Products: Lamb - Lamb and Lamb-chetta
LAMB: Time for fresh lamb! In the next 3 to 4 weeks we will be processing lamb lamb and lamb! Our sheep have been grazing and enjoying the outdoors in the Solar Field owned by Green Mountain Power. At the end of their work there, we brought them home to a field plush with grasses, legumes and vegetables we had planted for them (turnips, corn, squash, pumpkins and more!). They are super happy and round! We have a flock of 120 and we need to bring it down to 40 girls (ewes) and 3 boys (rams) because that is what our land and barn can support. So, help us out here! Make a pre-order for lamb! In addition to the usual cuts, we will offer lamb-chetta (porchetta with lamb: the meat is deboned, rolled with herbs, and tied so that it comes out as a roast that fits into your oven. It is quite decadent! The price is $23.14/Lb and roasts can be as small as 4 Lbs. Please note that for the usual lamb cuts (leg, shoulder, chops, rack etc.) 45% of their weight is the bone and for the lamb-chetta there are no bones so the price is the same as for the whole lamb with the only extra fee of $2.5/Lb for the preparation. RESERVE YOUR LAMB-CHETTA NOW! [email protected] If you want other cuts of lamb check out the attached price list. Send me an email if you want to reserve these (please note that we can ship the meat only if frozen and only in New England – or you can pick it up at our farmstand).
Prosciuttino Champlain!
yes, we are getting close to slicing our first prosciuttino! We are taking now your reservations for our prosciuttino. It comes pre-slices in 3oz vacuumed packages ($14 each package). You can make your reservation now but then you got to wait till Stefano decides it is ready! We may be 3 weeks away or 6-7 weeks … this is up to the weather in the next few weeks. From what we have heard, we expect to sell out quite quickly, so we decided to open up the “preorder” option for our customers on our newsletter list. You can make a pre-order now and pay 50% (downpayment) - There is a maximum of 4 packages per pre-order. I will put you on the waiting list (first come first served) and, when we are a week from sending you the product I will send you the rest of the invoice and will ask for the mailing address (or pick up). Email me for a preorder of prosciuttino [email protected]
GIft Cards & Bundles of cured meats for your special gifts
BUNDLES: great ideas for gifts that are not just the usual stuff that ends up in the recycle after a few months, how about a gift package from our farm? We have four gift bundles that include 3 packages of different types of cured meats: the Flavors of Fall (Buttery and Smoky); Warm and Spicy; Slow Down and Seize the Slice; and Something for Everyone at Anytime. Check out our post on Instagram for more information on these bundles. You can request a special hand written card to be included in the package. This is also a good idea for an appreciation gift to a colleague or set of employees.
GIFTCARDS: email ale [email protected] to have a personalized giftcard for your friends/facmily. The giftcards come in increments of $50 (minimum $50) =- cards can be used for our farm dinners ($95/person), our online store for cured meats and all our products at our brick and mortar farmstand. Send an email to alerellini@ for giftcards – I manage these personally.
GIFTCARDS: email ale [email protected] to have a personalized giftcard for your friends/facmily. The giftcards come in increments of $50 (minimum $50) =- cards can be used for our farm dinners ($95/person), our online store for cured meats and all our products at our brick and mortar farmstand. Send an email to alerellini@ for giftcards – I manage these personally.
Cured Meats CSA
every month for 3 months you can receive a package with mixed cured meats. You can choose between:
*SNACK: you pay $99 of mixed cured meats (+shipping: $7 per shipment). Every month, for 3 months you receive a box of approximately 12 oz of mixed cured meats for a total worth $107 of product.
*CONSCIENTIOUS OMNIVOR: you pay $125 (+ shipping: $7 per shipment). Every month for 3 months you received a box with 15oz of mixed cured meat. This has a toal worth of $132.50
There are only 25 CSA available at the moment and this offer is open only to people on our mailing list till November 23rd, after that date we wil lopen it to the public.
Eamil Ale to purchase a CSA or to ask more questions [email protected]
*SNACK: you pay $99 of mixed cured meats (+shipping: $7 per shipment). Every month, for 3 months you receive a box of approximately 12 oz of mixed cured meats for a total worth $107 of product.
*CONSCIENTIOUS OMNIVOR: you pay $125 (+ shipping: $7 per shipment). Every month for 3 months you received a box with 15oz of mixed cured meat. This has a toal worth of $132.50
There are only 25 CSA available at the moment and this offer is open only to people on our mailing list till November 23rd, after that date we wil lopen it to the public.
Eamil Ale to purchase a CSA or to ask more questions [email protected]
News from the Barn
Sheep
As I am sure you all figured, this has been a challenging year for all the farms in Vermont, us included. We lost half of our hay (sheep feed) this year because we could not get into the fields, and the lack of hay in the State brought the costs per bale to the stars. Fortunately, this year our sheep were grazing under the solar panel field so they had more grass than usual and now we brought them home where our fields are still green and lush with the legumes and the vegetables that we (and the pigs) have seeded for them. It is so much fun to walk in a pasture and see the random corn, squash and hundreds of turnips growing happily around grass and flowers. It is particularly satusfying when the turnips and sqaush team up to suffocate the burdock (my most hated weed).
