I am thrilled to present my photographic series, Locally Known: A Photographic Celebration of Our Local Farms. The Locally Known series grew from my artistic desire to create a visual documentary of our local farmers and their farms, and to make a connection with the Monadnock Region’s bounty of fresh local food.
My hope is that you will start a new relationship with your food, to know where it comes from and to connect with the people who provide it. I believe it strengthens our community when we have a connection with the hard-working people that provide us with fresh, natural and organic food. The next time you purchase locally raised grass-fed beef or a locally-grown organic vegetable (or two!), you will know exactly where it came from and who made it – how exciting is that!
Come with me on my culinary journey through the foods and farms of the Monadnock Region – let’s make the choice to support the people who are genuinely taking care of our land and our dinner tables. Join me in celebrating the amazing food folk of the Monadnock Region!
Manning Hill Farm
Sam Canonica and Sarah Costa, owners of Manning Hill Farm in Winchester, have been supplying the region with high-quality milk, grass-fed beef, and pastured pork, chicken and eggs for the past six years. On their 126 acre farm — which includes a farm house and barn built in the 1850s — they raise a unique dairy herd of heritage Dutch belted cows, an efficient breed selected for its ability to produce super-premium milk that is naturally sweet and easily digestible. Eleven cows on Manning Hill Farm are milked twice a day; the milk is gently pasteurized and bottled right at the farm in a stone garage that was converted into a state-inspected bottling facility. With no employees, Sam & Sarah do all of the work themselves, collecting and bottling 200 gallons of low-temperature pasteurized, non-homogenized milk (plain and chocolate milk) each week and delivering it to 22 local stores and restaurants. All of their farm products are also sold at the farm and at area farmers’ markets. The couple notes that since the milk is not “ultra-pasteurized” or homogenized, it is the perfect milk not only for drinking, but for making your own cheese, butter or yogurt. Plus, you have to admit, those glass milk bottles are the coolest things around. For more information about Manning Hill Farm and where you can purchase its milk and farm products, visit their website.
