We are a small family farm located in Adamstown, Maryland, in southern Frederick County. We produce pasture-raised pork, beef and lamb, as well as free-range chicken eggs and hand-made lard and tallow soaps. We believe in treating our animals with love and affection and in allowing them to live as naturally as possible. All of our animals live in large pastures and are allowed to move around and forage at will. We never use drugs, such as growth stimulants, hormones or antibiotics, unless medically required.
All of the beef sold in our farm store has been raised on our farm. Our cattle are a breed called Galloway. The Galloway breed originated in Scotland where the cattle adapted to life in very harsh conditions. As a result, this breed is able to flourish on the roughest of pasture and will eat a much wider variety of plants than other breeds, making good use of the variety of plants in our pastures. Galloway beef has been ranked as superior in flavor, tenderness and juiciness as a result of the unique marbling pattern of their meat. Our cattle are primarily grass-fed, and are out in pastures all day, every day, eating as much grass as they'd like. (In the winter, they eat hay that has been raised on our farm.) We have found, however, that without some grain supplementation, their beef is too lean, and so we do give the steers some locally-sourced grain as we finish them.
All of our pigs are raised here on our farm. They have free range of several acres, where they forage for plants, roots, acorns, and whatever else they can dig up. We also supplement their feed with a wholesome diet of grain and vegetable scraps. All of their feed is locally sourced.
We raised Katahdin sheep, a heritage breed. They are classified as hair sheep, which means that they do not produce a fleece; their hair is shed every spring and they do not require shearing. This breed is used for meat, and the absence of lanolin in their fleece gives them a far more delicate flavor compared to the traditional wool sheep. If you like lamb, you will love the Katahdin meat. If you haven't liked lamb in the past because of its gamey flavor, you should give Katahdin lamb a try!
Our chickens live in pastures, and spend their days eating bugs, bits of grass, and whatever other tasty treats they can find. As a result, their eggs are very flavorful with a rich yellow yolk.
Soap is a traditional by-product of farming. For centuries, soap was made by combining the fats from animals used for food with lye. The resulting chemical reaction, called saponification, created soap. We continue this tradition on our farm. All of our soaps are hand made in our own kitchen using lard or tallow rendered from animals raised on our farm, plus other oils that are considered to be environmentally sustainable. Our soaps are very cleansing, but are still so gentle on your skin. We have designed our soap recipes around the needs of our family, so each of our soaps falls into one of the following categories:
It had long been a dream of Farmer Chuck to work our land using draft horses. After spending years learning all he could, through books, videos and even in-person training sessions on other farms, Farmer Chuck took the plunge. In the spring of 2024, Jake and Jim joined our farm. Jake and Jim are Belgian draft horses that came to us from an Amish farm and they are very experienced. Jake and Jim are working very hard (and very patiently) to train Farmer Chuck in how to farm the old-fashioned way! Click here to visit our YouTube channel to see Jake and Jim in action. Farmer Chuck and Jake and Jim were also featured in the Legacies of Our Land section in the Delmarva Farmer, our regional farming newspaper. You can read that article here.