they either own or manage are home to 6 Black Angus and 15 Normandy cattle, a sturdy French dual-purpose breed used for beef and milk production.

Farm tours are available by appointment. Call, email, or find Brookfield Farm on the Eatwildwebsite: http://www.eatwild.com/products/newhampshire.html. Either way, get to know the local Gowdy family, and the healthy, quality products they offer. They are waiting to convince you, “you can taste the difference.”

Other meat sources:

Country Critter Farm
Michael and Julie Thibodeau
240 Forest Lake Rd.
Winchester, NH 03470
(603) 239-8657
countrycritterfarm@earthlink.net
lamb

Winrose Farm
Bob and Ruth Jennings
103 Francestown Road
Greenfield, NH 03047
(603) 547-3390
winrosefarm@aol.com
http://www.winrosefarm.com
Pastured pork

Green Ledge Farm
Larry and Diane Savage
472 Poor Farm Road
Francestown, NH 03043
(603) 547-3454
larry@greenledgefarm.com
http://www.greenledgefarm.com
Certified organic beef

Eatwild.com is your source for safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork, dairy and other wild edibles. This website provides:

* Comprehensive, accurate information about the benefits of raising animals on pasture.
* A direct link to local farms that sell all-natural, delicious, grass-fed products.
* A marketplace for farmers who raise their livestock on pasture from birth to market and who actively promote the welfare of their animals and the health of the land.

November Farm of the Month: Wichland Woods

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Wichland Woods
64 High St., Keene, NH 03431
wichlandwoods@hotmail.com
http://www.wichlandwoods.com
603-357-2758
Article by Jan Sevene

So, what is a mycologist? A mycologist studies that intriguing fungi that livens up a meal either as an appetizer filled with a savory stuffing; or bathed in a tasty herb-infused olive oil, garlic, and vinegar marinade; simply sautéed and served alone; or as an added ingredient to flavor just about any dish. Yes, we’re talking mushrooms!

Dave Wichland, whose accrued knowledge of mushrooms – primarily learned from renowned mushroom expert, Paul Staments, and Dave’s own years of research and hands-on experimentation with growing – has earned him his reputation as a local mushroom specialist. From his small Wichland Woods location, he puts this knowledge to work offering customers fresh and dried mushrooms, plus educating them by means of his own mycological services.

Through regional and local workshops, he discusses the health benefits of mushrooms and provides the how-to of growing your own by incorporating a “mycological-friendly landscape” with various planting mediums right in your back yard. “I have over twelve mushroom varieties available to incorporate into backyard gardens,” Dave says. “There is the Shitake, Hen of the Woods, Brandy Wine Cap, Lion’s Mane, and Elm Oyster- those and a few more.”

Of his fresh and dried mushrooms, he says, “People really get very excited, because I offer mushrooms to them that they’ve never tried or very rarely get. Generally the mushrooms I offer, the gourmet kind, I offer at prices people rarely get.”

Per pound, what Dave describes as his fresher, better-quality mushrooms, often cost less than in the larger stores. “I understand how to preserve and package mushrooms to last,” he adds, “and I have biodegradable packing, too, for as less of an impact as possible.”

Dave does not provide cultures for all the mushrooms he sells. He also gathers and sells wild mushrooms, and is willing to pay those who find wild mushrooms for him.

Contact Wichland Woods for more information on workshop schedules and mail order sales – and look for Wichland Woods to begin selling at the Keene Farmers’ Market. Ask about available mushrooms and make arrangements to pick some up to incorporate into your own menu.