Pigs
Another challenge has been dealing with rain and pigs on clay soil. We were risking to turn our fields into an olimpic size swimming pool, but we were able to contain the potential damange. We achieved this by moving the pigs extra fast to new paddocks; divided pigs in smaller groups; made larger paddocks; and moved their feeding troughs every day. It was a lot of extra work but, now, we are not worried about our soil next year. Did you know that when it rains pigs have figured out to ground the wire with the soil (they even pave it down with the occasional rock on top) so that they can get out for a walk? Yes they are extremely smart and smarter than you think because I think they have a sort of GPS sensor for us ... they prefer running away when stefano and I are not home. If were driving down Panton road at night in October and wondering what was going on with the flashlights in the dark, you can ask our farm assistants.. they ahve a good story to tell you! We have 3 boars at the farm this year! One of them, Bibi was raised to become a sire for another farm. Martino (our senior boar) will also be sold to a new farm in a few months and Michelino will be taking his spot. We have been petting, spoiling and grooming Michelino for the whole season. He is everyone's favorite at the farm. He politely waits his turn when we go to feed him in the fields and when you arrive in his paddock he prances in front of you to show you where his trough is and then looks at you with excitement while you poor down the feed. Other pigs run behind you and puch their noses right behind your knees while wining excessively and when you are about to poor the feed they zoom between your legs and knock you down (hence the rule N.2 of pig farming: keep your legs shut).
Poultry
As I mentioned last newsletter, we lost this year's batch of chicks and ducklings, so we had a second, much smaller, batch. It was hard, in the middle of the busy summer season, to follow the incubator 2 to 3 times a day to check humidity and temperature (eggs cannot handle more that +/- 1 degree in temperture variation!) so our hatching rates were small (11 chickens and 2 ducks!!) and for this reason we were super protective of the new poultry team. My team says I was too protective :) those of you who came to dinner over the past 3 months may have heard/saw me carrying the chickens and ducks inside our home at night. I trained the chicks and ducklings to come to the front door at night so we could scoop them up, place them in a bin and place them in a small office to sleep at night - then in the morning we would let them out. They were the most polite poultry I have ever met. The only time I would hear them was if we happened to forget we had poultry in the office and the ducks would give a polite “quack” to allert us of their presence. The ducks were also very helpful because they would tell us if someone was visiting the farmstand . The chickens and roosters would not make any noises when they were in the house, not even at sunrise and for the most part they spent their days hunting frogs, snakes, insects and foraging apples and wild berries behind the house. Now we have moved them to the back of the barn and Stefano and I miss them, but we are probably the only two... Roman and Cri were pretty much done with the house poultry.
As I am sure you all figured, this has been a challenging year for all the farms in Vermont, us included. We lost half of our hay (sheep feed) this year because we could not get into the fields, and the lack of hay in the State brought the costs per bale to the stars. Fortunately, this year our sheep were grazing under the solar panel field so they had more grass than usual and now we brought them home where our fields are still green and lush with the legumes and the vegetables that we (and the pigs) have seeded for them. It is so much fun to walk in a pasture and see the random corn, squash and hundreds of turnips growing happily around grass and flowers. It is particularly satusfying when the turnips and sqaush team up to suffocate the burdock (my most hated weed).
Pigs
Another challenge has been dealing with rain and pigs on clay soil. We were risking to turn our fields into an olimpic size swimming pool, but we were able to contain the potential damange. We achieved this by moving the pigs extra fast to new paddocks; divided pigs in smaller groups; made larger paddocks; and moved their feeding troughs every day. It was a lot of extra work but, now, we are not worried about our soil next year. Did you know that when it rains pigs have figured out to ground the wire with the soil (they even pave it down with the occasional rock on top) so that they can get out for a walk? Yes they are extremely smart and smarter than you think because I think they have a sort of GPS sensor for us ... they prefer running away when stefano and I are not home. If were driving down Panton road at night in October and wondering what was going on with the flashlights in the dark, you can ask our farm assistants.. they ahve a good story to tell you! We have 3 boars at the farm this year! One of them, Bibi was raised to become a sire for another farm. Martino (our senior boar) will also be sold to a new farm in a few months and Michelino will be taking his spot. We have been petting, spoiling and grooming Michelino for the whole season. He is everyone's favorite at the farm. He politely waits his turn when we go to feed him in the fields and when you arrive in his paddock he prances in front of you to show you where his trough is and then looks at you with excitement while you poor down the feed. Other pigs run behind you and puch their noses right behind your knees while wining excessively and when you are about to poor the feed they zoom between your legs and knock you down (hence the rule N.2 of pig farming: keep your legs shut).
