Betty Acres Organic Farm


	Tom & Aissa O'Neil - Farmers/Owners

We are a certified organic farm (NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC) offering organic vegetables, seedlings and eggs. Our greenhouse and farm-stand is open July - October offering both our own farms fresh produce as well as local produce, cheeses, hand made soaps, locally crafted beeswax candles and baked goods. Farm tours are available by appointment. Friendly hand-raised varieties livestock look forward to your visit.

Betty Acres Farm
Aissa & Tom O'Neil
21529 St. Hwy. 28
Delhi, NY 13753

(607) 746-9581

Fresh seedlings and greens in our greenhouse
Llamas guard sheep from predators
Curious sheep watch people
Young Tamworth Pigs

Here is what the Catskill Mountain Region Guide wrote about our farm:

An excerpt from:
October 2004
Keepin' It Local Folks
Eat My Words
by Karin Edmondson

Betty Acres Farm comprises eighty-eight acres of land in Delaware County, thirty-three of which are farmed with an entire two acres dedicated entirely to produce. The farm, in 1870, was owned by one family until Aissa Martin, an avowed city dweller, bought it three years ago. Initially, the place was a dairy farm, then a horse farm, but since 1970, it has lain fallow. Aissa bought the place as a weekend house and like so many other city folk, found herself drawn to the lure of the Catskill Mountains. She eventually sold her loft and her business in the city and moved up to Betty Acres (whimsically named by some friends in California) full time. What started out as a hobby for Aissa has evolved into a substantial organic farm operation and amidst the career change, she even found her husband, Tom. Call it fate. Call it synchronicity. Either way, Aissa now manages a NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association)-certified organic farm.

Aissa is quick to say that organic encompasses so much more than just simply what grain the animals are fed or what chemicals are left out of the growing process. Organic is a lifestyle. It means allowing a chicken the proper time to moult, to lose its feathers and grow new ones. Organic allows natural rhythms. The moulting cycle usually lasts about two weeks. Since all of the hen’s energy is channeled into growing new feathers, the egg laying cycle basically shuts down during that time. On conventional farms chickens are force-moulted—deprived of all light (most factory farmed chickens never see any ray of natural light as it is), food and water for a period of days. A chicken on a factory farm is absolutely useless unless it is constantly laying eggs. Chickens on Betty Acres have an entirely different life (they have a life!)—they are allowed to wallow and scratch around in dirt and grass and take all the time they need to get the moulting thing over and done with and then they get happily get back to the business of laying eggs. And such exquisite eggs—subtle pastel shades of brown, yellow, green, pink and blue! Aissa raises Bard Rocks, Buff Orphingtons and Aracaunas who have, of late, gotten the nickname of Martha Stewart hens, ever since she introduced the public to their pastel-hued eggs. Aissa’s roasters are seasonal and her layers are active year round (except for the two week molting hiatus).

Betty Acres also has a herd of thirty Finn sheep, sold for breeding stock and hand spinners, that are raised on grass and organic grain—a mix of flax meal, kelp and oyster shell and D.E. or diatomaceous earth, an EPA-approved natural paracide. (D.E. is composed of finely ground fossilized shells of tiny organisms. This microscopic material is razor sharp and kills the insect or parasite by lacerating the exoskeleton upon contact.) The cows receive the same sort of dietary treatment: a diet of pasture grasses fortified with organic feed. Aissa is starting a herd of Alpine goats which she intends to keep as a dairy herd and would like to eventually produce her own cheese. The Tamworth pigs might just have it best of all. Their diet is supplemented with fresh goat’s milk, leftover organic waste milk and extra produce from their vegetable fields. Nothing gets wasted at Betty Acres—all the farm elements support each other.

Betty Acres boasts one of the more unusual predator control schemes—llamas. Aissa explains that llamas are ideally suited to the terrain of Delaware County and they are excellent guardians. She raises the llamas with the sheep from a young age so the llamas actually think they are part of the fold (older llamas will clique off and ignore the sheep). When a coyote gets too close the llama will spit, kick and stand between the herd and the offending predator.
Aissa also keeps ducks around. “They are excellent pest control since they’ll work their way through a field eating the bugs without digging and scratching in the earth,” says Aissa. “Their eggs are actually superior to chicken eggs. The yolks are larger, with less cholesterol and no gamey flavor—really perfect for making crème brulee.”

Betty Acres grows a multitude of organic produce, but they specialize in heirloom varieties of cucumbers, tomatoes (Aunt Mary’s green tomatoes, Rose de Berne and Black Krim are some of them), peppers and gourmet greens. Certain crops are available year round—mostly the heartier vegetables such as beets and carrots. Thanks to a hoop house/greenhouse and special electric heating coils within the soil to “keep their feet warm,” herbs and salad greens such as corn mache, claytonia, baby spinach and mizuna are grown year round.

Betty Acres products are for sale at the on-site farm store, which is self serve and open seven days a week. Aissa also sells at the Patatakan Farmer’s Market in Margaretville. Good Cheap Food in Delhi carries some of her products. Her products make it onto the menu at The Slow Down Café, a restaurant in Andes that uses local produce and meats in almost ninety percent of its menu. Aissa uses Black River Packing and SUNY Cobleskill for processing her animals. Hobart Market (profiled September 2004) crafts her value-added products. For directions or for more information (or to secure some duck eggs for this weekend’s crème brulee!), please call Aissa at 607 746 9581 or e-mail her at . Betty Acres Farm is located at 21529 State Highway 28 in Delhi.

©2000-2005 Catskill Mountain Foundation - All Rights Reserved

Betty Acres Farm
Aissa & Tom O'Neil
21529 St. Hwy. 28
Delhi, NY 13753

(607) 746-9581

Last updated: 03/20/05