20714 – 12″ Charcuterie Board from Plowshare Farm, Greenfield, NH
$55.00
Out of stock
Hi, I’m Gerald, the artisan and founder of the craft studio American Stonecraft ®. Thank you for exploring a unique, 1 of 1 Charcuterie Board I handcrafted in Lowell, Massachusetts. This is my best-selling, signature work. The stone came from the place listed in the title, and the exact dimensions are found in the sizing tab below. Each wood slat is 3" wide for scale.
It is a food-safe board for serving and grazing. Cheeses, charcuteries, honeycomb, nuts and dried fruit, cakes and pastries, and countless delights would be at home here. It is also a trivet, safe for a hot casserole or candles. One friend set them below the table settings as colorful chargers to accent his white porcelain dishes. The stone could also protect wood from the water rings that weep through clay pots. One friend with vintage wooden speakers used her stone this way, below a beautiful spider plant that colorfully extended its shoots. The silicone feet had just the right grip, and didn't rattle from the vibrations. Or you might use it as a non-absorbent cutting board for deboning seafood or trimming the grizzle from raw meat. Consider pre-chilling the stone in the freezer, or slightly warming the stone (below 125°), depending on the dish and season. Another idea related to its thermal properties, is that the mass of your room temperature stone will rapidly defrost frozen food, particularly if you sandwich the frozen item between two stones.
I think of each piece as functional art, and since most customers tell me they leave it out to look at it, one additional idea in the visual context is to add my sawtooth hanging bracket upgrade. For an additional charge, you will pick the orientation of the stone (which direction is up), and I will drill and epoxy you a hanging bracket that allows you to hang your board on the wall. Why? Well first, there is often plenty of free wall space for more art, and secondly, doing so will keep your stone visible from more angles in the room. The sawtooth hanger won’t scratch the table when you take your board off the wall to use, as the silicone feet are slightly taller than the hanger.
Chinese culture considers stones to be concentrations of energy and life, objects of contemplation and worship, microcosms of heaven and earth. (Kernels of Energy, Bones of Earth: The Rock in Chinese Art, 1986). I wholeheartedly agree!
Out of stock
Food Slabs begin as freshly “grown” fieldstones that American Stonecraft sustainably hand-harvests at working farms. Each rock is unique in shape and color, comprised of metamorphic granite. Artisans craft each Food Slab from scratch in our Massachusetts studio using custom tools. The stone is transformed from a dull rock into a piece of art with impossibly brilliant color. This color is not the result of an outside product or lacquer, but of skilled grinding and polishing, smoothing away all roughness up to a 10,000 grit. Food Slabs also retain the natural “live” edge from the stone’s glacial tumbling.
All Food Slabs are protected with a permanent food-safe fluoride-based seal that penetrates any microscopic pores to prevent staining and allow for easy cleaning with soap and water. Farm-provenance and your artisan is permanently labeled on the underside of each Food Slab and clear silicon feet have been added to protect tabletops. Each stone arrives packaged in an American Stonecraft gift box with your personalized gift note, if applicable.
A Food Slab is perfect for serving charcuterie, as a cheese board, or as a Trivet. For more inspiration, read our 101 Things to do with a Food Slab article.
SIZING
Approximately 12″ long, 3.62 pounds. For scale, please consult the photo with a ruler shown next to the stone.
NOTE
Fieldstones being natural, have minor, non-structural fissures, pocks, scratches, chips, and other superficial flaws that we affectionately call beauty marks.
All product photos of a particular product type (ie Food Slabs or Coasters) are photographed from the same distance with the same lens. Therefore, you are welcome to compare size and shape from listing to listing as they are a representative scale.
THE FARM–TO–TABLE STORY
About 8,000 years ago, icy glaciers pushed boulders into the soil of America’s Northeast. As a result, a fresh crop of rocks ‘grow’ each spring when the winter’s freeze-thaw cycles force buried stones upward, a process called granular convection.
