Five Minutes With: Northwind Farms’ Amanda Costello
It all begins with an idea.
BRIGID: We're here with Amanda Costello from Northwind Farms, here in Tivoli, in the Hudson Valley. Amanda, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about this beautiful farm you have. What kind of animals do you raise here?
AMANDA: We do chickens, beef, horses, obviously. We have lambs, pigs, geese, turkeys, quail, rabbits, everything.
BRIGID: How long have you been raising animals here in the Hudson Valley?
AMANDA: I've been doing it for probably about three years with my fiancé. Russell's been doing it for over 30 years, his whole life.
BRIGID: What kind of products do you sell, and where do you sell them?
AMANDA: We sell them at the Kingston Farmers Market. Sugar stop. We sell them at the Kingston Farmers Market, at the Woodstock Farmers Market. Right here on the farm, we do whole cows, half cows, quarter cows. We sell it by steaks. We do that with pigs, sheep, everything.
BRIGID: I know that your horse, Sugar, here is about to have a baby.
AMANDA: Yes, She was due on Thursday, still waiting.
BRIGID: I know that you have some experience foaling with horses. Tell us about your experience with that.
AMANDA: Yes, I actually went to college for breeding. I used to breed Standardbreds, and then I got an internship with Becky Thomas with Sequel Stallions in 2015. Then I was there until I, unfortunately, got hurt. But then I got my own gelding and then, my own thoroughbred brood mare, and now I'm just camping out here, waiting for Sugar r to foal out every night.
BRIGID: How long does it usually take once she starts to have the baby?
AMANDA: Once her water breaks, from start to finish, 20 minutes tops. It's quick.
BRIGID: Do you know whether or not it's going to be a colt or a filly?
AMANDA: I have been right about every horse gender and human gender since 2018. So I have a feeling on what it is, but I'm not telling anyone because I don't want to jinx myself.
BRIGID:: Aside from the animals that you have on the farm that you use for your work and sell as a product, what kind of animals do you have as pets as well?
AMANDA: I have the horses. I just got a rescue donkey about six weeks ago, so he's pretty cool. His name is Walter. When I first got him, I couldn't even get within two feet of him. Now he follows me in the field. He runs right up to me. He brays for me in the morning if I don't feed him fast enough, in his opinion. I have some pet goats. I do have some pet cows that are my bottle babies. So they're not going anywhere. They're here for life.
BRIGID: When do you have to get up every morning?
AMANDA: During the summertime, I'm up 4:30. During the winter, I get to sleep until 7:00. So it depends on how much work and if we're butchering that day, because we butcher all the poultry on site. It depends on how busy the day is. If we're getting ready to plant corn, hay, or anything like that, we'll be up at 4:00 AM mowing hay and not go to bed until 11:00.
BRIGID: How many animals do you have on the farm at any given time?
AMANDA: Oh, thousands.
BRIGID: Really?
AMANDA: Right now, we have about 2,500 chicks that we'll start butchering in a few weeks. We have baby turkeys. I have a bunch of Araucanas that aren't out in the hen house yet. We probably have about 300 egg-laying chickens. We probably have about 45 to 50 breeding cows and their babies, and then their babies from last year. So a lot.
BRIGID: What about pigs? Do you have pigs? How many pigs do you have?
AMANDA: Probably about 25 breeders right now.
BRIGID: Goats, do you have goats?
AMANDA: Yep, we have about 12 breeding goats right now.
BRIGID: Are they having babies right now?
AMANDA: They already had their babies. Their babies are sold as pets, so we're just waiting for them to all go into heat to breed again, to have some fall babies.
BRIGID: Where, again, can people find you if they want to buy product from you?
AMANDA: They can go on our Facebook, Northwind Farms, our Instagram. They can find us online. They can find us through the Kingston Farmers Market website, the Woodstock Farmers Market website, or just come to the farm. I'm here literally 24/7 now.
BRIGID: That's in Tivoli, right?
AMANDA: Yep, right in Tivoli. Right on West Kerley Corners Road.
BRIGID: Thanks so much for spending time with us today. I'm Bridget, and we're with Amanda from Northwind Farm, and this is 5 Minutes With.
FIVE MIN W: AMANDA