Pasture Raised Meat
We are the first farm to raise poultry and receive Food Alliance certification. We are very proud to be certified in our farm practices by this well respected group.
In September 2012 we were named Farmer Heroes by Farm Aid.
In April 2012 we received the Governors Award for Environmental Excellence from Michael Krancer, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.
We are Sunnyside Farm, a pasture based, chemical free farm located just off of I83, near Ski Roundtop, Pinchot State Park, and the Susquehanna Speedway. Our livestock live on pasture, our heirloom vegetables grow chemical free. We plant natives where ever possible, make compost and keep bees too.
Located between York and Harrisburg in southcentral Pennsylvania, Sunnyside Farm welcomes visitors, just requests that you call to schedule a time before visiting. Best time to visit is usually Friday 5-7PM, arrangements can be made for larger, daytime groups. Homer Walden and Dru Peters have been farming for years on leased land, and in August 2009 acquired the property that is now Sunnyside Farm.
Updates
May 20, 2013: CSA shares have started! Yummy stuff for all! And we will now be at the Farmers Market in Hershey every Thursday, on farm every Friday from 5-7PM, at the New Cumberland Farmers Market on Saturdays 9-1, and in Towson on Sunday afternoon. We have fresh (not frozen) chicken and eggs too! The season is ON!
April 18, 2013: We have shares of vegetable, egg and chicken available for the 2013 growing season.
Today, the asparagus broke through. While our vegetable CSA share does not officially begin until mid-May, asparagus is your bonus for signing up now. Distribution over the next couple of weeks.
Vegetables: $325 for 26 weeks of open pollinated vegetables, grown with out any chemicals (an average of 8 items each week)
Eggs: $130, a dozen eggs a week for 26 weeks from our pasture raised, moved all the time hens
Chicken: $375 for 26 weeks of chicken, an average of 4 pounds each week, raised on grass and fed a GMO free ration, gone in about 15 minutes in the morning. The rest of the day they are graising!
March 1, 2013
Beef for a year was delivered last week. At least, at the farm, we hope it lasts a year! A chef who received a side of beef told us it was delicious and clean tasting. Always a delight to hear.
CSA orders for the 2013 season have been rolling in. We hope to have all CSA shares committed and paid for by the end of March, as we start vegetables this month: peppers, eggplants and tomatoes tomorrow (in addition to those already in!) and starting in 2 weeks we plant weekly for the shares. The first batch of chickens arrive in mid-March and the turkeys shortly after that, the cattle will be here in early April. Pigs are growing like mad, 7 piglets are rapidly maturing, standing side by side with momma and eating real food. New pens need to be built to hold them. repairs to our current pens, and compost needs to be hauled and spread on the vegetable beds. Administrative work is best done while there is time to take care of it, so if you are interested let me know. thanks!
Vegetables. heirloom varieties, grown without chemicals, 26 weeks, 8 items (average) each week. $325 begins mid-May.
Egg share for the season, from our flock of birds that now numbers about 450 hens. We never butcher our laying hens, as even our oldest gals are still laying eggs! $130 for 26 weeks of eggs, will begin in mid-May. GMO free feed, pens that are moved to fresh grass.
Chicken share for the season, 26 weeks, begins late Mate/early June. $375 for a whole chicken a week, average 4 pounds. GMO free fed, none of the junk you hear about chickens being fed. Moved in their field pens, grass eating, bug consuming, ground scratching happy birds.
We do have eggs all the time now. Unusual for the winter time, but we are happy to have eggs! Every Friday here at the farm 5-7PM, Sunday in Towson 2-3PM, Weekly in Hershey and if you run into me elsewhere and want eggs I almost always have some with me.
In February we attended conferences, lectures, we presented at some get togethers, picked up 250 pounds of seed potatoes, had conversations about food policies and farms, participated in a chili cook off, learned more about manure management, attended planning meetings for farmers markets, got all the daily chores done, packed thousands of eggs, delivered 1,400 pounds of beef and dreamed of a wood fired furnace and of adding insulation to our house so we don't freeze through another winter. It is so hot in the summer that it is difficult to remember just how cold this house gets in the wintertime, but changes will be made before next winter!
The amount of daylight grows each day, the pace is picking up and we are thrilled to be able to continue with farming. We look forward to seeing you at market, at egg pickup, at the farm in warmer, sunny days!
Dru & Homer
Sunnyside Farm
www.sunnysidedru.com (blog)
www.sunny-side-farm.com (website)
Couple of things happening here at the farm.
