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Thanks to Mary McClintock, the "local food columnist" at the Greenfield Recorder for giving us a plug in the Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 issue.
We're working on a real website which should be on-line later this week. The directions on this blog will bring you to our farm which is located 10 minutes north of Greenfield. We've got a "self-serve" farmstand with frozen lamb meat open during daylight hours. Come BUY SOME LAMB! It's delicious and local! We appreciate your support. You can also buy our ground lamb and stew meat at Greenfields Market. We have a larger variety of cuts here at the farm.
From Boston and Points EastTake Route 2 out of Cambridge. Travel West on Route 2. It is a 4 lane divided highway. Then it becomes a 2 lane highway with no division. Be careful – it is curvy.Travel across the Connecticut River (at Gill/Erving – there is a large bridge called The French King Bridge you will cross). You are getting close.Take the second Greenfield exit – Sign says Greenfield Route 5/10.At bottom of ramp, take a left onto Route 5/10 South.Travel 3/10 mile until the first Stop Light. Take a right onto Silver Street (there is an Auto Zone on the right).Travel to the end of Silver Street (approximately 1 mile).Take a right onto Leyden Road. Continue on Leyden Road – it will fork. Stay to the left (sign says Leyden with an arrow).After 5 1/10 miles, you will see a long row of mailboxes on the right and a large oak tree with a blue sawblade that says Herron’s Blueberries. Take a right immediately onto South Schoolhouse Road. Road will turn to dirt quickly. Continue to end of road – there will be a white ranch house directly in front of you. Take a right going slow around corner. Travel down hill.Our farm is the only house and little red barn on the left. There is a picket fence around the house. The Farmstore is in the barn on the left side – You’ll see a Leyden Glen Lamb Sign. (Alternatively, you can take the Mass Pike Rt. 90 out of Boston and then take 91 North at Springfield. Follow the Points South Rt. 91 directions above if you do this).
From the SouthTake 91 North from NYC, Hartford or NorthamptonExit at First Greenfield, MA Exit #26At bottom of ramp, exit rotary at right towards Greenfield.Travel on Rt. 2A You’ll pass China Gourmet on right, Dunkin Donuts on Right.Go through the light straight.Travel on this road which becomes Main St.Take a left onto Conway Street just past Dillon Chevrolet.Travel on Conway St north for about TOTAL 5 ½ or so miles. You will pass a dairy farm on right. Continue. Road will fork – take the left fork. The road is now called Leyden Road.You will begin to climb up a hill and the road becomes Greenfield Road. There are no street signs identifying this though.After the plateau, look for a long row of mailboxes on the right and a large oak tree w/ a blue saw blade that says Herron’s Blueberries. Take a right there onto S. Schoolhouse Road.Continue until the end of the road and take a right onto Glen Road. (There will be a white ranch house directly in front of you.)Go down the hill and our house is the only one on the left. There is a white picket fence. You’ll see a small red barn just before our house. There is a Farm Store sign on the left door. The lamb is in there in a freezer. It is self-serve with a cash box. Border Collies are loose. They are friendly but will jump - Don’t wear white.
About our farm: We have been raising sheep since 1979. Our flock has grown from 4 ewes to 150 ewes at the present time. Every January and February, our ewes produce our lamb crop of at least 150 lambs. Many of the lambs are sold into the Easter market trade at a live weight of about 50 pounds. The lambs that are not sold for the Easter market, live on in our flock. Some are used as replacement ewes for our breeding flock. The others are grown out for our freezer lamb market. All of our lambs are processed at a local USDA inspected, state of the art facility in nearby Athol, Massachusetts.Our lambs are sold by the animal. You can purchase a whole or half lamb. We also sell ground lamb and stew meat by the pound. It is packaged frozen in 1 lb cryovac packs.Q: What does a lamb cost?A: A whole lamb costs $240.A half lamb costs $130. Half lambs will not include the heart unless specified. It is sometimes difficult to split a half lamb so we suggest splitting a lamb with a friend. For instance, it there is 5 lbs. of ground meat, we can’t give you 2½ lbs. because it is already frozen.Q: Is delivery included? A: No. You may pick up at the farm depending on the season. We can also meet you at a local place such as a library, post office, or parking lot at no charge. If we are coming your way, there will be no charge for delivery. Sometimes we come to Boston (Kristin’s lives in Dedham) so you may be able to meet us there for pick-up.Q: Should I bring a cooler when I pick up my lamb? A: This depends on the weather and how far you have to travel with your frozen lamb. Use common sense. In the summer, definitely yes. Q: What will my lamb look like?A: Your lamb will be packed frozen in cryovac bags with all the air taken out of them. They will be labeled and have the cut of the meat marked on them. The individual packs will not have individual weights per pack. You will receive 2 to 3 large bags of meat. Here is a photo of a lamb delivery:
Q: What will my lamb weigh?A: Our goal is to slaughter our lambs at approximately 100 lbs. liveweight. An average 100 pound lamb will “dress out” at approximately 40 pounds hanging weight. Hanging weight is the term for the carcass after the head, skin, wool, feet, four stomaches, intestines and other non-edible organs have been removed.Q: What do I get? A: Here’s how the sample lamb pictured on these pages finished out.
