Sirnas is my go to for pizza or wings, it's a healthier alternative and it truly brings farm to…read moretable in a delicious way. Not to mention the fantastic and friendly service, everyone is so open and willing to talk and help you navigate the menu. I love sirnas!

This is a Hollywood movie come true!…read more The Sirna's were your typical urban-dwelling family with regular city-type jobs up until a few years ago when they decided to buy a plot of land and move out to the country to start farming. Today, they do a great job encouraging and supporting local farming initiatives while taking their hard-worked goods to weekend markets in Cleveland suburbs like Shaker Heights and South Russell. They also operate their own storefront on their land open during growing season which features their own goods as well as stuff from local farms and wineries (cheese, sausages, canned goods, wines, etc.) - again, supporting the local farmers and businesses. One story I always tell people is on one weekend I was desperate for some dill as I had a bunch of baby cuckes at home ready to be pickled. She ran out of the store and came back from the fields a few minutes later handing me this gigantic bouquet of dill weed for about $2. Now I only needed a few sprigs for the pickles but boy the house smelled great for a week! We participated in their CSA one year - a way of buying a share in the farmers' operation. For an up-front lump sum fee, your share nets you a weekly bag of whatever the crops yield that week. This goes on for several months while crops can be harvested. While you don't usually get a choice of what you'll receive (it's whatever is ripening that week!), every bag has an abundance of food. This is perfect for the family that has flexibility in preparing and eating a variety of vegetables from week to week. We received throughout the growing season (not in just one week) corn, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, radishes, zucchini, butternut squash, yellow squash, kohlrabi, onions, and much more. On weeks which were light on crops, especially in the beginning, Sirna's substituted freshly-ground peanut butter and local honey. Sirna's also does a Fall festival open house with hay rides for the kids. Located along 44 about 2 miles south of 422, Sirna's is definitely worth your while to stop by here one of your summer/fall weekends and support your local farmers.

Firehouse Farms focus is on Pasture raised poultry (chicken/turkey), beef and pork. They also have…read moreseasonal vegetables. The eggs that are produced here are fabulous. This the best turkey and chicken that I have tasted in a long time. Check out the website www.firehousefarms.org for pricing. It is a good idea to reserve orders now.

Paid for 6 Buckeye pullets. Got them home to the brooder where 1 unfortunately died. Out of the…read moreother 5, 3 of them are ISA Browns. This isn't a reputable breeder. Can't even tell what chicks she's selling. That or doesn't care. Either way, avoid. I feel scammed.

From the owner: Freshly milled local NON GMO Chicken Feeds. Fresh Roasted WHOLE soybeans are cracked and added with…read morehighly desirable and nutritious grains as well as Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Sea Kelp and Brewer's Yeast (for pro and prebiotics). All those whole grains are small batch mixed with warm, sweet molasses. The result is a feed your flock will go bananas for and thrive at their healthiest while prividing your with the highest in nutrient dense eggs!

EarthWorks is one of my favorite places to volunteer my time. They have a sincere mission to feed…read moreand educate their local residents. I enjoy reading Patrick's email updates on the farm as I'm not able to make it down to volunteer too often. Take a Wednesday or a Saturday morning to check them out and put in a few hours of labor to help advance their cause!

I work at D:hive (dhivedetroit.org) as the Engage Resident, and part of my job is to explore the…read morevarious opportunities in the city and relay my experience. I had heard great things about Earthworks farm - part of of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen on the east side that grows fresh vegetables for the soup kitchen and provides training programs for folks in the area. My day volunteering at Earthworks Urban Farm started off with approaching the circle of participants who had gathered in the parking lot. "Come join in the circle - there's room!" called out one of the volunteers. And so the ring opened up and I stepped in. At 9am it was bright and pleasantly cool. There were about 25 other volunteers - groups and individuals - and when the excited conversation faded one of the farm members spoke and invoked a moment of reflection and mindfulness for the work we were about to do. Another member spoke about the significance of the day, Juneteenth, a commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865, celebrated every year on June 19th. He asked a question: "What, in our own lives, had we learned from our past and present that would empower us to create freedom in the future?" With this in mind, we went off to work. I went off with a group of six others to work in the greenhouse, separating transplanting bok choy seedlings to small cells of soil, which would be given to families who would take them home to their own gardens. I plodded through the task, enjoying the feeling of handling the earth and living plants as the first work of the morning. I was across from a longstanding volunteer, William, who taught me how to transplant in a way that turned out to be much more efficient and, it seemed to me, more elegant as well. It began with a gentle separation of the seedlings, loosely holding a small bunch in one hand and laying an individual on its side in each cell. In the ambient mid-morning warmth of the greenhouse, the cool feel of the dirt was a pleasant contrast. I told William that I admired his slow and deliberate technique of transplanting, which he said that he had learned from Patrick, the program and farm manager. This lead to a conversation on deliberation and thoughtfulness, and onto the nature of manufacturing quality products and the changes in the auto-industry he'd seen in his lifetime. After several hours and thirty or so trays, our group returned to the parking lot where we again circled up. Each of the three work groups explained to the others what their job had been and the result. After each group member announced his/her harvested item, the group would clap in unison, and we collectively created a 'song of produce' from the list of plants. Reflections were collected: working together was one way of being open to each other as people; sharing purpose and sharing love removed barriers of fear and violence; and as one person put it, it was simply that "We just need to be cool with each other." And it was all true. We exchanged names, rinsed the dirt off our hands, and resumed our conversations. The farm's own fresh vegetables were part of the communal lunch in the cafeteria, where they thanked all of those who had contributed. I sat with Patrick at lunch and we talked about the power of volunteering and getting involved in your neighborhood. On the way out I chatted with William again about the feeling of waking up early and the excitement of being able to grow your own food and share it with others. I left feeling refreshed and full! The first hours of my day volunteering with Earthworks Farm had been grounding - slow, deliberate, thoughtful, and entirely enjoyable.