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 10 am - 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:
Farm hours are
Friday from 12 - 4 pm (or request an appt.)
Lamb-tastic
Loads of good reasons to get out to BRYN MAWR (9 am - 1 pm) or CHESTNUT HILL (9 am - noon) today, but the best?
LAMB
Perfect for fall, there's a cut for every chef and all types of weather.
Love to grill?
We have juicy loin chops, delectable rib chops - and BEAUTIFUL, thick, rich and budget-friendly shoulder and LEG CHOPS (we rarely have these, and they are meaty with a tiny bone, so you get a lot of meat for your money!)
Prefer the stove?
Me too. Try a bone-in lamb leg. I know - it sounds fancy and complicated, but it's SOOOOO easy. Our lamb is 100% grass fed, so it doesn't have a gamey taste. Therefore, you don't have to fuss with complicated rubs and don't mess it up with mint. Simply pat it with salt and pepper and then broil it (turn in 2 - 3 times so that each side gets a light brown crisp). Once the outside has that crisp, it has a heat seal. At this point, I cut up 2 or 3 cloves of garlic into pointy chunks and I pierce maybe 9 holes around the lamb and wedge a garlic piece in it. Then I put the lamb on a rack in a pan, cover with tin foil and cook at 325 degrees (untouched) for about 45 min. Use a meat thermometer to test for 125 degrees if you like it medium rare (which is best!). Pull the lamb when it hits 125. Let it rest 10 minutes and cut slices off it.
(What I love about this is that we can have leg of lamb for dinner with roasted potatoes and then we use the leftovers - if there are any - in gyros.
All sound scary?
Not to worry. We have plenty of ground lamb and cubes for both kebabs and for stews, chili or stir fry.
TRY THE TOMAHAWK
The Tomahawk steak is nothing more than a bone-in ribeye (Delmonico) where they haven't cut the rib bone. It looks like something from the Wild West and it either thrills you or terrifies you.
It's not scary - it's just a steak.
But being on the bone and being nice and thick makes it one of the most delicious steaks you've ever cooked.
Wayne grills ours because we love the charcoal flavor, but you can also sear it on a pan and then bake it at 400 for about 15 min (use the meat thermometer! it's critical! Aim for 130 degrees for med-rare)
(If you want to be an honorary South African, pair your Tomahawk with Boerewors, and Wayne swears you'll never turn back!
(See below for this week's dinner, as cooked by Wayne!)
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.