To all Burns Park families: We are excited to announce the addition of Earth Shine Farm to our Burn$ Park Buck$ fundraiser – each week you will have the opportunity to order locally raised organic chicken from them. Over the years many families have asked if we could add organizations like this to our scrip program and we are really looking forward to this partnership. The chicken orders and payments will be separate from the rest of the Burn$ Park Buck$ orders. Please read on for more information about the chicken and the ordering process.

Helen Starman

We are very excited to be included in the Burn$ Park Buck$ Program this year.

We are small family farmers in nearby Durand, about 40 miles northwest of the school. For the last 10 years we have been busy perfecting what we believe is the only pasture-raised, heirloom-breed, certified organic and air-chilled chicken in the State, if not the entire U.S. Not only are these birds really well cared for, but they are absolutely delicious.

Our chickens have been featured in many of the best restaurants in Ann Arbor including Eve and Zingerman’s and were proudly featured at a big event hosted by George Lucas at his Skywalker Ranch outside of San Francisco. Here is what Chef Rodger Bowser, from Zingerman’s Deli had to say about them.

“Every time I get a hold of a bird from Earth Shine Farm, I roast it in nothing but salt and pepper, and then share it with as many friends as I can.”

We will be donating 10% of the sales for every chicken sold to the school and encourage you to order as many as possible, as quantities are limited. Because we are concerned about the temperature of the birds and handling them appropriately we will be processing and freezing the birds the same day to be sure that they maintain an appropriate temperature and texture. When you get them home we suggest that you put them straight into your freezer and the night before you want to serve one simply pull it out and let it thaw in the refrigerator. These birds freeze great and will stay in excellent condition in the freezer for many months! We have eaten them after 12 months with no problems.

Our chickens cost $4.95 per pound and average between 3 – 4 pounds each.
Orders in by Wednesday, October 3 at midnight will be available for pick up at school on Friday, October 5 between 3 and 4 p.m.

To place your orders you may either call or e-mail Todd Wickstrom at 734.213.7723 or todd@theoraigroup.com he is helping to coordinate our work with the school this year. Please be sure to get your orders in by Wednesday night at midnight! Each week you will have a chance to order more chickens following the same schedule – look for a reminder in weekly PTO notes.

You may pay on Friday with a check made out to Earth Shine Farm (do not put it in the Burns Park Bucks box!) If it bounces we will just have to put your child to work on the farm for a while until they have worked it off :)

We hope to be able to offer you pasture-raised and organic eggs as well later this fall and hopefully a few other delicious products straight from the farm.

To learn more about our farm and our birds you can log onto our website at http://www.earthshinefarm.com

We look forward to a great year together and hope to see you at our farm sometime soon.

Peace on Earth,

Frank & Laura Kay Jones
Earth Shine Farm