Poultry
As I mentioned last newsletter, we lost this year's batch of chicks and ducklings, so we had a second, much smaller, batch. It was hard, in the middle of the busy summer season, to follow the incubator 2 to 3 times a day to check humidity and temperature (eggs cannot handle more that +/- 1 degree in temperture variation!) so our hatching rates were small (11 chickens and 2 ducks!!) and for this reason we were super protective of the new poultry team. My team says I was too protective :) those of you who came to dinner over the past 3 months may have heard/saw me carrying the chickens and ducks inside our home at night. I trained the chicks and ducklings to come to the front door at night so we could scoop them up, place them in a bin and place them in a small office to sleep at night - then in the morning we would let them out. They were the most polite poultry I have ever met. The only time I would hear them was if we happened to forget we had poultry in the office and the ducks would give a polite “quack” to allert us of their presence. The ducks were also very helpful because they would tell us if someone was visiting the farmstand . The chickens and roosters would not make any noises when they were in the house, not even at sunrise and for the most part they spent their days hunting frogs, snakes, insects and foraging apples and wild berries behind the house. Now we have moved them to the back of the barn and Stefano and I miss them, but we are probably the only two... Roman and Cri were pretty much done with the house poultry.
Farmily News
The biggest news is that Steo and I went on vacation! We took 9 days off and went to Portugal. Of course ,the first thing we did was going to a pig farm! It was fascinating to see how they were raising their Presunto under the cork oaks! The farm had 1900 acres and raised about 70 pigs. They mostly eat acorn they forage or the farmers give them. There was very little grass there in October - it is very hot. The pigs are smaller than the breeds here, They are probably a third of our market size pigs. The prosciutto from that area was INCREDIBLE! A completely different flavor and texture (however, the one we got at the regular store was just mmmhee). We set down for lunch with the owners and their assistants and it was surprising how their vision but also their problems and struggles were similar to ours. Even in a different part of the world, different climate, different culture, different language, different economy … the problems farmers face remain the same. It was validating, empowering but also a somber experience. Basically, folks, your farmers need you. If we want to maintain the Vermont landscape with small family farms; If we want to have local food production; If we want animals rasied with respect and care; If we want a type of agriculture that improves and does not hinder our climate ... we need all of you to continue purchasing from the local farms that work towards these goals. We are hanging in there, but the skirocketing prices for feed, hay, the housing shortage that affects people working for us and consequently the increase in wages has had a strong impact on our farm. We hope you know we really appreciate it when you buy from our online store!
New People at the farm!
Lots of changes within the farmily! Kelly was with us for 1 year and planning to be with us longer but her day-time job swept her away. She is traveling around Europe right now and keeps sending us her news! We do miss her sense of humor and her super organizational skills! Since she left, we welcomed two new farm assistants: Josh (artist and elementary school teacher) and Johnny (works for an alternative energy company). Also, at the salumeria, we are saying goodbye (or see you later) to Gigi, who is moving to Burlington. Gigi became and excellent norcina (specialized butcher) in the past 2 years and had stepped into the role of senior butcher with ease. We learned to depend on her and her opinions in our production facility and will miss her greatly. We are saying hello to Ryan (+ his wife and 2 daughters) who is moving from Oklahoma to work with us and learn italian butchering. Ryan is tall, has red hair and blue eyes so it is quite surprising to hear him speak a fluent Italian (with a great Italian accent) and an even better Sicilian. His family is from the island and he is very close to his cousins there. We are excited to have him join us making our cured meats! We count on continuing to seeing Gigi and Kelly as we have been able to continue our connections with Christy, Josh, Katie, Andrew, Gaby and the many other farm assistants and butchers that joined us for a portion of our journey. Our “farmily” whatzup group keeps getting bigger!!
New People at the farm!
Lots of changes within the farmily! Kelly was with us for 1 year and planning to be with us longer but her day-time job swept her away. She is traveling around Europe right now and keeps sending us her news! We do miss her sense of humor and her super organizational skills! Since she left, we welcomed two new farm assistants: Josh (artist and elementary school teacher) and Johnny (works for an alternative energy company). Also, at the salumeria, we are saying goodbye (or see you later) to Gigi, who is moving to Burlington. Gigi became and excellent norcina (specialized butcher) in the past 2 years and had stepped into the role of senior butcher with ease. We learned to depend on her and her opinions in our production facility and will miss her greatly. We are saying hello to Ryan (+ his wife and 2 daughters) who is moving from Oklahoma to work with us and learn italian butchering. Ryan is tall, has red hair and blue eyes so it is quite surprising to hear him speak a fluent Italian (with a great Italian accent) and an even better Sicilian. His family is from the island and he is very close to his cousins there. We are excited to have him join us making our cured meats! We count on continuing to seeing Gigi and Kelly as we have been able to continue our connections with Christy, Josh, Katie, Andrew, Gaby and the many other farm assistants and butchers that joined us for a portion of our journey. Our “farmily” whatzup group keeps getting bigger!!
