Featured Farm: Danu Hof

This week's Featured Farm is Danu Hof, and Caitlin & Larry McSweeney-Steffes answered a couple questions for us about their farm in Mancelona.  Danu Hof also catered our Annual Meeting dinner last night and we thank them for a fabulous meal!

How and when did your farm get started?
We purchased our farm in October 2017 and by the end of that month had our first pigs on property and haven’t looked back since. We had a five year plan that we truly ended up fitting into 5 days once we found the property and fell in love. We are both Chefs by trade and always working with food became more and more aware of the importance of the ingredients and the food we eat and wanted to help bring back the small local family farm. 

What do you grow on your farm?  What do you sell at the market?
Farrow-to-finish Heritage breed pork, Heritage breed chicken eggs, a variety of produce including, Heirloom tomatoes, a variety of bush beans, carrots, zucchini, summer and winter squashes, Brussel sprouts, potatoes, cucumbers, leeks, asparagus, radishes, beets, sun chokes, spices, herbs and pumpkins. 

We always have a selection of pork and we will be restocked in the next week or two with everyone’s favorites, Farm Fresh Eggs, and through winter we will also have apples, dried spice mixes, salves, tinctures, honey, and assortment of jellies and salsa. 

What do you like about being a farmer?  Why do you do it?
The freedom and sense of accomplishment and a job well done after a hard day of work. Revitalizing our 100 year old farm and working closely with the land and our livestock. We also love getting to know our customers and being able to connect with them on a one on one bases and providing amazing quality products. 

We wanted food freedom for ourselves and the community, to cultivate our own food on our own land and experience true freedom. There needs to be a large change in our food industry and we want to be a part of the positive change for the healthier and the better. We wanted to get back to our roots and our heritage, both of us come from families where our grandparents were doing exactly this. 

What is your favorite thing that you grow and why?
For Caitlin it’s the pigs, the piglets are always so cute and fun to watch run around and play and you get to know everyone and their personalities as they grow up getting to be pigs throughout the fields and barn.

For Larry it’s the produce, specifically potatoes and Brussel sprouts. They both take time and care to grow. Brussel sprouts are great for our northern climate and it is fun to have them at market on the stalk and see people’s reaction to how they grow. Potatoes are very versatile for cooking and are hardy growers, there is a large variety and long shelf life if taken care of properly. 

Anything else?
We also have a Farm Market Store on property open just north of Mancelona on the corner of 131 and Doerr Rd. 3775 Doerr Rd so if you miss us at market you don’t have to wait a whole week to catch us we have weekly store hours as well. 

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