Welcome to Coach
Stop Farm!
Home of Heritage
Berkshire Pork! We're pleased to provide some
information about our free-range, naturally-raised meat and poultry
products and our philosophy and methods of raising healthy, additive-
and antibiotic-free animals.
Using draft-horse power (Percherons), we farm a little over 50 acres outside of Zeeland, Michigan. Pastures, grain crops, and
hay are managed
without chemicals for weed or insect control. We find that Mother
Nature, properly balanced, takes care of "bad bugs" by providing "good
bugs" to dine on them. Likewise, weeds are discouraged by periodic
plantings of cover crops which feed soil and enhance future crop growth.
Our
animals are raised "free-range", not confinement-style. We are able to
pasture them on grass, augmented by appropriate corn-based protein
rations for flavor and growth. By avoiding high-population,
confinement-style raising of animals, antibiotics are unnecessary to
maintain health.
The meat is defined as "naturally raised"
instead of
"organically raised" because we do have to buy some grain
products and can't always be guaranteed that
those are organic. Over the years, we've given great value for the
money our customers have invested in our meat products. Size, flavor,
and price-per-pound are generally a far better value than any
supermarket can offer.
If
you're interested in knowing more about naturally-raised food products,
have questions about prices and availability of different meats, or
would like to visit our farm, just give us a call!
We've provided:
some general facts
about lamb, pork, turkey, and chicken products (availability, etc.),
some fun
recipes, and also
In case you're curious about our farm name .
. . our
property was once a coach stop on the "corduroy road" (logs laid side
by each) across the muck lands between Grand Rapids and Holland
Michigan. Another stop was east of us on the other side of the "muck",
and teams of horses were kept on both sides to do nothing but haul
heavy coaches across the boggy land. (The muck lands in our area are
alleuvial soil which is between 6 and 12 feet deep; farmers on this
land grow garden vegetables like celery, onions, lettuces, leeks, bok
choy and parsnips.)
When we first moved to the farm, a friend
sent us a
postcard to "welcome" us to our new place. She addressed it to "Conni
and Darrell at the Coach Stop", and the name stuck. Another unimportant
bit of trivia you didn't want to know.
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Read our blog
about sustainable, natural foods, growing, preparing, canning and
preserving good food from your own garden or from your local providers.
e-mail
us!
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Etsy Shop!
Conni has an online
retail
shop
called The Elderberry Blossom on Etsy. Using photos I've taken, and paintings I've done from
photos, I've created sets of note cards, calendars, canvas prints, totes, and pillows. Come visit my Etsy
Shop to find gifts and items for decor!
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