Wyebrook Farm Opens To The Public On Saturday


In the overwhelming majority of cases, having a farm-to-table experience in Philadelphia is more about the table than the farm. You look at a menu, you see the name of the farm or the farmer listed among the effusive prose, and then demand that it be brought to your table. Or maybe you go the farmers market, buy some ramps, a few scallions, maybe some honey. You see the people responsible for the production of whatever you’re buying (or at least the people responsible for driving it to the market), but still end up with more of a connection to the table half of the equation than the farm.

But now, with the opening of the market at Wyebrook Farm, that does not have to be the case.

Wyebrook is a 355-acre sustainable farm out in Honey Brook, founded by Dean Carlson–a place dedicated to the humane, sustainable and natural raising of cows, pigs and chickens. What’s more, it’s a place dedicated to bringing people close to the food they’re eating: a working farm that welcomes guests and sells the meat from the animals raised there.

Or at least it will be, starting on Saturday, April 28 at 9am–the official grand opening of the Farm Market at Wyebrook. There’ll be live music and tours of the grounds, meat for sale from the on-site butcher shop and samples of the farm’s hand-butchered, pasture-raised meats, house-cured bacon, sausages, hot dogs and charcuterie.

Moving forward, the farm market will be open year-round on Saturdays and Sundays, offering local, seasonal products to those willing to make the drive. The folks from Cook are currently looking at being a drop-off point for those wanting to order Wyebrook meats without making the haul all the way out to Honey Brook, but that’s still in the planning stage. In the meantime, Cook already has a butchery class scheduled with Janet Crandall, Wyebrook’s chef, and Dean Carlson. Together, they’ll be teaching some of the basics of whole hog butchery (something that everyone should know, because you never know when you might be called on to break down a pig) and serving up a multi-course meal of locally-raised pork products.

Wyebrook Farm [Official website]

Cook [Official website]