Pig Roast at Sunny-Side Farm

  

On November 6, Natasha and I went to a pig roast near York, Pennsylvania at Sunny-Side Farm.  Natasha and I were invited to the roast by one of the owners, Dru Peterson, whom we met at the Lauraville Farmers Market.  This was the first year Sunny-Side Farm raised pigs, so they decided to have a pig roast and a pot luck at the farm to celebrate.  The pig was prepared by one of the chefs (above) from Woodberry Kitchen.  Natasha and I baked garlic-rosemary rolls to share.  

At the roast, we were able to wander around the farm and see the operation.  They had chickens and turkeys spread around the property in moveable coops.  I think Dru said that her husband, Homer, moves the coops every morning so the chickens eat fresh grass and bugs every day.  The chickens and turkeys were all different colors and sizes.  Close to the house they had two geese (careful, they bite).  They also had some cows and a huge pig.  Towards the back of their property (towards the trees in the picture below) they had two beehives.

We didn't know this before our visit, but Sunny-Side slaughters their chickens at the farm in an open-air slaughter station, much like the one used by Polyface Farms (as seen in the Food, Inc. documentary).  The chickens are placed head-first in the cones on the left to be bled out.  Next, they are boiled for a moment in the silver box straight ahead, so that the feathers loosen up.  The silver, cylindrical contraption is the de-feathering machine.  It is filled with rubber rods that spin and pull the feathers out.  Sunny-Side has finished processing chickens this year, but we hope to try and help out with the operation next year.

Finally, the food.  The pork we had was pretty good, but we got there at a bad time.  Some pork was cooked and ready to eat, but the ribs and loin were being seasoned and weren't going to be ready for quite a while.  Unfortunately, we did not stay for the next round of eats.  We did try a kidney right off the smoker though, which was quite tasty.  It had really absorbed a lot of the smokiness of the charcoal and the wood it was being cooked on.  The consistency was similar to any other cut of pork, but a little bit grainier.  All in all, Natasha and I had a great time.  The weather was nice, the food was good, the farm was great, and the owners of Sunny-Side were awesome.