Steve Normanton Grass-Fed Beef » Steve Normanton

Spring Chickens

Steve Normanton — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:06:15 +0000

Since we have to brood a batch of chicks to replace our own laying hens, we decided to double our order and open a new line of business: certified Organic, ready-to-lay pullets for sale. These Rhode Island Reds will start laying eggs in April, and we are now taking reservations for April delivery at $16 apiece. If you are interested in reserving some, please shoot me an email.

Field Trip

Steve Normanton — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:13:52 +0000

Click to view slideshow.This weekend we had a visit from the sixth grade Environmental Science class of the Roxbury Latin School in Boston. For weeks, the boys have been studying different ways in which humans have interacted with nature, now focusing on the production of food. They have studied and debated source materials from 19th century native American literature to the documentary Food Inc. The trip to our farm was the culminating experience for the boys, and after touring the farm and helping with some chores, they ended with a cook off between supermarket hamburger and our grass-fed hamburger.

Needless to say, our hamburger won hands down!

Help Wanted

Steve Normanton — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:38:53 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when kids go back to school and farmers don’t have enough help any more. We have lots of chores to do, and we are looking to hire. So if you are

a self-starter,
a problem-solver,
a hard worker,
interested in getting closer to where your food comes from, and
available for part-time work,

then send me an email!

Aerial Predation

Steve Normanton — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:10:10 +0000

We have lost a number of chickens to aerial predators over the last couple of weeks—as much as one chicken per day. The red-tailed hawk pictured above seems to be one of the culprits. At this time of year, the young fledglings are leaving the nest, and the adults are teaching them to hunt. It seems that they see our fields as the perfect place to train, and to treat the whole hawk family to a good meal of organic pasture-raised chicken.

This is now a major problem, and it could get worse over the next few weeks, so we decided to contact the USDA Wildlife Department to find out what options are available to us. Angelic DeButts, Wildlife Specialist with NH Wildlife Services stopped by and gave us a number of options to try and deter the hawk. These include pyrotechnics, a screech owl effigy, scary eye balloons, and trying to create a “no landing zone” in our chicken paddock. A permit to kill the hawk can be issued by the NH Wildlife services if these options are tried and none of them work. We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that.

Meet Patrick

Steve Normanton — Fri, 13 May 2011 02:51:25 +0000

Patrick Fournier is a freshman at Alvirne High School in Hudson. About a month ago he approached me about working part time at the farm. He now collects eggs, he waters and feeds the laying flock, and he uses his own ATV and trailer to take feed out to the broiler chickens and pigs, avoiding the compaction of the soils from heavier vehicles. What’s more, he also monitors and records the weather from a little weather station he and his Dad set up. I hope you will join me in welcoming Patrick to the farm, next time you stop by to see us.

2011 Egg and Chicken Ordering

Steve Normanton — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:54:46 +0000

After a succesful trial period last year with pasture raised chickens for meat and eggs, we will be offering both chicken and eggs again for this year. Click here for more information on how to order for the upcoming season and for more detailed information about our pastured poultry operations.

Green Revolution

Steve Normanton — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:05:32 +0000

Here is a clip from a fascinating documentary we just learned about from our friend Gerhard Pawelka. (The whole documentary is available on iTunes.) It is about the changes Cuban agriculture went through, due to a shortage of energy as a result of the the collapse of the Soviet Republic. This led them down a path towards agricultural sustainability, using organic farming practices to produce healthy food.

It might seem like a stretch, given the current weather we are having, but I feel we can learn a lot from the new Cuban paradigm.

Sold Out

Steve Normanton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:50:46 +0000

We have just been down to Montgomery, New York to visit our friends, Steve and Gene Pirog at Bettinger Bluff Farm. We went to check out their operation, and as usual we were impressed with what we saw.

Advance orders have now reserved all of our own supply of beef for 2010—I did not even reserve a supply for myself! So for my benefit, and for the benefit of some of our customers who are in the same boat as me, we have arranged to buy a few market-ready steers from the Pirogs. We will bring the steers to New Hampshire in December and have them processed at our facility for pickup just before Christmas.

So if you are like me—interested in buying beef for this year and haven’t placed your order yet—we can still accommodate you. Please let us know as soon as possible.

Click to view slideshow.

Sheep School

Steve Normanton — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:44:48 +0000

What is Omar doing to that poor sheep? Actually, he is learning how to “tip” a sheep at a recent livestock field school run by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project of Tufts University. Once tipped into this pose, sheep are very relaxed and happy to lie back and let the handler trim hooves, administer a vaccine, etc. without resistance. We have had a lot of inquiries about lamb recently. We probably won’t be adding lamb to the menu right away, mainly because our perimeter fence will need major reinforcement first. But it is clearly on our minds, and we’ll get there eventually. Meanwhile, I’ll have to remind Omar not to try that on a cow.

The value of weeds Part1

Steve Normanton — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:52:10 +0000

This spring, I seeded in some grass with a no till drill on about 25 acres. By the time I had my pasture walk in July, I had a beautiful stand of Rag weed, lambs quarter and a number of other so called weeds—and very little grass. I was very concerned until I noticed that the cows seemed to eat these weeds. Then I noticed that despite a very dry summer, the soil beneath the weeds was cool and retaining moisture. Later, as the weeds passed their prime, the grass I had planted started to take hold. This has been an incredibly dry year and it is amazing to see this grass growing after a dormant stage when I thought it had been heat killed. I am always humbled when observing the way nature tends to correct imbalances in the ecology and find ways to protect the ecosystem’s resources . The weeds acted as a “nurse crop”for the grass and they were able to keep the soil cool by providing shade. Had I mowed these weeds earlier in the season, this would probably have resulted in the young fragile grass being killed off by the heat.

I’m definitely hoping to manage the pasture in a way that increases the more palatable grasses over time. But this year, I’m feeling lucky for what I already have.