Herondale Farm is a mixed livestock certified organic farm. It used to be a dairy farm and we have gradually transformed the barns and pastures to accommodate the new inhabitants—our British White and Murray Grey cattle, our Berkshire and Berkshire cross pigs and our Cornish cross rock chickens (along with a motley crew of guinea hens and laying chickens who patrol for flies and ticks).
We like to raise healthy and happy animals, who spend as much time as they want in the pastures. Our chickens are a seasonal business, from spring through late fall, to ensure that they have grass as a big part of their diet. The pigs have access to the barn in the winter to stave off the cold, and they eat a lot of alfalfa baleage in the winter as well as an organic grain and soy mix. For the rest of the year they are rooting up marginal fields or woodlots. And the cows graze the fields as long as the grass grows, after which they enjoy the alfalfa baleage and hay that we put up for the winter.
In essence we are trying to turn back the clock—to produce meat and poultry that tastes as good as it did several decades ago before farms got turned into factories. By raising the animals in their natural environment and with their natural diets we are simply letting nature dictate the quality of their lives and their meat.
British White and Murray Grey cattle were bred to thrive on grass. These heritage breeds have never adapted to the feedlot system that forces hormone-filled cows to eat grain and forget about grazing. A grass-fed diet ensures meat that is tender, tasty, high in omega-3s and hormone free, and since our pastures are certified organic, our cows are eating grass completely free of herbicides and pesticides.
If you would like to order organic meat from Herondale Farm, please and we will let you know what is available. Your order can then be shipped via UPS or picked up at the farm.
If you would like to pay us a visit, please do—just try to give us some notice so that we will be available to show you around.
Jerry and Iva Peele