About
Overview
Ashton Glen Farm is located in the township of
Beckwith just outside of Ottawa, 10 minutes outside the village of Ashton and 15
minutes from the town of Carleton Place. Situated on 90 acres,
Ashton Glen Farm features an old style farm house (log
construction of 1885 clapboarded in 1905 when a frame addition
and woodshed were added) to go along with many different log
farming buildings. Ashton Glen is the home of the Smith's,
David, Diane, Jamie, and Danielle. The 90 acre terrain is also
home to two dogs, a cat, three horses and a herd of organic
angus beef cattle. With a front 20 acre forest and
numerous fields fenced in the traditional cedar log style, the
scenery is absolutely spectacular.
The entire farm is managed in the organic manner. We use no
chemicals on our land and we do not administer any
pharmaceuticals to the livestock. Our cattle are raised on
pasture when the fields are growing and fed on hay harvested at
Ashton Glen for winter.
The
Taste of Pasture Raised Organic Angus
For us, the health and environmental benefits of our farm
practice is a a large part of the eating experience.....but the
taste is paramount! We believe that you will find the flavour of
our 21 day dry aged, lean and well trimmed beef to be superior,
the colour inviting, and the texture of truly naturally raised
beef addictive. This is sustenance which is good for you, good
for the planet and a gastronomic delight. It is food not unlike
what your great grandparents would have eaten and is best served
with other local produce. Please email us and let us know what
you think.
What's
in our Beef
Pasture raised respects the ruminant evolution of cattle. They
are most happy and certainly most healthy when grazing fresh
pasture. Their digestive system does not react well to corn, the
main finishing ration for conventional beef, and this often
results in illness which needs to be treated by antibiotics.
Pasture raised beef results in leaner beef with less saturated
fat, higher levels of Vitamin E A and D, balanced Omega 3
and 6, and 300-500% more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (it is very
good for you...google Beef CLA and see what you find).
What's
not in our Beef
Our beef contains no hormones, antibiotics (either from the feed
or injected), larvicides, parasiticides, pesticides or
herbicides.
Ashton
Glen and the Environment
Grassfed cattle production, from an energy perspective, is
inherently a solar operation. Our pasture and hayfields grow
with sun, rain and recycled nutrients (aka manure). Things take
longer this way and total yields are less than what is
achievable with factory farming methods, but we believe that the
result is a much higher quality product which is good for you
and good for the environment. Corn fed feed lot beef, by
contrast, can use up to 4 liters of crude (chemical fertilizer
to grow corn is a major culprit) to produce 1 kg of beef.
We practice rotational grazing, moving the cattle from pasture
to pasture on a regular basis (3 to 5 times a week depending on
conditions and time of year). This method ensures fresh grass
for the cattle while encouraging the natural biodiversity of the
farmland.
The chemical free and biodiverse environment results in a
vibrant population of wild life, from abundant frogs and
salamanders, through to birds and native mammals.
Associations
We are members of the The
Canadian Organic Growers, and
I am a director of the Lanark County Cattlemen's Association as well as a Director of The
Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario
Ashton Glen Farm is a special place to be. We farm in
an environmentally sustainable way with quality at the top of the
priority list so as to produce premium cuts of Angus Beef and Yorkshire
Pork that are good for you. We hope you enjoy our farm's produce.
Dave and Diane Smith
