Philo Ridge Farm is a diversified working landscape located in Vermont’s Champlain Valley. Using ecologically sustainable practices, they manage over four hundred acres of healthy pasture land, forests and organic produce gardens. They rotationally graze heritage breeds of livestock and grow certified organic fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Everything that is harvested is processed and sold in their kitchen and Market, where they feature a changing menu of seasonal dishes as well as grocery and specialty items that showcase Vermont's local artisans and farmers.
Philo Ridge Farm has been one of BLC’s core management projects for the past ten years and we’ve watched their team grow the operation and grow the impact they have in their community. For this month’s blog post, I want to share a piece that their team recently published speaking to the creative process involved in managing a kitchen at the heart of a farm.
Many hands go into each product that is sold and every item on the menu. The grass-fed meat, for instance, starts in the pasture with the farm’s livestock team. The farm’s pastures are incredibly diverse and experience daily and seasonal variations in growth and forage species composition. A variety of environmental factors, including soil type, weather, and plant species variety affect the overall yield and quality of the pastures the animals graze on. Because every season of every year is different in the pasture, pasture-raised meat varies subtly in flavor from year to year. Similar to the concept of terroir in wine, grass-fed meat provides a direct connection to the time and place in which it was grown.
The Philo Ridge farmers work within this connection to produce the most delicious meat possible. Each season, they carefully test and review plant growth in the fields and strive to plant the healthiest, tastiest blend of legumes and grasses for the animals. The butcher and kitchen then provide feedback on the flavor, texture and marbling of the meat and adjustments are made. It’s a years-long process to bring out the best in what the farm can offer. And that is just one example of the thought-process that goes into the food grown and served at the farm.
This piece speaks to some of the intricacies and details needed to be a true farm-to-table operation.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Sincerely,
Meriwether