Farm Products
At Three Roods Farm, we work hard to provide high quality, organically grown fruits and vegetables as well as organically raised eggs, poultry, lamb and raw honey. Our honeybees collect nectar from our own 23 acres and surrounding fields.
Poultry
Our Black Austalorp hens lay brown eggs with bright orange yolks. The flock lives contentedly in a spacious coop and ranges freely over several fenced yards. The hens are given only organic feed. At the end of the year, the hens are processed at a state-licensed facility. The meat is excellent for stewing.
Australorp hens peck, scratch and fertilize their yards. In turns, old chicken yards are converted to productive farm beds.
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Sheep
We raise Shetland sheep for several reasons. They mow our pastures and provide us with meat and wool. Their manure is an excellent source of natural fertilizer for the garden. Shetlands are a minor breed of sheep with unique genetic characteristics that should be preserved. They are especially reknowned for their fine wool.  Wool fleeces and wool for spinning are both available.
Most meat animals are held in pens and fed grain. We keep our lambs on pasture where they eat their natural diet of grass, which produces a healthier and leaner meat.  Individuals interested in halal meat for aqiqa or qurban can purchase a live lamb and slaughter it on the farm. Please call for availability: 810.793.2511
Sheep serve many roles on the farm, including lawnmowers.
Honeybees
Many of the foods we enjoy everyday will not produce ‘fruit’ unless the flowers are pollinated by honeybees. Without the faithful work of the humble bee, we would not have apples, pears, plums and raspberries. We would have no zucchini, sunflowers, and many other vegetables. 3RF is very proud of its raw honey. It is available beginning in late September.
Sweet as honey
The sweet delicious honey enjoyed by so many people is the result of countless thousands of flights by countless thousands of tireless honeybees to countless thousands of flower blossoms. From those blossoms, the honeybees bring drops of nectar back to the hive. They are deposited in the honeycombs and evaporated into honey by the rapid wing movements of other bees. The hardworking honeybee is so productive that there is usually much more honey in a hive than is needed for the survival of the colony. The excess honey is harvested for human use.
Many people are not aware that the honeybee has disappeared from the wild due to epizootic disease. Even under cultivation, it is difficult for honeybee colonies to survive. Therefore the beekeeper must be ever vigilant. At Three Roods Farm, we’ve had anywhere from 1 to 8 colonies on a given year.
Most commercially available honey has been boiled to prevent crystallization. This denatures the delicate flavor and destroys natural enzymes in the honey, from which the traditional healing power is derived.
Apprenticeships
Apprentices are encouraged to come to Three Roods Farm and learn the art of beekeeping. Most of the work is done in the spring and fall. Spring tasks include examining the hives, repairing hives, dividing hives, and feeding young colonies. The honey harvest begins in the late summer with activities like removing the honey, extracting the honey and bottling the honey. The bee is a fascinating creature worth understanding.
Robin inspects a frame from one of the hives.
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