I have passed by the sign to Manning Hill Farm a million times on my way to Keene, New Hampshire, but I never stopped in. I knew they sold milk, but I didn’t know they sold GREAT milk until I went there for this interview yesterday. I was completely surprised by the sweet, strong taste!
This is very sweet, slow (vat) pasteurized, unhomogenized milk from Dutch Belted cows. The fat globules are very small, so, the milk is, in effect, naturally homogenized.
Sam Canonica and Sarah Costa grew up on the North Shore of Boston. Sarah studied animal science at the University of New Hampshire and Sam was brought up on a farm and worked at a dairy farm.
Sam Canonica and Sarah Costa
They wanted to own their own farm and, in 2006, they found this one in southwest New Hampshire. It had been a dairy farm in the 50’s and then a horse boarding facility.
The farm is situated at the end of a long dirt road.
The fields overlook the rolling hills of southern New Hampshire.
This was the horse barn.
Sarah and Sam built this huge cow barn in 2016.
Their house had been used as a summer home by the previous owners. It was built in 1875.
During the first 4 years after they bought the farm, they both worked at other jobs. Sarah managed sales at a feed & tack store and Sam did logging and haying.
By 2010, they were ready to run the farm full time. They bought 9 Dutch Belted cows, a rare heritage breed, from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania.
Dutch Belted cows are a hearty breed. Some live and produce for up to 12 years.
Ginger
This is a rare Vermont heritage breed – Randall Lineback
They are currently milking 22 cows and this yields 550 gallons of milk per week. They can milk 11 at a time in their current tie stall barn. But, they are in the process of building a milking pit parlor where the cows stand on a platform to be milked.
In addition to their cows, they have 30 pigs, 400 laying chickens and 200 meat chickens.
Golden Comets
They had originally planned to sell their milk to the nearest large cooperative, but the price was so low, they knew they wouldn’t make it. So, they decided to bottle and distribute the milk themselves.
They built their small milk plant, working with the state to meet all the regulations.
Their bulk tank
The milk is pumped in from the milking parlor through the pipes in the window.
The pasteurizing vat at left holds 200 gallons and the one at right holds 132. (Originally, they had one 50 gallon vat.)
This filler was made by the Amish. It has a foot pedal! They use it to bottle over 1100 quarts and half gallons per week.
Most of the bottles are returned and reused because there is a $2 deposit.
These bottles in the walk-in refrigerator were ready to be delivered.
They bottle their milk twice/ week and deliver it twice/week to locations within a 30 mile radius of their farm.
Sarah and Sam do all this themselves. They have only spent one night away from the farm in 8 years!
Their Farm Store
It’s amazing how many products they sell in a relatively small space!
Manning Hill Farm
79 Old Manning Hill Rd, Winchester, NH 03470
(603) 239-4397
Website – www.manninghillfarm.com/
Farm Store Open
Monday 9am-7pm
Tuesday 2pm – 7pm
Wednesday 2pm -7pm
Thursday 9am-7pm
Friday 12pm-7pm
Saturday 2pm- 6pm
Sunday Closed
and
The Keene Farmers’ Market every Saturday 9-1
May – October on Gilbo Ave in Keene, New Hampshire