In the 1890s, before the railroads opened up rock-free farmlands in other parts of the United States, farmers removing stones from their fields piled them into what eventually became 215,000 miles of stonewalls, a distance greater than from the earth to the moon!
These stonewalls became the folklore of poets like Robert Frost, and the landscape of the Northeast United States. Because clearing rocks is never complete, American Stonecraft partners with working farms to sustainably harvest their fresh rocks and transform them into functional heirlooms. Not only does this endeavor share geology that has never been seen before, but it helps support working farms, preserving open space and protecting the stonewalls that are so iconic to this region.
Like many of us, the founder of American Stonecraft, Gerald Croteau, fell in love with these archaeological stone ruins as a youth. However, he became an economist and founded American Stonecraft in his late 20s after seeing the inside of a fieldstone for the first time. He was amazed at what he had overlooked for so long, and realized that there was a sustainable supply of these rocks that farmers could share at their farmstands. Diamond tools (being a relatively modern invention) revealed amazing colors, patterns, and geologies in the humble New England farm-gathered fieldstone that he wanted to help share with others!
Gerald rolled up his sleeves, spent several years as an independent craftsman touring at local arts and crafts shows, and taught himself how to make a number of fascinating products. We are now a small team of artisans, and each piece is signed by its maker(s), and produced under Gerald’s direct supervision.
| Weight | 3.62 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12 × 7 × 0.5 in |
| Origin | |
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- Use as a serving platter, trivet, or bucolic accent
- Safe (and recommended for!) chilling in fridge or freezer
- Not designed for microwave, dishwasher, or oven use
Shipping
- Pricing information is never included inside the package I mail. I offer complimentary personalized gift notes so the receiver knows who sent the gift. Another option is to mail your gift to your own name at your your friend's address. This is a tiny bit risky because sometimes the name helps to properly route the package, but usually fine.
- Orders $40 and up ship free throughout the continental USA. Otherwise shipping is a flat $10 fee. For Hawaii/Alaska/International shipping please email the product Serial Numbers and your destination address and I will quote the cost.
- Shipping to Europe is surprisingly affordable, so email me the items you considering and I will quote the freight.
- I strive to process orders received by 10 am EST Monday - Friday by the following day, so you get it ASAP.
- Transit time from Lowell, MA is generally 2-6 days. Orange Region 1-2 days, Dark Brown 2-3 days, Yellow and Green 3-4 days, Blue 4-5 days, Light Brown and Purple 5-6 days.
- I am often complimented on my high quality packaging and wrapping. Items are also insured and if anything arrives broken you are not liable for damages. Please notify my as soon as possible though, and save the packaging.
- You will receive a tracking number for your package via email when I ship the item. Check your spam folder if this email is missing. If you checked and think something is awry, email us at office@AmericanStonecraft.com or call/text (617) 401-7305 for questions.
- I use recycled corrugated boxes, paper gum tape, and recycled kraft paper for void fill. This does not sacrifice the safety of your item. Please compost the boxes and void fill if possible. This is a sustainable product, through and through. Product gift boxes (inner boxes) are either branded by hand with a hot branding iron or hand stamped with ink, and can all be composted.
Returns / Exchanges
- If you wish to make a return or exchange from a website purchase, please email office@AmericanStonecraft.com or call/text (617) 401-7305 within two weeks of your purchase to initiate the process.
- Exchanges of website purchases have no charge if replacing of equal or greater value. Notify me of your desire to make an exchange, which item(s) you desire in exchange, and I will send you a return shipping label. Please reuse your original packaging and pack in the same style.
- Returns are subject to a flat $20 fee regardless of the purchase total. Notify me of your desire to make a return and I will send you a return shipping label. Please reuse your original packaging and pack in the same style. Once the item arrives back at my studio, I will process your refund minus the $20 fee.
- Grill stone and baking stone purchases are final, and not eligible for return or exchange.
