Geof and Jane Gledhill

Geof and Jane Gledhill are the owners/operators of Cedar Grove Windy Hill Farm. Geof is retired from the full time practice of law and is now “full time” farming. Jane is a Certified Nurse Midwife and specializes in homebirth healthcare. Our home and our farm are located at 1319 Carr Store Road, ½ mile east of the Historic Cedar Grove Crossroads north of Hillsborough in Orange County. The land has been farmed for over 200 years.

For the past 30 years Geof has raised cows, a “cow/calf operation,” selling the calves through North Carolina and Virginia markets. Our cows have always been raised hormone and antibiotic free. In 2009 we added grasses and clovers to our pastures, over-seeding new varieties seasonally in the Spring and the Fall. We are committed to grass feeding and finishing our calves.

Raising and finishing cattle exclusively on grass produces meat with a much lower proportion of saturated fats (“bad fat”) than that found in grain-fed beef. And the meat is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids, Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLE) (“good fats”), beta carotene, Vitamin A and Vitamin E.  CLE has been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties and to reduce LDL cholesterol levels. Nutritionist and researcher Kate Clancy contends, “when you eat grass-fed [beef], you’re getting beef with benefits.”[1]

At this time our grass fed and finished calves are marketed directly to Weaver Street Market.  Weaver Street’s Foodhouse Meat Department representative had this to say about the calves we delivered to Weaver Street this Spring: “…the primals had the proper amount of fat cover indicating they were properly finished; they had ample but not over-abundant marbling in the muscle (not the norm for most grass fed we’ve seen); great definition and retail eye appeal for grass fed; they eat better than any I’ve tried so far both as far as tenderness and flavor…Good job….” We are also exploring other marketing opportunities for our grass fed and finished beef.

In the spring of 2010 we took 1½ acres of our 20 acres of open land out of cattle production and have committed that land to fruit production. We planted 700 blueberry plants in March. Our seven varieties of blueberries came from the famous Finch Nursery in Bailey, North Carolina. We expect to plant black raspberries, blackberries, figs and sweet cherries in the fall of 2010. The figs and cherries have been propagated from trees now growing on our farm. The raspberries and blackberries will come from our neighbor’s berry plants. All of our fruit will be grown organically. We intend to market our fruit using a combination of pick your own, CSA, local food stores and local farmers markets. We expect to have fruit for sale by 2013.

Jane has kept dairy goats for 30 years and for 23 of those years the goats have freely ranged over our open land. Until recently the milk from the goats has been for our family use. This year we are selling goat milk for animal feed.  Therefore the milk we sell is sold boldly labeled “NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.”[2]

 We also keep honeybees, primarily for pollination. We may eventually have bee products for sale.

1319 Carr Store Road
Cedar Grove, NC 27231
919-732-4062
cedargrovewindyhillfarm@gmail.com

[1] 2008 North Carolina Grass-fed Beef Demand Assessment prepared by Lois G. Butt, Agribusiness Center at Mount Olive College and presented at the July 2009 Mid Atlantic Grass-fed Beef Conference.

[2] N. C. Gen. Stat §130A-279.