We have a day off in the shop today.  The chicken processing shop is usually humming on Fridays, which is when we do custom chicken processing.  The weekly routine is that people who have scheduled their birds (chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea hens) or rabbits...

The more things change, the more things stay the same. So the saying goes.  Did 2017 bring change for you?  Maybe 2018 is the year those changes are really felt. This year is our year of change.  Our business model is changing.  But our passion is still the same.  You...

What do you do with a mature boar pig?  (“Boar” meaning an intact, fully functional male as opposed to the breed of pig.) We have met people who claim they taste good, but our experience has been that they have a smell and taste that...

Anyone can farm!  You may not have enough space or the ability to raise your own chickens or Thanksgiving turkey, but you can be a virtual farmer by having us custom raise your birds for you!  Let us know how many you want, and we’ll raise them for you, using...

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, but the farm continues to be busy.  The winter is quieter, more of a maintenance time, a reflective time.  So, is farming worth it?  Is it for fun, or for profit?  Hopefully the answer is “both.” Mark talks...

Farming is a very seasonal operation. While that seems like an obvious statement, I wonder if that’s so.  Are fresh tomatoes or strawberries ever not available at the grocery store?  Does the milk change flavors or creaminess as winter melts to summer?  Is the...

Way back when, long ago, in the mists of time, the folks who homesteaded the land had hogs.  Fat hogs.  Hardy hogs.  Hogs that didn’t need a lot of pampering and could live off the land.  Even in the fall, going into winter, there were no worries about taking...

Learn to take your hog from field to freezer -Harvest time! We are busy making plans for the two hog harvest classes, possibly three, we have on the schedule so far this year. October 20-22: Come help us harvest Shady Grove Farm’s hogs in Michigan’s...

“Trust is the combination of intelligence and integrity.” “Husbandry, which is not replaceable by science, nevertheless uses science, and corrects it too. It is the more comprehensive discipline. To reduce husbandry to science, in practice, is to...

Lard FAQ: What you asked about fat   “What is lard?” “Where does lard come from?” “Are lard and tallow the same thing?” You ask great questions!  Here’s the quick answers: What is Lard? Lard comes from pork fat.  The fat...