1. We have launched our Kickstarter campaign for Homer's Speedy Seeder. It runs until February, and the way it works: we must get fully funded to receive any funds. Watch the video, check out our reward options, and pledge what you are able. Pass on the link to your friends and colleagues who might grow vegetables, flowers or herbs from seed.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/687439644/speedy-seeder
2. Sign up for our 2013 CSA shares. Here are your options:
(remember, we are chemical free, and grow open pollinated vegetables...you will not get massive amounts each week, and you should enjoy greens and tomatoes to fully enjoy our vegetable CSA)
Vegetables: 26 weeks, starts in mid-May through early November. $325 for the season, limited to 40 members
Eggs: Most of our laying hens are heritage breed birds. A few are the white leghorn (brought to us after the hatching program from our local 4H) or the red sex link (rescued from a local farm) but the vast majority are the old breeds, fat bottomed girls who produce eggs on a not as frequent basis as the hybrid production girls. The result is a carton of multicolor, multisize and shape eggs each week. We limit the number of egg shares to ensure delivery to all the entire season 26 weeks, probably starting in March (or whenever the girls are back producing enough we feel we can truly provide weekly), 26 weeks, $130
Chicken: As with the egg layers, our poultry is raised in mobile field pens, and moved every day. They scratch in the earth, leave their funk behind daily, and are fed a mix of GMO free feed, gone in about 15 minutes. An average of 4 pounds each week (they are smaller in the beginning of the season, larger towards the end of the season) 26 weeks, usually starts in early June, $375
Beef: Side of beef, about 100 pounds, delivery in January 2014, $600. Grass fed, no drugs administered, just grass, water and organic kelp, a salt lick and a mineral lick available. Rotational graised, the herd mows our grass so pens can be moved.
Turkey: We will take orders for turkey later in the season, to be delivered for Thanksgiving.
Pork: Will be available later in the year.
Questions? Visits (brr...it is cold out there!)? Comments? get with us...
Links of Interest
Dru in the Washington Post, on cooking turkey: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/taste-test-heritage-turkey-breeds/2012/11/12/efc1e618-2861-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html
Sunnyside Farm named Farmer Hero by Farm Aid 2012: http://www.farmaid.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=2723875&ct=12182179¬oc=1
Sunnyside Farm wins 2012 PA Governors Award for Environmental Excellence: http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2012/03/pec-announces-april-18-event-to-honor.html
article about Homer, here and in Pennsylvania Magazine: http://cindyrosstraveler.com/2012/03/04/move-that-livestock/
Dru, at the White House: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/6810854684/
Homer on WITF: http://www.witf.org/smart-talk/sustainable-agriculture-and-local-foods
Homer's PASA workshops: http://www.pasafarming.org/conference2012/workshop.htm
Dru, at Hopkins Center for a Livable Future/Creative Alliance screenings: http://www.creativealliance.org/events/eventItem2886.html
Homer's workshop at CASA/Future Harvest: http://www.futureharvestcasa.org/events/calendar/view/440620/date/2012-01-13
Homer & Dru in Detroit: http://www.mocadetroit.org/pastevents-2012.html
CSA article from Harrisburg paper: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/04/community-supported_agricultur.html
We are Food Alliance certified!: www.foodalliance.org
And Homer is interviewed in Central PA Magazine: http://www.witf.org/a-la-carte/going-for-the-gold-pastured-eggs-april-2011
Interview with Homer in the local paper: http://www.pennlive.com/west-shore/index.ssf/2011/02/newberry_township_farmers_let_their_animals_do_the_work.html
Slow Foods Baltimore mentions us: http://slowfoodbaltimore.blogspot.com/
Link to notice of our speaking engagement at Berkshire Elementary School February 12, 2010: http://www.bcps.org/news/articles/article2137.html
Interview with Dru at the Pennsylvania Farm Show: http://www.wjactv.com/news/22229516/detail.html
Read about us in the November 06 Urbanite magazine
Raw milk available in PA: www.agriculture.state.pa.us click on publications, then select Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services where it says to choose by Bureau or Commission then scroll down to Listing of PA Permitted Raw Milk Producers.
Buy from Local Producers: www.buylocalpa.org has a listing that includes many local farms, farmers markets, restaurants..
Another source for buying local: www.localharvest.org
Article about traditional food production and health risks to humans, by a doctor at Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0609web/farm.html
