Short Creek Farm
Meet farmer Jeff Backer and sausage maker Dave Viola of Short Creek Farm in Northwood
Who we are: We have been friends since high school, and we realized about 10 years ago that there was a demand for high-quality and creative meat products made from local pasture-raised pork and grass-fed beef. In 2015, we started Short Creek Farm in Northwood, N.H., with a mission to make the finest sausages, salami and other specialty products reflecting season and a sense of place from our own farm-raised meats, while aiming to be good stewards of the land and maintaining the highest standards for animal health and welfare.
What we produce: We produce pastured pork and grass-fed beef with a focus on value-added products like sausages, bacon and salami. Our homegrown products are made in small batches entirely with pork and beef raised on our farm and seasonal ingredients. We are best known for creative sausage flavors such as the rustic chorizo-inspired Smoked Chili and Pumpkin, and people love our two bacon flavors, savory Seven-Spice and the classic uncured Maple. We make a number of classic old-world salami like saucisson sec and soppressata, with new flavors like Hot Pepper Salame, made with our own lacto-fermented chili paste, coming soon. We also make a few salami flavors with heritage-breed pork sourced from a co-op of family farms in the Midwest … [and we] make sauerkrauts, kimchis and other pickles using traditional lacto-fermentation with produce sourced from other local farms.
Why you should try it: All of our products are delicious. And if you want to support local agriculture, our ... products are made with our own meat, raised with respect for the animals and the soil right in Northwood. We have unique sausage flavors like sweet and savory Roasted Apple & Sage or spicy Carrot Habanero, and we have the classics, too: our Sweet Italian, Bratwurst, and Maple Breakfast recipes are all customer favorites. Also, once you try our pastured pork chops you won’t want to go back to the run-of-the-mill chops from the supermarket.
Where to find it: Our sausages are currently available only through Three River Veggie-GO, an online farm stand delivering local produce and other locally made products directly to households throughout the Seacoast, and we have plans to make our fresh sausages available at more shops later this year. You can find our sauerkraut, kimchi, salami, bacon and other cuts of meat on Veggie-GO and at small shops and farm stands throughout the Seacoast. You can find a limited selection of our salami at Hannaford stores around southern New Hampshire, and you can order our Homegrown salami from our website.
— Rob Levey
Photo Credit: Jeff Backer and Dava Viola. Courtesy photo.