Note – Not all lambs will weigh the same going in and coming out of processing. A lamb is an organic thing - everyone weighs slightly different just like humans. The following is an example of how we normally have our lambs cut. After 20 plus years of eating our own animals, we have determined these cuts to be the best for our family. Your family may have different needs and we are willing to accomodate with appropriate notice.• Loin and Rib Chops -8 lbs - chops are cut approx 1 to 1 ¼” thick – this lamb yielded 24 chops• 4 shanks (shanks are the bottom part of the leg) 2½ lbs
• Legs (back legs of the animal.)
2 legs – 1 with bone – approx. 5½ lbs1 boned (w/out bone) rolled and tied– 4 lbs. • Shoulders (front legs of the animal)2 shoulders – both are boned and tied – approx. 3¼ lbs
• Ground Lamb3 to 3½ lbs ground lamb• Stew Meat5 lbs stew meat cut from various pieces• Organs2 packs lamb livers – about 1¼ lbs2 kidneys ¼ lb1 heart – approx. ¼ lb.This sample animal yielded approximately 33½ lbs of meat. This averages out to approximately $7.20/lb. Q: Can I get special cuts?A: If you would like special cuts, they are available by special order. To get an idea of special cuts, see the illustration on page 3.For instance, if you want the ribs as a “rack of lamb” they can be supplied whole (French cut not available – French cut is the fancy cut restaurants serve w/ the little curled papers on the bones)•If you want both legs boned or with bone in, this is possible. Obviously, the boned legs weigh less than with bone in. Boned legs are perfect for butterflying for the grill in the summer.•Thicker chops are available by special order but obviously you would receive less chops.•Shoulders can also be cut into shoulder chops or stew meat. After many years of eating our own lamb, we have decided we prefer our shoulders boned. A shoulder roast can be stuffed and roasted or cut it into stew meat. The shoulders have quite a bit connective tissue and benefit from a very slow, low temperature, long roast or simmer or braise.
Q: Can I buy separate parts of a lamb?
A: Yes, at our self-serve Farmstore. See Directions.
Q: What do your lambs eat?A: Grass during pasture season, homegrown and harvested hay during winter. Milking mothers and young lambs are supplemented with grain for about 2 months in the winter before the pastures kick in. Most of those lambs go to the livestock auction for the Easter lamb trade. The grain that we feed has no added hormones nor antibiotics but it is not certified organic.Q: Do you give your sheep any antibiotics or homones?A: NoQ: Are your lambs certified organic? A: NoQ: Can I get my lamb fresh, not frozen?A: Yes, this is possible but you must be ready to pick up exactly when we specify and.Q: How do I pay?A: We prefer personal checks or cash. If you must pay with a credit card, we will process it through Paypal. There will be a 3% surcharge for Paypal payments. Let us know so that we can send you an invoice and you can arrange for payment. The Paypal transaction must be completed before pick-up.Q: Can you ship my lamb? A: Not quite yet - we’re just learning the ropes. Maybe someday.Q: Can you supply restaurants?A: We can supply restaurants with ground lamb and stew meat at the present time. Q: Can you suggest any good books for learning about cooking meat and about grass-fed animals?A: There are more and more coming to the market as the grass-fed meat trend continues to grow. Here’s a short list:•Meat by Hugh Fearnley-Whittenstall, 10 Speed Press. This book comes from one of the gurus of the “where does your food come from?” movement in Great Britain. It has been recently printed for the US market. Hugh has several other great cookbooks that often feature lamb recipes. These include River Cottage Year, The River Cottage Cookbook, and others. Check out his website: www.rivercottage.net•The Grassfed Gourmet by Shannon Hayes•All Flesh is Grass by Gene LodgsonQ: Can I purchase a live lamb?A: Yes, call for availability.Q: Do you sell wool?A: Not yet. We are working on it.Q: What breed are your sheep?A: Our base flock is Romney, a dual purpose breed that originated in England and is very popular in New Zealand. Over the years, we have introduced Dorset, Dorper, Shetland, and Border Leicester, usually by purchasing a ram and using him for breeding the flock. We continually try new cross-bred combinations to develop an animal which works well within our management system and local ecology of the pastures we graze.We have tried to anticipate any questions you may have about purchasing a whole lamb. Please feel free to e-mail or call us and we will answer your specific questions.
